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I oppose illegal immigration—or rather migration—on economic, political, and social grounds. In this answer I will focus on the big question: money.How Many Illegal Migrants Reside in America?Before we can begin assess the economic impact of illegal immigration, we need to wrap our heads around just how many aliens live in America.To begin with, Pew Research estimates that some 11.1 million illegals reside within our borders. Although this falls in line with figures from the Department of Homeland Security, many—myself included—believe the true figure is much higher.There are two reasons for this. First, these “official” figures do not include the children of illegal immigrants who were born in America—the so-called “anchor babies”. Although natural-born citizens, these individuals are only here because of their parent’s criminal activity.Can we blame them for their parent’s actions? No. But there’s no denying that the addition of 6.5 million additional children is a burden on our welfare state—especially since their parents contributed nothing towards its creation, and little towards its operating costs.Second, the official aggregate figures (suspiciously) plateau around 2007. The explanation is that after 2008 the number of migrants fell and deportations rose to an equilibrium point. However, there is little evidence that migration rates fell, and the reason deportations increased is because the Obama Administration simply changed the definition of “deportation” to inflate the numbers.If the official figures are flawed, then just how many illegal aliens reside in America?A relatively recent study conducted by Dr. Mohammad Fazel Zarandi of the Yale School of Management estimates that some 22.8 million illegal immigrants live in America. This figure draws upon more recent data and a variety of (sometimes-ignored) sources, and is likely more accurate than estimates from Pew or the DHS.Regardless of which estimate we use, the impact of illegal immigration is magnified because alien populations are heavily concentration in a number of specific states and cities. For example, California alone is home to nearly one-in-four illegal migrants, and the majority of these live in the Greater Los Angeles area. Meanwhile, cities like St. Louis and states like North Dakota have very few illegal aliens.To sum up: there are at least 22.8 million illegal aliens in America, and they are heavily concentrated in a few particular urban areas.How Does Illegal Immigration Impoverish America?Illegal immigrants and their children cost American taxpayers $135 billion annually—or $8,075 per alien per year, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s (FAIR) 2017 report.The costs are partially offset by taxes collected from illegal aliens, which total $19 billion. Taken together, the net cost of illegal immigrants to American taxpayers is an astonishing $116 billion annually.While high, this number is not an outlier: a recent study by the Heritage Foundation found that low-skilled immigrants (including those here illegally) cost Americans trillions over the course of their lifetimes. My own research for the National Economics Editorial found that illegal immigration costs America more than $140 billion a year. Suffice to say, illegal immigration has real economic consequences—whatever the Left may tell you.The FAIR report also details how those billions are spent. Unsurprisingly, state and local governments bear the majority (two-thirds) of the costs, spending $88 billion annually. The federal government gets off relatively easy, spending just $45 billion—ironic, given the federal government created the problem in the first place. What’s more, the federal government receives the lion’s share of taxes paid by illegal aliens ($15.4 billion), although obviously, this does not begin to cover their costs. State and local governments receive just $3.5 billion in annual taxes from illegal immigrants, FAIR found.The single greatest cost is education at $46 billion a year; behind this are $29 billion in medical care costs; $23 billion for law enforcement; and $9 billion in welfare. The report does not include the value of remittances sent by illegal aliens, which would push the net fiscal loss higher by some $38 billion annually.California spends the most on illegal immigration: $30.3 billion per year, or about 17.7 percent of the state’s budget. Texas is a distant second, although the costs are likewise significant: $12.4 billion annually, or roughly 10 percent of the state’s budget. In third place comes New York, which spends around $7.4 billion on illegal immigration.The data could not be clearer: illegal immigration costs American taxpayers big-time. But taxes are only part of the story. Illegal immigration hurts America’s economy in other ways: it distorts the labor market, causing wage stagnation and unemployment, and saps our economic vitality.Illegal Immigration Decreases Wages and Boosts UnemploymentEver hear of the law of supply and demand? It’s how the free market determines prices: when demand increases, prices increase (more people bid-up the price); conversely, when supply increases, prices decrease (less scarcity means less urgency), and vice versa. Supply and demand underpin the price of everything from gasoline to apples to the value of a person’s labor. Surgeons command high prices because surgeons are in relatively short supply, whereas store clerks make minimum wage because anyone can be a store clerk.According to Pew Research, illegal immigration has flooded America’s labor market with at least 12 million workers. The dramatic and rapid increase in the labor supply has therefore decreased wages for American workers. The evidence for this fact is overwhelming. For example, before Hurricane Harvey, President Trump’s crackdown on illegal aliens had already caused wages for construction workers to rise by 30 percent (half of the construction workers in Texas were illegal aliens). In light of recent events, those workers’ wages will likely rise even higher—but we can still attribute a significant portion of the rise to labor market constrictions.Likewise, towns in Maine were forced to hire American workers after the availability of visas for temporary foreign workers declined. What happened? Unemployment decreased, wages increased, and working conditions improved in order to attract American workers—all good things. Illegal labor has completely undermined America’s labor markets, and hurt the bulk of our population; the only people benefiting are the very rich.And if this were not bad enough, many illegal aliens also work under-the-table, making less than minimum wage and foregoing expensive employer-provided health insurance plans. This undercuts the labor market’s mandated floor, making it more difficult for American workers to compete. For these reasons, the impact of illegal aliens on American wages is far larger than that of legal immigrants—who also negatively distort wages for natives.Illegal immigration also causes unemployment for American citizens. Why? Employers often prefer to hire illegals because they have leverage over them: aliens have no recourse for termination without cause and must tolerate poor working conditions. This leverage, combined with lower wages, prices many Americans out of the labor market. How can a citizen earning minimum wage who has legal protections compete with a legal ghost making two bucks an hour? It’s impossible. This is part of the reason the youth unemployment rate is so high—the service industry used to be the province of teenagers; today, they have been replaced with illegals. The same goes for Americans without college degrees, particularly blacks and Hispanics.Debunking Economic Myths About Illegal ImmigrantsLiberals often justify their fetish for illegal immigration along economic lines, arguing “we need illegals to do the jobs Americans won’t do,” and “the economic benefits of illegal immigration outweigh the costs.” Of course, neither of these claims is true.The first myth is easily debunked by the simple fact that America’s labor market is far from saturated. In fact, fewer than 150 million Americans (out of a population of 320 million) are employed—either part- or full-time. Further, 23 million Americans currently are looking for work, that is, twice the number of illegal aliens in the country. Even if we assume that every illegal alien was employed, replacing them with American workers would still leave 11 million Americans