In the News

A U.S. lawmaker on Monday called on the Congress to investigate the medical scopes blamed for an outbreak of a bacterial "superbug" at a University of California, Los Angeles hospital that has infected seven patients.

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, said in a letter asking for a congressional oversight committee hearing that the outbreak of the drug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, bacteria posed "both health and national security" risks.

"If unmitigated, the human and societal costs of CRE outbreaks will continue to rise," Lieu wrote in the letter.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), is calling on the House Oversight Committee to hold hearings on a "superbug" that has led to two deaths at a hospital in his district.

Lieu wrote in a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) that the "superbug" has "both health and national security risks."

Officials at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles announced last week that a drug-resistant bacteria, known as CRE, had led to two deaths and that 179 people had potentially been exposed. At least seven people have been infected.

Prompted by the UCLA superbug outbreak, a federal lawmaker is calling on Congress to investigate what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and device makers are doing to prevent further patient deaths and infections.

In a letter sent Monday to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said outbreaks related to contaminated medical scopes "have national security ramifications."

Last week, UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center became the latest in a string of U.S. hospitals suffering outbreaks involving CRE and other deadly bacteria.

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) on Feb. 13 released the following statements to condemn the use of excessive police force against Sureshbhai Patel, an Indian grandfather who was left partially paralyzed after an encounter with Alabama police.

One day after President Barack Obama sent Congress legislation backing the use of military force against Islamic State militants, he's still searching for his first outright supporter for the measure.

Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, senior lawmakers and newcomers to Congress, lawmakers across the congressional spectrum all found parts of the proposal to oppose, or else said nothing to tip their hand.

Click here to see pictures of Congressman Lieu visiting schools in his district.

Whether President Obama wants to admit it or not, the United States never really pulled out of Iraq. The president has sent his request for war powers against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to Congress, but it's getting push back from both sides of the aisle.

President Obama's request for war powers against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is running into trouble on both sides of the aisle, with some Republicans now arguing the White House should place no restrictions on the use of ground troops.

The president's plan for an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) limits the use of combat forces, in line with his promise that there will be no "boots on the ground" in the war against ISIS.