Reply from Senator Markey

 

            THANK YOU SENATOR MARKEY! 

EDWARD J. MARKEY MASSACHUSETTS		255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-2742
	United States Senate   May 28, 2025

 

Thank you for contacting me about the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

The Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate the CPSC is a reckless and dangerous assault on public safety. The CPSC is the only independent federal agency charged with ensuring that the products Americans use every day, especially those designed for infants, children, and older adults, are safe. Attempting to dismantle this critical agency doesn’t save money. It would endanger lives and erode decades of consumer protection progress.

Since its creation, the CPSC has dramatically reduced fire-related deaths, child poisonings, and injuries caused by hazardous products. As e-commerce and global imports surge, the Commission will play an even more important role in preventing dangerous and counterfeit goods from reaching American households. Now more than ever, we need a strong, independent CPSC, not a weakened shell operating without authority or accountability.

That’s why I’m fighting to stop the dismantling of the CPSC. In May 2025, I joined my colleagues in leading a bicameral letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget, demanding that the Trump administration immediately reverse its plan to eliminate the CPSC. We made clear that dissolving the Commission would gut enforcement capabilities, jeopardize ongoing safety recalls, and leave families with no assurance that the products in their homes meet basic safety standards. I also joined my colleagues in condemning President Trump’s shameful decision to fire the CPSC’s Democratic commissioners, a move that further undermines the Commission’s independence and ability to protect American consumers.

At the same time, throughout my career, I’ve worked to strengthen the CPSC’s authority to hold corporations accountable. Last Congress, I was proud to cosponsor the Consumer Advocacy and Protection (CAP) Act, legislation that would increase civil penalties on companies that knowingly sell hazardous products. A fine shouldn’t be treated as a slap on the wrist. It should reflect the severity of endangering public health and lives. I will continue to fight back against efforts to defund, dismantle, or defang the CPSC. Families across Massachusetts deserve to know that their toys and household goods are safe.

Your comments are important to me, and I will keep your views in mind as I work on the issues that affect Massachusetts and our country.

Thank you again for reaching out to me about this issue. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact my office. To sign up for my newsletter, visit http://www.markey.senate.gov/newsletter. You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

 

Sincerely,

Edward J. Markey
United States Senator

Since the day I took the oath of office, I have strived to live up to its words

 

When Senators like me take office, we take an oath. Just like the President does. Here’s what it says:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Since the day I took that oath, I have strived to live up to its words.

Donald Trump, however, has spent the first four months of his presidency betraying it.

He has thrown out due process — which is guaranteed by the Constitution — to crack down on free speech. He has violated checks and balances by ignoring court orders and slashing budgets that were legally set by Congress. He pardoned the criminals responsible for the January 6th insurrection. He has proven himself and his administration to be openly corrupt for their own financial gain. And the list goes on.

So today, I am asking you to make a pledge of your own: Pledge to stay committed to the fight to defend our democracy and the Constitution that makes that democracy possible.

If we are going to take on Trump’s lawlessness, we must stand together as an organized movement. It’s going to take action in Congress, in the courts, in our workplaces, and in the streets.

So please: Add your name and take the pledge to defend our democracy against the Trump administration and the authoritarians on the far-right. Our commitment to our nation’s values of fairness, civil rights, and justice for all is our most powerful weapon right now.

ADD YOUR NAME

I hope you will join me today in doubling down on our belief in the power of democracy. Enjoy the rest of the holiday.

In solidarity,

Ed Markey

 

Paid for by The Markey Committee

Ed Markey is counting on our people-powered grassroots movement to fund this campaign. If you can, stand with us by making a contribution today.

The Markey Committee
PO Box 69
Medford, MA 02155

Sign on: SAVE PBS!

 

Ed Markey here with one simple question for you today.

Will you sign my petition to preserve and protect PBS and NPR from the Trump administration's funding cuts?

SAVE PBS

The Trump administration recently used an unlawful executive order to terminate the federal grant program providing essential PBS funding that keeps shows such as The Kratt Brothers and Clifford the Big Red Dog on the air.

Not only is this an attack on public broadcasting, it is an attack on access to education, news, and culture in many underserved and disadvantaged communities.

There are 170 locally-operated, locally-focused public television licensees in the country, which reach almost 97% of Americans, including many rural and remote communities where commercial television can’t succeed.

Cutting off this lifeline is not budget discipline, it’s educational and cultural sabotage. We MUST come together in defense of public broadcasting to save the programs we and our families love.

Sign on to my petition calling for funding to be returned to PBS and educational programs to get the resources they need. Congress must act against Trump’s misguided, unlawful executive order and save public broadcasting.

ADD YOUR NAME

Thank you in advance for signing on today. Our voices become more powerful when we join them together.

In solidarity,

Ed Markey

 

Paid for by The Markey Committee

Ed Markey is counting on our people-powered grassroots movement to fund this campaign. If you can, stand with us by making a contribution today.

The Markey Committee
PO Box 69
Medford, MA 02155

Reply from Senator Markey

 

EDWARD J. MARKEY MASSACHUSETTS		255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-2742
	United States Senate   January 10, 2022

 

Thank you for contacting me about the Rewarding Efforts to Decrease Unrecycled Contaminants in Ecosystems (REDUCE) Act of 2021 (S. 2645). It was good to hear from you.

The REDUCE Act of 2021 (S. 2645) was introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on August 8, 2021 and referred to the Committee on Finance. This legislation would establish a 20-cent per pound fee on the sale of new plastic used for single-use products. I will continue to monitor the status of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process. In the Senate, I have long supported critical efforts to fight the continued pollution of our oceans by plastics and other marine debris. I am a cosponsor of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (S. 984), which seeks to combat the plastic crisis by reducing and banning certain single-use plastic products, reforming our recycling collection system, and protecting environmental justice communities from the burden of toxic emissions from plastic waste.