unemployed.Beyond the raw numbers, it is also patently false that “illegals do jobs Americans won’t do”—they simply cannot do them because they are out-competed with cheap, unlawful labor. If you read this document published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you will find that millions of Americans—of all races—currently work as janitors, laborers, and agricultural workers. In fact, only four percent of American agricultural workers are illegal aliens, according to a report in the National Review, putting to bed the myth that we would starve without illegal laborers. Americans will do the jobs, provided they are paid a fair wage.Believe it or not, states without large populations of illegal aliens, such as Montana or Ohio, are not economic backwaters with exorbitantly high costs of living—people in Idaho can still afford McDonald’s and Starbucks; they just pay teenagers to work the drive-thrus. In reality, the cost of living in those states is often lower, because their governments do not require high taxes to subsidize legions of illegal aliens.The second myth that “the benefits of illegal immigration outweigh the costs” is also absurd. Why? First, the evidence is overwhelming that illegals are a massive net cost to taxpayers. Not only do they cost the government $116 billion annually, but these additional expenditures result in higher taxes and more borrowing—taxes and debt impede economic growth far more than the “cheap labor” may spur it. Second, illegals transfer some $38 billion abroad every year as remittances, which has the same economic impact as a federal tax.Finally, we must consider the opportunity costs—what else could those tax dollars buy? Rather than spending billions on illegals, we could rebuild our ailing infrastructure. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, America’s infrastructure deficit will reach $3.6 trillion by 2020. Furthermore, poor infrastructure also costs the economy money. For example, Americans lose $124 billion a year idling in traffic—almost as much as we lose to illegals aliens. If the government stopped spending on illegal immigrants, it could cut our infrastructure deficit in half by 2020, and save the economy hundreds of billions on traffic jams and airport delays—not to mention the headaches.It is also worth mentioning that America is the only Western nation, until very recently, that imports millions of illegal immigrants to work in its service sector—other rich nations, like Japan and Canada, do not. Despite this, the GDP per capita of Japan has actually grown faster than America’s during the same period. The same is true of Canada and Australia. If illegal immigration is such a boon to America, why are Americans being left behind by countries without this “advantage”? Perhaps because illegal immigration is not an advantage. Perhaps the elites are lying.University professors, Silicon Valley CEOs, senators, and news anchors are not losing their jobs to illegals—they are hiring them as gardeners, nurses, and even as cheap coders. Ordinary folk pay the price for elite decadence. If a critical mass of illegal immigrants were Pulitzer Prize-winning writers, the country would look like the gated communities of Washington D.C. or Los Angeles—it would have a wall and a security detail.

Q. What was the most interesting adventure of Lewis and Clark?A2A. HISTORY STORIES10 Little-Known Facts About the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionSacagawea (video)In 1804, Jefferson sends a team to explore lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery will travel nearly 8,000 miles over three years, reaching the Pacific Ocean and clearing the path for westward expansion.In May 1804, President Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery on an expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and hunt for an all-water route across the North American continent. The two-and-a-half-year trek saw the men travel some 8,000 miles from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back, mostly by boat and on horseback. By the time they finally emerged from the wilderness in September 1806, they had made contact with dozens of Indian tribes, survived repeated brushes with death and become the first U.S. citizens to lay eyes on the wonders of the uncharted West. Explore 10 surprising facts about one of America’s first and greatest expeditions of discovery.Lewis first met Clark after being court-martialed by the Army.Lewis (L) and Clark (R). (Credit: Jean-Erick PASQUIER/Getty Images)While serving as a frontier army officer in 1795, a young Meriwether Lewis was court-martialed for allegedly challenging a lieutenant to a duel during a drunken dispute. The 21-year-old was found not guilty of the charges, but his superiors decided to transfer him to a different rifle company to avoid any future incidents. His new commander turned out to be William Clark—the man who would later join him on his journey to the West.Thomas Jefferson believed the expedition might encounter wooly mammoths.Woolly Mammoth. (Credit: Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia)Before Lewis and Clark completed their expedition, Americans could only speculate on what lurked in the uncharted territories beyond the Rocky Mountains. Even Thomas Jefferson, who’d amassed a small library of books on the frontier, was convinced the explorers might have run-ins with mountains of salt, a race of Welsh-speaking Indians and even herds of wooly mammoths and giant ground sloths. The expedition failed to sight any of the long-extinct creatures, but Lewis did describe 178 previously unknown species of plants and 122 new animals including coyotes, mountain beavers and grizzly bears.The Spanish sent soldiers to arrest the expedition.Jefferson often described Lewis and Clark’s expedition as a scientific mission to study the lands acquired in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, but the explorers’ central goal was to find a water route to the Pacific, which would increase trade opportunities and help solidify an American claim on the far Northwest. That was distressing news for the Spanish, who feared the expedition might lead to the seizure of their gold-rich territories in the Southwest. On the suggestions of U.S. Army General James Wilkinson—a Spanish spy—the governor of New Mexico dispatched four different groups of Spanish soldiers and Comanche Indians to intercept the explorers and bring them back in chains. Luckily for Lewis and Clark, the hostile search parties failed to locate them in the vastness of the frontier.Lewis and Clark’s arsenal included 200 pounds of gunpowder and an experimental air rifle.The Corps of Discovery carried one of the largest arsenals ever taken west of the Mississippi. It included an assortment of pikes, tomahawks and knives as well as several rifles and muskets, 200 pounds of gunpowder and over 400 pounds of lead for bullets. Lewis also had a state-of-the-art pneumatic rifle he used to impress Indian tribes on the frontier. After pumping compressed air into the gun’s stock, he could fire some 20 shots—each of them almost completely silent. Despite being armed to the teeth, most of the explorers never had to use their weapons in combat. The lone exception came during the return journey, when Lewis and three of his soldiers engaged in a gun battle with Blackfeet Indians that left two natives dead.Sacagawea reunited with her long lost brother during the journey.