By Ana Radelat, MinnPost
“At a press conference this week at the state Capitol, Democratic Reps. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, and Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, who was born in Somalia, decried the ‘fearmongering’ by Trump and state Republicans against the Somali community. McCollum said ‘an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.’
‘Back to late Friday night, when (Trump) hurled ugly late-night threats against Minnesota’s Somali community,’ McCollum said. ‘You have to ask yourself why. It’s because Trump and Republicans are doing nothing to address the real crises facing us as Americans. The U.S. economy is in shambles, the cost of living is soaring, Trump and Republicans have created a health care crisis, and they’ve failed to deliver essential heating assistance for Minnesotans this winter.’”
By Christopher Magan, The Minnesota Star Tribune
“‘If Burma is unsafe for American visitors, it is certainly unsafe for those who have fled the country and been given protected status,’ U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum said in a statement. The Democrat is a longtime advocate for Minnesota’s Karen population and co-chair of the Burma caucus.
She added that the administration should reverse its decision and ‘continue to deploy sanctions on the junta and its supporters.’
The protections were granted to Myanmar refugees in 2021, after a military coup and civil war. The country is now run by a military dictatorship with a history of violence against opponents.
‘The notion that there will be free and fair elections under the military junta in Burma is preposterous,’ McCollum said.”
By Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment
“Meanwhile, during a House Appropriations Committee markup in September, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) criticized the exclusion of provisions to protect banks that work with state-licensed marijuana and hemp businesses from a key spending bill.”
