It did not take long after the racist gun massacre in Buffalofor a familiar sense of resignation to set in on Capitol Hill about the chance that Congress would be able to muster the will to act on meaningful legislation to combat gun violence in America. In emotional remarks at the scene of the mass shooting on Tuesday, President Biden made no... Read More about Senators strike bipartisan gun safety agreement

??In the weeks since a teenage gunman killed 21 people in an Uvalde, Texas elementary school, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy has been hard to miss. His speech on the Senate floor the night of the shooting went ultra-viral, drawing millions of views and a retweet from LeBron James. He has appeared on CNN and “The Daily Show” and published an... Read More about Chris Murphy has become a national face of gun reform efforts. But can he finally get results?

President Biden is meeting with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday to discuss ongoing negotiations among senators working to come to a consensus on gun violence-related legislation, the White House said. It will be Biden’s first such meeting since the bipartisan talks on guns kicked off following the mass shooting at a Texas... Read More about Biden to huddle with Murphy on Senate gun negotiations

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy was in Vice President Kamala Harris’s seat, presiding over the Senate chamber, when he first heard about Uvalde. “I just sunk into the chair,” Murphy tells Vogue over the phone 48 hours later. The question he asked in an electrifying and rage-filled speech on the Senate floor minutes after learning... Read More about The Relentless Optimism of Senator Chris Murphy

Hours after the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut took to the Senate floor with an emotional plea, saying:  "What are we doing? Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate? Why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job, of putting yourself in a... Read More about Oprah Asks Senator Chris Murphy, “What Will It Take to Change Gun Laws?”

Chris Murphy has seen the photographs of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Connecticut senator is one of the few people who have. The public has been spared the images of the “unthinkable, grisly, horrific scenes,” he says, so shocking that the first responders who first entered the classrooms required as much counseling as... Read More about Chris Murphy Has Seen the Aftermath of a School Massacre. He Wonders if America Should Too

Connecticut Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal say the shooting in Texas hits too close to home. Now they are focusing on legislation to try and to prevent another tragedy. The Connecticut lawmakers vividly remember when a gunman opened fire inside Sandy Hook elementary school, killing 26 people. Now they’re focusing on legislation... Read More about CT senators Murphy and Blumenthal push for gun reform after Texas shooting

Senator Chris Murphy was a young United States representative from Connecticut when he stood at a firehouse in 2012 with families from his district as they learned that their children, all first graders, had been shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School. On Tuesday, nearly 10 years later, he stood on the Senate floor in anguish as yet another... Read More about Chris Murphy, having witnessed Sandy Hook’s pain, slams fellow senators: ‘Why are you here?’

The 1.2 trillion federal Infrastructure bill before the United States House of Representatives could bring billions of dollars to Connecticut for roads, bridges, airports, transit, rail systems, ports and waterways. Local officials and federal officials will hold a news conference this morning on the impact it could have for the state.On Wednesday... Read More about Officials to Discuss Federal Infrastructure Bill That Could Bring Billions of Dollars to CT

HARTFORD — Connecticut would receive billions of dollars over the years for highways, bridges, railroads, airports if Congress grants final approval to a $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill.The bipartisan infrastructure package was already approved by the U.S. Senate by 69-30, but still needs approval in the U.S. House of Representatives.U.S.... Read More about Connecticut would receive more than $5 billion over 5 years from federal infrastructure bill now before Congress

A New Haven-based refugee resettlement agency welcomed seven arrivals from Afghanistan late Monday night. They fled as the Taliban seized control of the country.Chris George is with IRIS — Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services. The organization took in a single man from Kandahar and a family of six who left from the Kabul airport just before it... Read More about New Haven Organization Welcomes 7 Refugees From Afghanistan

HARTFORD — U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy called Tuesday for increased protection for women in Afghanistan as the Taliban has swept into power in a chaotic country.The senators, along with a bipartisan group of more than 40 colleagues, are looking for increased efforts to ensure that women and children are removed safely from the... Read More about Blumenthal, Murphy seek to protect, evacuate women from war-torn Afghanistan

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) - In the Middle East Sunday, Afghanistan's embattled president has left the country, joining thousands of his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the Taliban. Here in Connecticut, lawmakers are speaking out. The Taliban has reportedly fanned out across the capital. A group of fighters is now controlling the... Read More about ‘We need to rescue everyone we can’: CT lawmakers speak out after Taliban takeover in Kabul

(CNN) In a summer of deadly and life-altering extreme weather, the Biden administration and Democrats are walking a tightrope, with a razor-thin majority in Congress, to enact policies that will reroute the US economy away from fossil fuels and show the world that the US will lead on climate change.Many of President Joe Biden's climate provisions... Read More about As the climate crisis worsens in the US, pressure for action from Biden and Kerry grows

Democrats are coming to President Biden's defense as Afghanistan teeters on the brink of collapse weeks before the U.S. military mission there officially ends, arguing more time wouldn't make any difference.The Taliban have won control of half of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals, including the country’s second- and third-largest cities, in just... Read More about Democrats defend Afghan withdrawal amid Taliban advance

Calling the Afghan government “rife with corruption,” Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, applauded President Biden’s move to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 as the only reasonable step after 20 years of frustration and failure.“The longer we stay, the stronger the Taliban gets,” Murphy, a... Read More about 'The longer we stay, the stronger the Taliban gets': Sen. Murphy praises Biden's decision on Afghanistan withdrawal

US Senator Chris Murphy says Washington should deprioritize hostility toward Iran, cut down its military presence in the Middle East, and urge Saudi Arabia to "come to terms" with Hezbollah in Lebanon.In a podcast interview with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Murphy said decreasing the overall "militaristic footprint" includes... Read More about US should rejoin Iran deal, decrease ‘militaristic footprint’ in Middle East, says senator

From the Biden administration itself, Mira Resnick of the Department of State and Dana Stroul from the Department of Defense gave testimonies, with Egypt taking center stage. The two officials defended American assistance to Egypt despite the country’s heavy-handed crackdown on dissidents and the country’s detention of as many as 60,000 political... Read More about U.S. Senate committee debates arms sales to West Asia

Federal infrastructure spending of nearly $1 trillion would bring billions of dollars to Connecticut for highway construction, bridge repairs, electric vehicle charging stations and more, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Chris Murphy said Tuesday.The 69-30 bipartisan vote Tuesday sends the first phase of President Joe Biden's "Build Back... Read More about Massive US infrastructure bill would deliver billions to Connecticut for rail, roads, bridges, broadband access. Legislation now awaits action in U.S. House.

This week on Babel, Jon talks with Sen. Chris Murphy, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism. They discuss the U.S. relationship with Gulf allies, regional proxy battles with Iran, investing in Lebanon and Tunisia, and how worried policymakers should be about China's... Read More about U.S. Restraint in the Middle East