“Lewis & Clark at Three Forks,” mural in lobby of Montana House of Representatives. (Credit: Edgar Samuel Paxson)One of the most legendary members of the Lewis and Clark expedition was Sacagawea, a teenaged Shoshone Indian who had been kidnapped from her tribe as an adolescent. Sacagawea, her husband and her newborn son first joined up with the explorers as they wintered at a Hidatsa-Mandan settlement in 1804, and she later served as an interpreter and occasional guide on their journey to the Pacific. During a run-in with a band of Shoshone in the summer of 1805, she famously discovered the tribe’s chief was none other than her long lost brother, whom she had not seen since her abduction five years earlier. The tearful reunion helped facilitate peaceful relations between the explorers and the Shoshone, allowing Lewis to procure much-needed horses for his trek over the Rockies.Sacajawea as a little girl at sunset, by Allan BurchOnly one member of the expedition died during the trip.The Lewis and Clark expedition suffered its first fatality in August 1804, when Sergeant Charles Floyd died near modern day Sioux City, Iowa. Lewis diagnosed him as having “bilious colic,” but historians now believe he suffered from a burst appendix. Over the next two years, the expedition endured everything from dysentery and snakebites to dislocated shoulders and even venereal disease, but amazingly, no one else perished before the explorers returned to St. Louis in September 1806. One of the worst injuries came during the trip home, when an enlisted man accidentally shot Lewis in the buttocks after mistaking him for an elk. Though not seriously wounded, the explorer was forced to spend a few miserable weeks lying on his belly in a canoe while the expedition floated down the Missouri River.Clark adopted Sacagawea’s children.During her time with the Corps of Discovery, Sacagawea was accompanied by her newborn son, Jean Baptiste, whom the explorers nicknamed “Pomp.” William Clark took a shine to the boy, and when Sacagawea left the expedition in August 1806, he offered to adopt him and “raise him as my own child.” Sacagawea initially turned down the offer, but she later allowed Clark to provide for her son’s education in St. Louis. Following Sacagawea’s death in 1812, Clark became the legal guardian of both Jean Baptiste and her other child, a daughter named Lisette. Little is known about what became of Lisette, but Jean-Baptiste later traveled to Europe before returning to the American frontier to work as a trapper and wilderness guide.LEWIS & CLARKLEWIS AND CLARKLOUISIANA PURCHASECurrent government flags of some of the 60 tribes whose homelands were crossed by the Lewis & ClarkLewis and Clark Fun Facts (siuw.edu)April 30, 1803: Louisiana Purchase.Announced July 4, 1804. U.S. purchases 868,000 square miles, eventually 13 states, from Napoleon for $15 million dollars. Best real estate deal in history, only $ .03 an acre. Doubled size of the United States.Why did Napoleon sell? “I have given England a rival, who sooner or later, will humble her pride.”May 14, 1804—September 23, 1806: Expedition took 863 days, 7,689 miles the distance traveled by the expedition, through unmapped, unsettled wilderness.Costs of expedition: initial approved by congress $2,500. Grew to $38,722.25, 15x original amount. When you add in price of land each member received upon return as a reward, the total tops $136,000. In today’s dollars that is $126,000,000. It cost $25 billion to put a man on the moon.Permanent party: consisted of 33 to 35, including One woman, one baby and one dog.Expedition discovered 122 new animals and 178 new plants. Biggest tormentor expedition—mosquitoes!!Lewis designed a collapsible canoe with iron frame for journey. It could be covered with animal skins and could carry one ton. It weighed only 44 lbs and was named experiment.Used keelboat at beginning of journey—55’ long, 8’ wide with a 32’ tall, hinged mast. Held over eight tons of equipment & food.Doctor Benjamin Rush, the country’s most famous physician, provided 600 of rush’s thunderbolts his famous homemade laxative for the expedition.Each man consumed 9 pounds of meat per day when available.Tally of game killed on the expedition:Dear -- 1001Bear -- 56Turkey -- 9Elk -- 375Beaver -- 113Plovers -- 48Bison -- 227Otter -- 16Wolves -- 18 (only 1 eaten)Antelope -- 62Geese -- 104Indian Dogs -- 190 (purchased)Big Horned Sheep -- 35Grouse -- 46Horses -- 12This list does not include countless smaller game or more exotic animals such as hawk, coyote, fox, crow, eagle, gopher, muskrat, seal, turtle, crab, salmon and trout.April 13, 1806 “The dog now constitutes a considerable part of our subsistence and with most of the party has become a favorite food; certain I am… and from habit it has become by no means disagreeable to me, I preferred to venison or elk, and it is very far superior to the horse in any state.” --LewisAugust 20, 1804 (Day 99) Sgt. Floyd dies at age of 22. He was only member to die during expedition. Cause of death guessed as ruptured appendix.August 21, 1804 First election west of Mississippi. All men including York, a slave, elect Patrick Gass as new sergeant.February 11, 1805 “About five o’clock this evening one of the wives of Charbono (sacagawea) was delivered of a fine boy.” --LewisApril 1805 Lewis buys teepee from Sioux. Sacagawea takes down and puts up daily. Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, pomp, Drouillard and Charbonneau sleep in nightlyAugust 17,1805 Sacagawea recognizes Cameahwait, chief of Shoshone as her long, lost brother. Guarantees cooperation by Shoshone with expedition.November 24, 1805 free vote on where to build winter fort. Unheard of in its day to vote on such matters.July 26, 1806 Only Native American fatalities caused by expedition members. Two Blackfeet killed.August 12, 1806 Lewis shot in buttocks by one eyed expedition member Cruzatte, who mistook him for an elk.The US Expands West | VOA Learning Englishhttps://projects.voanews.com/lewis-clark/out1/montana.mp4?v1231The Myths and Myopia of Lewis and ClarkLewis and Clark - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.comMeriwether Lewis was an American explorer, who with William Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the uncharted American interior to the Pacific Northwest in 1804–06. He later served as governor of Upper Louisiana Territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition spanned 8,000 mi (13,000 km) and three years, taking the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition party was known, down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis served as the field scientist, chronicling botanical, zoological, meteorological, geographic and ethnographic information.Missouri CompromiseAmerican BuffaloNative American CulturesWORK FOR JEFFERSONAs a member of the state militia, Meriwether Lewis helped to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, a Pennsylvania uprising led by farmers against taxes, in 1794. The next year he served with William Clark, a man who would later help him on one of the greatest expeditions of all time. Lewis joined the regular army and achieved the rank of captain. In 1801, Lewis left the army and accepted an invitation to serve as Thomas Jefferson’s presidential secretary.Lewis had known Jefferson since he was a boy—he’d grown up on a Virginia plantation only a few miles from Monticello—and the pair went on to forge a mentor-protégé relationship while working together in the White House. When Jefferson conceived of his grand expedition into the lands west of the Mississippi in 1802, he named the rugged, intellectually gifted Lewis as its commander. Already eager to know more about these lands, Jefferson’s interest in the area increased with purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. Jefferson asked Lewis to gather information about the plants, animals, and peoples of the region. Lewis jumped at the chance and selected old friend William Clark to join him as co-commander of the expedition. To help the young secretary prepare, Jefferson gave him a crash course in the natural sciences and sent him to Philadelphia to study medicine, botany and celestial navigation.Lewis's Monkey Flower (Mimulus lewisii) Collected: 1805 Aug 12 - Lemhi Pass, Montana and IdahoDid You Know?Congress allocated $2,500 for Lewis and Clark's expedition.THE EXPEDITION BEGINSLewis, Clark, and the rest of their expedition began their journey near St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1804. This group – often called the Corps of Discovery by historians – faced nearly every obstacle and hardship imaginable on their trip. They braved dangerous waters and harsh weather and endured hunger, illness, injury, and fatigue. Along the way, Lewis kept a detailed journal and collected samples of plants and animals he encountered. Lewis and his expedition received assistance in their mission from many of the native peoples they met during their journey westward. The Mandans provided them with supplies during their first winter. It was during this time that expedition picked up two new members, Sacagawea and Touissant Charbonneau. The two acted as interpreters for the expedition and Sacagawea, Charbonneau’s wife and a Shoshone Indian, was able to help get horses for the group later in the journey.Clarkston, Sacajawea State Park, The Dalles, Stevenson, Astoria, PortlandREACHING THE PACIFICThe Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805. They built Fort Clatsop and spent the winter in present-day Oregon. On the way back in 1806, Lewis and