GovExec's Eric Katz discusses U.S. Postal Service changes that could impact mail-in voting this November, and Reps. John Sarbanes (D-MD) and Fred Keller (R-PA) discuss U.S. Postal Service funding and the stalemate over coronavirus relief legislation.
Topic: Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA) discusses House Democrats' legislation to provide additional funding for the U.S. Postal Service and the stalemate over coronavirus relief legislation.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spoke with reporters on Capitol Hill about the U.S. Postal Service legislation being debated in the House. He responded to questions about the president sending law enforcement to polling places on November 3rd by saying "there are a number of people who would seek to make sure that they could make a November 3rd election chaos." He went on to say that "if you have mail-in, absentee ballots, if you have vote-by-mail that is part of your normal process, certainly the president supports that."
Three Democratic secretaries of state participated in a virtual discussion about voting rights and the 2020 election as part of the annual Netroots Nation Conference. The secretaries from Michigan, Colorado and Connecticut discussed concerns they had about the voting process for the upcoming election amid the coronavirus pandemic. They discussed how their states were individually addressing election issues as well as their concerns about efforts to dissuade people from voting. The secretaries agreed that the best way to ensure the most people were able to vote was to provide as many options as possible, which include vote by mail, drop-off ballots, and in-person voting.
Ed Yong, a staff writer for the Atlantic, discussed his recent article, "The Big Story: How the Virus Won," on the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Yong talked about some of the shortcomings of the Trump administration's response to the outbreak, including mixed messaging, the failure to set up proper testing and tracing protocols, and the marginalization of public health experts, including those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also talked about how the U.S. could improve its response and how a Biden administration might be able handle the crisis, if elected in November.
U.S. Navy veteran Harlan Twible recounted being a young officer on the USS Indianapolis after it was sunk in shark-infested waters by two Japanese torpedoes. The crew had just delivered atomic bomb parts to Tinian island for the weapon that would be used on the city of Hiroshima. Surviving crew members - only 317 out of 1,196 -- were not rescued for several days. The National World War II Museum recorded this interview.
Wes Moore, a U.S. Army combat veteran and Rhodes Scholar, talked about the fate of African-Americans living in our inner cities and the 2015 uprising in Baltimore, his birthplace, following the death of Freddie Gray. He is the author of "The Other Wes Moore," "The Work," and "Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City."
Princeton University professor Ruha Benjamin and University of Pennsylvania professor Dorothy Roberts offered their thoughts on how some new technologies reinforce racial discrimination. This was a virtual author event hosted by Haymarket Books.
Vice President Mike Pence's daughter Charlotte Pence shared important lessons she's learned from her father. She's interviewed by Kate Brower, journalist and author of "First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power."
Journalist Jack Fairweather recounted the efforts of Witold Pilecki, a member of the Polish resistance during World War II, who volunteered to be deliberately captured and sent to Auschwitz in order to sabotage the Nazis' operations and report back on the atrocities within the camp. This was a virtual event hosted by the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.
Melville House co-publisher Dennis Johnson talked about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the independent publishing industry with Jenn Risko, John Mutter, and Bob Gray of Shelf Awareness, a trade publication that covers the industry.