Additionally, on August 10, 2021, I voted to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) out of the Senate, and in November 2021, President Biden signed this bill into law. This legislation included the Recycling Enhancements to Collection and Yield through Consumer Learning and Education (RECYCLE) Act of 2021 (S. 923), which will provide $75 million to support public education about recycling. The IIJA also provided $275 million to fund the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (S. 1982), which was passed by Congress—with my support—and signed into law in 2020 by then-President Trump. Save Our Seas 2.0 seeks to help cut down on the production of plastic waste, improve our domestic ability to reuse and recycle plastic waste, and help other countries take steps to limit their plastic use.

The rapid increase of plastic production poses a serious threat by polluting our environment with litter, contributing to climate change through the plastic manufacturing process, and negatively impacting our health. Environmental justice communities are disproportionately impacted by this crisis, as they suffer most from the harms associated with plastic production and disposal.

While recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, most plastic waste in the United States is not successfully recycled. To truly address the plastic crisis, it is imperative that we work to not only improve recycling efforts, but also address excessive production and use of plastic.

I will continue to support and lead on efforts to address the escalating plastic pollution crisis, and thank you for your shared concern on this critical issue.

Thank you again for contacting me about this issue. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. To sign up for my newsletter, visit http://www.markey.senate.gov/newsletter.  You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

 

Sincerely, 

Edward J. Markey
United States Senator

This is a long email about climate action, Build Back Better, and the path forward from here

 

I’m about to ask you to read a long email on the current state of the Build Back Better package, climate action, and our ongoing negotiations in the Senate to pass meaningful legislation for our planet. Then, I’m going to ask you to contribute $10 or anything you can to help our movement make it all happen.

I’ll explain more in just a minute, but if that’s all you need to hear to add your support, please use this link:

https://go.edmarkey.com/a/Build-Back-Better

Here’s the situation:

I support President Biden in his efforts to pass a Build Back Better package that can get 50 votes in the Senate, even if this means passing individual provisions as soon as possible.

This is especially true on climate and clean energy. The climate provisions in Build Back Better have largely been agreed upon and financed — that means drastically reducing emissions, promoting environmental justice in our communities, and creating millions of good-paying, union jobs all across our country.

The bottom line is that our planet cannot wait for gridlocked negotiations to continue. We are running out of time to take meaningful action, and we have to move quickly.

That is why we must pass a budget reconciliation bill with climate action, jobs and environmental justice at its core by President Biden’s State of the Union address. That should be our deadline.

What we do not pass in this deal becomes our movement’s agenda going forward, and what we run on here in 2022 and beyond. That includes voting rights, the Child Tax Credit, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, immigration reform, and so much more.

These policies will always be at the core of our agenda and our fight for justice. If we can find an agreement with Senator Manchin on these issues in the weeks and months ahead, then we absolutely should. But right now, we have a broad agreement on climate and clean energy, and we must act on that immediately.

And let us not forget this simple truth: Democrats are having to do all of this on our own because the Republican Party refuses to find any common ground with us whatsoever.

Their singular goal right now is to block the entire Biden agenda, and shut down any progress we could possibly make on these important issues that would help working families across the country.

That’s why we need to pass as many provisions in this bill as we can, when we can. And the time to act on climate is right now.

Now, all of this is just the starting point in our larger fight for a Green New Deal and bold climate action that will transform our society and deliver a just, livable future for our planet. But the truth is that that fight takes tremendous resources, and it means I have to ask:

Will you contribute $10 or anything you can afford to stand with me in our fight for climate justice? Every dollar you give will go straight toward growing our grassroots movement and building progressive power in Washington to make meaningful change a reality.

What we have with the climate provisions in Build Back Better will go a long way toward protecting our environment, revitalizing our economy, and converting our energy system away from fossil fuels once and for all.

Passing them would be a historic victory for our movement, and for people all over the world.

It’s time we deliver, and it’s time we get it done. Thank you for being a part of our fight.

In solidarity,

Ed Markey

 

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The Markey Committee PO Box 120029 Boston, MA 02112 United States

SENATOR EDWARD MARKEY: ABOLITION AMENDMENT

EDWARD J. MARKEY MASSACHUSETTS		255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-2742
	United States Senate   January 21, 2022

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding the joint resolution known as the "Abolition Amendment" (S.J.Res. 21). It was good to hear from you on this important matter.

On December 6, 1865, the U.S. Constitution's Thirteenth Amendment formally ended chattel slavery within the United States. But it did not end all forms of slavery, as the amendment allows slavery and involuntary servitude to exist as punishments for crimes for convicted persons. From post-Reconstruction criminal codes to the Jim Crow era to the war on drugs, this "except as punishment" clause drove the over-incarceration and subsequent forced prison labor of Black Americans, particularly Black men.

I am a proud original cosponsor of the Abolition Amendment, which would right this wrong. This resolution would amend the U.S. Constitution by adding a new Article prohibiting the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. The Article would take effect upon ratification by three-fourths of the states.

I believe the Abolition Amendment is an important step towards a long overdue transformation of our federal criminal justice system.

The Senate version is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I am not a member. I will be sure to keep your comments in mind should it or related legislation come to the Senate floor for consideration.

Thank you again for contacting me about this issue. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.  To sign up for my newsletter, visit http://www.markey.senate.gov/newsletter. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

 

Sincerely,

Edward J. Markey
United States Senator