Clark split up to explore more territory and look for faster route home. Lewis and his men faced great danger when a group of Blackfeet Indians sought to steal from the corps in late July. Two Blackfeet were killed in the ensuing conflict. The next month, Lewis was shot in the thigh by one of his own men during a hunt. Lewis and Clark and their two groups joined up again at the Missouri River and made the rest of the trek to St. Louis together. In total, the expedition traveled roughly 8,000 miles by boat, on foot, and on horseback.RETURNING HOMETraveling home, Lewis and the other members of the expedition received a warm welcome from nearly place they went. Many towns held special events to herald the explorers’ return as they passed through. Once reaching the nation’s capital, Lewis received payment for his courageous efforts. Along with his salary and 1,600 acres of land, he was named governor of the Louisiana Territory. Lewis also tried to publish the journals that he and Clark wrote during their great adventure. Always prone to dark moods, he began to have a drinking problem and neglected his duties as governor.Famous Biographies (BIO.com)LEWIS & CLARKWESTWARD EXPANSIONWhat Was the Lewis & Clark Expedition? (all the illustrations)Legendary Lewis and Clark Expedition Characters (ndtourism.com)These characters organized and led the Corps of Discovery on the famous Lewis & Clark Expedition.Meriwether LewisThe Lewis and Jefferson families were long-time neighbors and family friends. Meriwether Lewis served as Thomas Jefferson’s personal aide prior to the expedition. Lewis had a lifetime’s experience as an outdoors man, hunter and herbal medicine expert, facts that influenced Jefferson’s decision to choose him as Corps leader.Lewis later died under mysterious circumstances.Meriwether Lewis. (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)Lewis battled depression and mood swings for most of his life, and his condition only worsened after he returned from the transcontinental expedition in 1806. He reportedly suffered from money troubles, and drinking too much.In September 1809, Lewis set out for Washington, D.C.. to answer complaints about his actions as governor of Louisiana. On the way, he stopped at an inn called Grinder's Stand, about 70 miles (110 km) from Nashville, Tennessee on the Natchez Trace on October 10, 1809. The next morning, servants found Lewis badly injured from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. He died shortly after sunrise.While modern historians generally accept his death as a suicide, Some have since speculated he was murdered. Mrs. Grinder, the tavern-keeper's wife, claimed Lewis acted strangely the night before his death. She said that during dinner Lewis stood and paced about the room talking to himself in the way one would speak to a lawyer. She observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit. After he retired for the evening, Mrs. Grinder continued to hear him talking to himself. At some point in the night she heard multiple gunshots, and what she believed was someone asking for help. She claimed to be able to see Lewis through the slit in the door crawling back to his room. She never explained why, at the time, she didn't investigate further concerning Lewis's condition or the source of the gunshots.When Clark and Jefferson were informed of Lewis' death, both accepted it as suicide, but his family contended it was murder. In later years a court of inquiry explored whether they could charge the tavern-keeper with Lewis' death. They dropped the inquiry for lack of evidence or motive.Four years after Lewis' death, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction, ... honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, with all these qualifications as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him.”Lewis was buried not far from where he died, honored today by a memorial along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Despite his tragic end, Lewis helped change the face of the United States by exploring uncharted territory – the American West. His work inspired many others to follow in his footsteps and created great interest in the region. Lewis also advanced scientific knowledge. Through his careful work numerous discoveries of previously unknown plants and animals were made.William ClarkWilliam Clark was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on August 1, 1770, the ninth of the 10 children of John and Ann Rogers Clark. Clark was an adjutant and quartermaster while in the militia. He resigned his commission on July 1, 1796 due to poor health, returning to Mulberry Hill, his family plantation near Louisville.Prior to his resignation, Meriwether Lewis was assigned to Clark's unit as an ensign under Clark's command. In 1803, Clark was asked by Lewis to share command of the newly-formed Corps of Discovery. Clark spent three years on the expedition, and although technically subordinate to Lewis in rank, he exercised equal authority at Lewis' insistence. He concentrated chiefly on drawing of maps, management of the expedition's supplies and leading hunts.After the Expedition, he served in a militia and as governor of the Missouri Territory. From 1822 until his death he held the position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Clark married Julia Hancock on January 5, 1808, at Fincastle, Virginia, and they had five children. Julia died in 1820 and William Clark then married her first cousin Harriet Kennerly Radford, and they had three children. His second wife died in 1831.Clark died in St. Louis on September 1, 1838, and was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery, where a 35-foot gray granite obelisk was erected to mark his grave. Although his family had established endowments to maintain his grave site, by the late 20th century the grave site had fallen into disrepair. His descendants raised $100,000 to rehabilitate the obelisk and celebrated the re-dedication with a ceremony May 21, 2004, on the bicentennial of the start of his famous expedition. The ceremony was attended by a large gathering of his descendants, re-enactors in period dress, and leaders from the Osage Nation, and the Lemhi band of the Shoshone Native American people.Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principle author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. A man of many talents, Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, inventor and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed 49 Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." To date, Jefferson is the only president to serve two full terms in office and to veto no bill of Congress. Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.York (Clark brought his slave on the journey)York statue by Ed Hamilton. (Credit: Dennis Macdonald/Getty Images)York was born in Caroline County near Ladysmith, Virginia. He was William Clark's servant from boyhood, and was left to William in his father's will. He had a wife, and possibly a family, before the Lewis and Clark Expedition.In 1804, York joined more than two-dozen enlisted men and officers, the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The expedition's journals present York as a large, strong man who shared the duties and risks of the expedition in full. He was the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and in the wilderness served as an equal member, with freedoms and responsibilities unlike back East. The tall manservant was a hit with frontier tribes, many of whom had never seen a person with dark skin. The Arikara people of North Dakota even referred to York as “Big Medicine” and speculated that he had spiritual powers. Though not an official member of the Corps of Discovery, York made the entire journey from St. Louis to the Pacific and back, and became a valued member of the expedition for his skills in scouting, hunting and field medicine.When the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean, York and the Shoshone interpreter Sacagawea voted along with the rest as to where the Expedition would build winter quarters. As historian Stephen E. Ambrose later noted, this simple show of hands may have marked the first time in American history a black man and a woman were given the vote. Most significantly, at a time in which slaves were forbidden to carry weapons, York not only carried a firearm but also frequently shot game such as buffalo. York was never granted his freedom.Fort Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark expedition settled from 1805-1806Recruitment at Fort Massac, 1803, by Michael HaynesSergeant Charles Floyd (pbs.org)Sergeant Floyd was born in Kentucky, and was among the first to volunteer for service in the Corps, joining on August 1, 1803. Among those included as one of the "Nine young men from Kentucky," Floyd was a cousin of the expedition's Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor. Considered a "man of much merit" by Captain Clark, he kept an uninterrupted daily record from May 14, 1804, until August 18, two days prior to his untimely death on August 20. Floyd's death was the only fatality among expedition members during the two years, four months and nine days of their transcontinental odyssey.In the spirit of President Jefferson's instructions and perhaps drawing from an agrarian background, Floyd judged land quality, including soil conditions, en-route up the Missouri. Unfortunately, Floyd's contributions to the journey, together with his journal, ended with his premature death. As "Diagnosed" by the captains, Floyd's illness was considered to be a "bilious cholic."Today, Floyd enjoys the honor of having had erected at his gravesite in present Sioux City, Iowa, the most prestigious memorial of the explorers. A 100-foot-high sandstone masonry obelisk, second in size only to that of the Washington Monument, was dedicated in fitting ceremonies on Memorial Day 1901.Toussaint Charbonneau - WikipediaCharbonneau was born in Boucherville, Quebec (near Montréal), a community with strong links to exploration and the fur trade.It was likely that while working with the North West Company that Charbonneau encountered the established settlement of Mandan and Hidatsa tribes on the upper Missouri River, near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. He settled amongst these tribes, according to his own report around 1797. The area would remain his home for the rest of his life. Charbonneau became a free agent, working on his own and for several different fur companies operating in the area, as a trapper, laborer and an interpreter of the Hidatsa language.Soon after his arrival, Charbonneau purchased two captive Shoshone women: Sacagawea (Bird Woman) and "Otter Woman," from the Hidatsa, The Hidatsa had captured these two young women on one of their annual raiding and hunting parties to the west. Charbonneau eventually considered these women to be his wives, though whether they were bound through Native American custom or simply through common-law marriage is indeterminate.Charbonneau was a particular individual, the least liked of all the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Lewis referred to him as “a man of no peculiar merit”. Historians have portrayed him as a coward who hit his wife and had a particular attraction to young Native American girls. He is referred to as Mr. Sacagawea.In 1804, Sacagawea became pregnant with their first child. It was during this year that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came to the area, built Fort Mandan, and recruited members to the Corps of Discovery. Charbonneau was interviewed to interpret Hidatsa. Lewis and Clark, however, were not overly impressed with him; Charbonneau spoke no English. Although several in the expedition party could translate from French, Charbonneau did not appear to know Hidatsa all that well. (By his own admission, over thirty years later, he still could not speak the language well although he had lived with the Hidatsa nearly continuously.) However, when Lewis and Clark learned that his wives were Shoshone, they were eager to have them interpret this language as well. Sacagawea spoke Shoshone and Hidatsa, and Charbonneau Hidatsa and French. They hired Charbonneau on November 4, and he and Sacagawea moved into Fort Mandan a week later.In the winter, as the expedition was preparing to get underway, Charbonneau had second thoughts about his role. He quit the expedition, having said he was dissatisfied that he would be required to stand guard, perform manual labor, etc. But, on March 17 he returned and apologized, saying he would like to re-join the company; he was re-hired the following day. At age 47, Charbonneau was the oldest member of the expedition. His performance during the journey was mixed: Meriwether Lewis called him "a man of no peculiar merit," and many historians painted Charbonneau in a distinctly unfavorable light.Charbonneau, however, did make several contributions to the success of the expedition. He was helpful when the expedition encountered French trappers from Canada. He served as a cook; his recipe for boudin blanc (a sausage made from bison meat) was praised by several members of the party. Additionally, his skill in striking a bargain came in handy when the expedition acquired much-needed horses at the Shoshone encampment.Sakakawea (Sacagawea)Sacagawea was born into the Lemhi Shoshone tribe in Idaho. In 1800, when she was about twelve, she and several other girls were kidnapped by a group of Hidatsa (also known as Minnetarees) in a battle that resulted in the death of four Shoshone men, four women and several boys. She was then taken to a Hidatsa village near present-day Washburn, North Dakota.At about 13 years of age, Sacagawea was taken as a wife by Toussaint Charbonneau, a French trapper living in the village, who had also taken another young Shoshone wife named Otter Woman. Charbonneau is said to have won both wives from the Hidatsa while gambling. Sacagawea was pregnant with her first child when the Corps of Discovery arrived near the Hidatsa villages to spend the winter of 1805-1806. Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark built Fort Mandan and interviewed several trappers who might be able to translate or guide the expedition further up the Missouri River in the springtime. They agreed to hire Charbonneau as an interpreter when they discovered his wife spoke the Shoshone language, as they knew they would need the help of the Shoshone tribes at the headwaters of the Missouri.Lewis recorded the birth of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau on February 11, 1805, noting that another of the party's interpreters administered crushed rattlesnake rattles from Lewis' specimen collection to speed the delivery. The boy was called "Little Pomp" or "Pompy" by Clark and others in the expedition.In April, the expedition left Fort Mandan and headed up the Missouri River in pirogues, which had to be poled and sometimes pulled from the riverbanks. On May 14, 1805, Sacagawea rescued items that had fallen out of a capsized boat, including the journals and records of Lewis and Clark. The corps commanders, who praised her quick action on this occasion, would name the Sacagawea River in her honor on May 20.When the corps reached the Pacific Ocean at last, all members of the expedition—including Sacagawea and Clark's black manservant York—were allowed to participate in a November 24 vote on the location where they would build their fort for the winter.On the return trip, they approached the Rocky Mountains in July 1806. On July 6, Clark recorded "The Indian woman informed me that she had been in this plain frequently and knew it well.... She said we would discover a gap in the mountains in our direction..." which is now Gibbons Pass. A week later, on July 13, Sacagawea advised Clark to cross into the Yellowstone River basin at what is now known as Bozeman Pass, later chosen as the optimal route for the Northern Pacific Railway to cross the continental divide. While Sacagawea often appears in romantic depictions as a guide for the expedition, she provided direction in only a few instances. Her translation efforts also helped the party to negotiate with the Shoshone. However, her greatest value to the mission may have been simply her presence, which indicated their peaceful intent. While traveling through what is now Franklin County, Washington, Clark noted "The Indian woman confirmed those people of our friendly intentions, as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians in this quarter" and "the wife of Shabono our interpreter we find reconciles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions a woman with a party of men is a token of peace."After the expedition, Charbonneau and Sacagawea spent three years among the Hidatsa before accepting William Clark's invitation to settle in St. Louis, Missouri in 1809. They entrusted Jean-Baptiste's education to Clark, who enrolled the young man in the Saint Louis Academy boarding school.Sacagawea carrying PompeyJean Baptiste Charbonneau (Pompey)Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born at Fort Mandan in North Dakota, the encampment at which the Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered in 1804-1805. His father, French Canadian trapper Toussaint Charbonneau, had been hired by the expedition as an interpreter. Captains Lewis and Clark agreed to bring along his then-pregnant Native American wife Sacagawea when they learned she was of the Shoshone people, as they knew they would need to negotiate with the Shoshone for horses and guides at the headwaters of the Missouri River. Meriwether Lewis noted the boy's birth in his journal:“The party that were ordered last evening set out early this morning. the weather was fair and could wind N. W. about five oclock this evening one of the wives of Charbono was delivered of a fine boy. it is worthy of remark that this was the first child which this woman had boarn and as is common in such cases her labour was tedious and the pain violent; Mr. Jessome informed me that he had frequently administered a small portion of the rattle of the rattle-snake, which he assured me had never failed to produce the desired effect, that of hastening the birth of the child; having the rattle of a snake by me I gave it to him and he administered two rings of it to the woman broken in small pieces with the fingers and added to a small quantity of water. Whether this medicine was truly the cause or not I shall not undertake to determine, but I was informed that she had not taken it more than ten minutes before she brought forth perhaps this remedy may be worthy of future experiments, but I must confess that I want faith as to it's [sic] efficacy.”Charbonneau traveled from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back as an infant, carried along in the expedition's boats or upon his mother's back. His presence is often credited with reassuring the native tribes the expedition encountered, as it is said they believed that no war party would travel with a woman and child.Clark paid for young Jean Baptiste to attend school there at St. Louis Academy, now known as St. Louis University High School, and continued to oversee his care and schooling. Sakakawea returned up the Missouri River with the elder Charbonneau. In May 1866, while en route from California to the new gold fields around Virginia City, Montana, Charbonneau died of pneumonia near Danner, Oregon, at age 61.Seaman, the dogSeaman, a black Newfoundland dog, became famous for being a member of the first American overland expedition from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast and back. He was purchased for $20 by Captain Meriwether Lewis for his famed Lewis and Clark expedition. During the expedition, around May 14, 1805, both Captains performed surgery on one of Seaman's arteries in his hind leg, as it had been severed by a beaver bite. In early 1806, as the expedition was beginning the return journey, Seaman was stolen by Indians and Lewis threatened to send three armed men to kill the Indian tribe.Smithsonian Magazine Lewis and Clark Astoria Column25 Facts About Sacagawea and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (owlcation.com)MarieU.S. Sacagawea Golden Dollar | Source25 fascinating and insightful facts , true story of a young Native American girl who was kidnapped as a young teenager by a rival tribe and passed on to be the wife of a French-Canadian fur trapper.Sacagawea was employed, along with her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, to go with the great Lewis and Clark Expedition, or the Corps of Discovery, on a 3,700-mile trek. She aided the expedition with her skill in interpreting for trades with Native Americans on the journey.She also helped to guide the way on the long trek. She cooked, cleaned and mended clothes —all while caring for her tiny baby son. She was a remarkable symbol of independence and endurance. Her spirit lives on to this day.3 Facts About Sacagawea's NameSacagawea statue at Lewis & Clark College | Source1. The name is often pronounced sack-uh-guh-wee-a. There are many variants of her name but this is the spelling used most by modern historians andappeared on the year 2000 Dollar coin which features her.2. She is also known as Sakakawea, an anglicized form, which is said to be derived from tsakaka wia from the Hidatsa (Minnetarees) language. This spelling means bird woman - sakaka meaning bird and wea meaning woman. Her husband told other people that her name had this meaning which seems to corroborate it.3. The Lemhi Shoshone, the Northern Shoshone tribe that she was born into, refer to her as Sacajawea which comes from the Shoshone word for her name, Saca tzah we yaa. This variant of her name means boat puller or boat launcher.4 Facts About Her Early Life4. Not a great deal is known or recorded on her early years. She was born around 1788 as the daughter of a Lemhi Shoshone chief and was of the Akaitikka, Agaideka or Eaters of Salmon tribe. They were traditionally based near the Idaho upper Salmon River, hence the 'Eaters of Salmon' name.5. Sacagawea was kidnapped along with several other girls in 1800. At that point, she would have been about 12 years old. The kidnappers were an enemy tribe called the Hidatsa Indians (Minnetarees) who took the girls to what is the present-day North Dakota.6. At the tender age of 13, she was either bought or won in gambling by a man called Toussaint Charbonneau. He took her and another woman to be his wives.7. Her husband, Charbonneau, was a French-Canadian Trapper, originally from Quebec. He worked as a fur trapper and also an interpreter of the Hidatsa tribes when he settled among them. He is not written about in a particularly favorable light.8 Facts About the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionLewis & Clark The Journey Begins | Source8. Sacagawea and Charbonneau were invited to join an expedition by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The trip which started on the 14th May 1804, is often referred to as the Corps of Discovery. It was a 3,700-mile journey from the Mississippi River to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. She was the only woman on the trip and was there as a Shoshone interpreter.9. During the expedition, Sacagawea and Charbonneau worked as translators or language interpreters. Sacagawea didn't speak English so she conversed with the Shoshone and then translated to Hidatsa to her husband. Charbonneau, who also didn't speak English, translated this into French to another expedition member, Francois Labiche, who then translated this into English for the expedition leaders.10. She gave birth to her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, on February 11, 1805. The boy was given the nickname Little Pomp or Pompey from the expedition leader, Clark and other members.11. The Sacagawea River in Montana was named in her honor on the 20th May 1805 after she rescued journals and records by Lewis and Clark after a canoe boat almost capsized in a storm.Surprise Reunion (wrighthotel.com)12. During the expedition, she had an emotional reunion with her brother, Cameahwait, who was now a chief in a band of the Shoshone Indians. Their meeting, in August 1805, was one of happy chance. The expedition party needed to trade with the Shoshone for horses so they could cross the Rocky Mountains.13. The Lewis and Clark expedition had a difficult time traveling over the Rocky Mountains, so bad that they might have had to survive by eating beef fat tallow candles. Sacagawea helped the group regain strength when they got to the other side of the mountains by cooking camas roots.14. Sacagawea's blue beaded belt was used to barter for a beautiful fur robe made of sea otter skins that Lewis and Clark wanted for a gift for the then president Thomas Jefferson.15. Sacagawea was useful to the expedition which ended in September 1806 in a variety of roles. She was an interpreter but also as an occasional guide, a symbol of peace to Indian tribes who they encountered along the way which discouraged their party from being attacked. She was also a food gatherer and cook, a cleaner and someone who could repair clothes.6 Facts About the Expedition's Aftermath16. Sacagawea was never actually paid for her part in the expedition. Because she was a woman, it was her husband who was paid with money and land for his and his wife's help and assistance on the trip.17. After the expedition, Charbonneau and Sacagawea spent 3 years among the Hidatsa before settling down in 1809 in St. Louis, Missouri.18. A daughter, Lizette or Lisette, was born sometime after 1810. Not much is known about Lizette and may have died in childhood.19. Sacagawea is reported to have become sick in 1811 and died in 1812.20. Jean Baptiste, along with his younger sister, Lizette, was adopted by the expedition leader, Clark, after she died. Clark was very fond of Jean Baptiste and had stated his desire to raise him as his own son at the end of the expedition. In fact, Jean Baptiste had been entrusted into Clark's care before the death of his mother and given a boarding school education.21. Jean Baptiste, held a kind of celebrity status as the only child who went on the Lewis and Clark expedition. He spent 6 years living with German royalty after he was befriended by a prince.4 Final FactsSacajawea of the Shoshonis | Source22. During the expedition, she had been given certain rights such as the permission to vote for where a fort would be built that the expedition party could stay in during the winter months. Sacagawea became a bit of a role model for suffragists, such as The National American Woman Suffrage Association of the early 20th century. She was adopted as a symbol of independence.23. Many tributes to her and her contribution to the Corps of Discovery have been created such as place names, statues, lakes, and buildings.24. The picture on the year 2000 dollar coin is not actually Sacagawea because no-one knows what she looked like and no picture exists. The face on the coin was that of a modern Shoshone-Bannock woman called Randy'L He-dow Teton.25. She was featured in the 2006 comedy movie, Night at the Museum. The night guard, played by Ben Stiller, had real trouble pronouncing her name. She has been in many books, documentaries, movies and even songs. Her spirit really does live on.© 2011 MarieLewis and Clark Expedition - WikipediaA Journey into the UnknownThe Corps of Discovery entered North Dakota in mid-October, 1804, wintered here and ventured west in April 1805, stepping off the map of the known world. Some of the most important and dramatic events of their journey happened here, particularly meeting a young Indian woman named Sakakawea (Sacagawea). She lived in a settlement of 4,500 people now known as the Knife River Indian Villages. The populations of the villages was greater than the cities of Washington D. C. and St. Louis at the that time.Lewis and Clark spent the winter among five Mandan and Hidatsa earthlodge villages, located at or just below the mouth of the Knife River where they constructed Fort Mandan, named in honor of their new friends on the plains. During their time at Fort Mandan, Captain Lewis hired Sakakawea’s husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, “with his wife, as an interpreter” and later helped deliver her son, Jean Baptiste.Sakakawea’s mere presence on the expedition, with a baby in tow, announced in a universal language that theirs was a peaceful mission.www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/journey.htmTimeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - WikipediaLewis And Clark Expedition (history.net)

June 25, 2018: The House passed bills providing $675 billiion in defense spending for FY19, and letting Pacific Northwest states kill 100 more sea lions to protect endangered salmon, in addition to a resolution insisting the DOJ turn over subpoenaed documents. A bill that'd provide legal status to Dreamers, provide $23 billion in border security funding, and address family separation at the border failed. The Senate passed its versions of the Farm Bill and the "minibus" bill providing FY19 funding for military construction & veterans affairs, energy & water programs, and Congress.June 18, 2018: The House passed numerous bills to address various aspects of the opioid epidemic, including a bill that specifically focused on substance abuse programs in Medicaid and Medicare. It also passed the Farm Bill after failing to advance a bill that'd give DACA recipients legal status, authorize border security funding, overhaul the legal immigration system to be merit-based, and eliminate the diversity visa lottery. The Senate passed the FY19 defense authorization and began debate on the "minibus" bill providing FY19 funding for military construction & veterans affairs, energy & water programs, and Congress. An attempt to force consideration of the bill to rescind nearly $15 billion in unused funding from prior fiscal years failed.June 11, 2018: The House passed more than two dozen bills addressing various aspects of the opioid epidemic, including a bill to create a new category of controlled substance for synthetic drugs. The Senate spent the week debating the FY19 defense authorization.June 4, 2018: The House passed bills to rescind about $15 billion in unused funding from past fiscal years, reauthorize water resources programs for two years, and establish a grant program for anti-gang efforts. It also passed a "minibus" bill providing FY19 funding for military construction & veterans affairs, energy & water programs, and Congress. The Senate confirmed three district court judges and an assistant secretary for education, in addition to starting debate on the FY19 defense authorization.May 20, 2018: The House passed a bill to give terminally ill patients the "right to try" experimental treatments, a bill reforming regulations for community banks, and the FY19 defense authorization. The Senate passed a bill to establish a community care program for veterans and modernize VA infrastructure, in addition to confirming several nominees to executive branch agencies including the chairperson of the FDIC.May 13, 2018: The Senate voted to stop the FCC's rollback of net neutrality and confirmed four circuit court judges. The House passed a bill to establish a community care program for veterans and modernize VA infrastructure, in addition to a bill establishing federal penalties for attacking a law enforcement officer. A vote on the Farm Bill, which would reauthorize USDA food & agriculture programs through 2023 while reforming the SNAP food stamps program, failed.May 6, 2018: The House passed bills to move the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository forward and to require state and local governments to disclose information about participants in their pretrial release programs. The Senate confirmed two circuit court judges and started debate on the nominations of two other circuit court judges.April 23, 2018: The House passed bills to reauthorize the FAA and reform disaster relief, keep the Columbia River dams operating into 2022, and modernize music copyright law. It also passed bills prohibiting U.S. assistance from rebuilding parts of Syria controlled by Assad, sanction Iran for its hostage-taking, and express support for the unified U.S., Canada, and Mexico bid to host the 2026 World Cup. The Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State and Richard Grenell as Ambassador to Germany, in addition to a circuit court judge on the Fifth Circuit.April 16, 2018: The House passed bills to modernize and reform the Internal Revenue Service with the aim of providing better service to taxpayers. The Senate confirmed Jim Bridenstine as NASA Administrator and considered a bill to reform labor laws on tribal lands which failed to get the votes needed to limit debate.April 9, 2018: The House passed bills revising financial regulations related to "too big to fail" designations, stress tests, and the application of the Volcker Rule. It also considered a proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution failed to get the 2/3 majority required to pass. The Senate confirmed a member of the National Labor Relations Board, deputies at the Labor Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, and three district court judges.March 19, 2018: Both chambers of Congress passed legislation providing appropriations to fund the government for fiscal year 2018. The House also passed a "right to try" bill that lets terminally ill patients access experimental drugs. It also passed a bill to exempt investment firms from Dodd-Frank's stress tests. The Senate confirmed the new commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, passed a bill to make it a federal crime for websites to promote sex trafficking or prostitution, and tabled a resolution to withdraw U.S. troops from the conflict in Yemen.March 12, 2018: The House passed bills to increase grants for school safety and revise financial regulatory exams, SEC registration for startups, and tailoring rules to limit the burden on community banks. The Senate passed a bill to relieve the regulatory burden on community banks.March 5, 2018: The House passed bills to ease emissions regulations on coal waste power plants, brick manufacturers, and new home heating devices. It also passed a bill to make financial regulators review current rules more frequently to ensure they're not outdated. The Senate confirmed three district court judges, and started debate on a bill to ease regulations on community banks and expand consumer credit protections.February 26, 2018: The House passed a bill making it a federal crime for websites to promote prostitution or sex trafficking and a bill related to capital requirements for banks. It then adjourned on Tuesday to allow Rev. Billy Graham to lay in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. The Senate confirmed one circuit court judge, one district court judge, and the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. It also started debate on the nominations of three district court judges.February 12, 2018: The Senate debated but failed to advance several immigration reform proposals. The House passed legislation reforming the process for filing lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also passed bills sanctioning Hamas for its use of human shields and reversing a court ruling so that loans retain their interest rates if sold or transferred across state lines by the lender.February 5, 2018: Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act in the early hours of Friday morning to end a 5+ hour government shutdown. The House passed bills to change how "points and fees" are calculated for qualified mortgages, and to lift the regulatory threshold for a small bank from $1 billion to $3 billion. The Senate confirmed Andrei Iancu to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.January 29, 2018: The House passed bills to reform the process used by banks to create "living wills" to protect markets against their failure and fund the Dept. of Defense for the rest of fiscal year 2018. It also voted to send a bill to prevent the sexual abuse of minors at U.S. Olympic Committee-affiliated organizations to President Trump's desk. The Senate failed in a procedural vote to bring up a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy under most circumstances, and confirmed David Stras to be a Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit. Congress adjourned after President Trump's State of the Union Address on Tuesday so that Republicans could hold their annual policy retreat.January 22, 2018: Congress reached a deal Monday to end the government shutdown. The House then adjourned for the week. The Senate confirmed Jerome Powell as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alex Azar as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Sam Brownback as Ambassador At Large for International Religious Freedom.January 15, 2018: The House passed a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open for four weeks and reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years. It also passed legislation punishing healthcare providers who don't try to save infants born alive after an attempted abortion, fund the World Bank unless corruption continues, and modify mortgage regulations. The Senate passed a reauthorization of surveillance powers under FISA Section 702. It then considered the stopgap funding bill which was blocked on a procedural vote, prompting a government shutdown. Both chambers remained in session over the weekend but no votes on legislation were held.January 8, 2018: The House voted to condemn the Iranian regime's crackdown on legitimate protests, reform labor laws for businesses on tribal lands, and reauthorize the government's surveillance powers under FISA Section 702. The Senate confirmed four district court judges and took a procedural vote to set up debate on the House-passed surveillance bill for next week.January 3, 2018: The Senate swore in two new senators and confirmed John Rood to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy before canceling votes for the rest of the week because of an incoming winter storm. The House was not in session.December 18, 2017: Both chambers of Congress passed the tax reform legislation produced by the conference committee and legislation funding the government through January 19, 2018. The House also approved $81 billion in disaster relief, and a bill requiring that more factors than just size be considered when designating a bank as systemically important. The Senate confirmed nominees to be the HUD general counsel, legal adviser to the State Dept., and assistant secretary of defense.December 11, 2017: The House passed bills to expressing support for America's partnerships with Mexico and Canada, as well as condemning the persecution of Christians and religious minorities around the world. It also passed bills to exempt small banks from certain mortgage regulations and all banks from annual privacy policy disclosures if they're unchanged and publicly available. Finally, it passed bills requiring reports on assets held by Iran's leaders, and also its financing of airliner purchases and connections to money laundering. The Senate confirmed three circuit court judges.December 4, 2017: The House passed legislation to let people with concealed carry permits carry their gun in other states if they follow the state's laws and improving federal crime reporting to gun background check databases. It also passed bills strengthening the penalty for female genital mutilation, cutting off foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it stops paying rewards to terrorists, and condemning the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Burma, among other bills. The Senate confirmed Kirstjen Nielsen as Secretary of Homeland Security and an assistant secretary of the interior. Both chambers passed a continuing resolution to fund the government for two more weeks through December 22, and underwent procedures needed to form a conference committee on the GOP tax reform legislation.November 27, 2017: The House voted to require that all members and employees undergo sexual harassment training each year. It also passed bills making federal probationary periods for new hires two years, reauthorizing the EPA's Brownfields Program, reinstating mining leases in Minnesota, and revising loan regulations for manufactured homes. The Senate passed its version of GOP tax reform legislation, and confirmed one district court judge and one circuit court judge.November 13, 2017: The House passed the GOP tax reform bill, a five-year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, and a resolution regarding the conflict in Yemen. The Senate confirmed a five nominees to posts in the Trump plus a judge to the D.C. District Court. Both chambers passed the conference report for the $700 billion defense authorization for fiscal year 2018.October 30, 2017: The House passed a bill to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years, along with other public health programs for two years. It also passed bills repealing Obamacare's IPAB which suggests Medicare cuts, allowing the active management of national forests to prevent wildfires, revoking passports belonging to members of foreign terror groups, and allowing South Carolina to be represented on the Peanut Standards Board. The Senate confirmed four judges to U.S. Circuit Courts, and one district court judge.October 23, 2017: The House passed the version of the GOP budget resolution for fiscal year 2018 approved by the Senate the week prior, clearing the way for tax reform legislation under the reconciliation process. It also approved bills sanctioning Iran for its ballistic missile program, preventing mandatory donations to outside groups as a part of corporate legal settlements with the federal government, and limiting the use of consent decrees to circumvent the normal rulemaking process. The Senate sent a $36.5 billion disaster relief bill to President Donald Trump's desk, along with legislation repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ban on arbitration agreements. Additionally, it confirmed one U.S. district court judge and began debate on the nomination of another.October 16, 2017: The Senate passed an amended version of the GOP budget resolution for fiscal year 2018 that removes the requirement that tax reform legislation considered under reconciliation be deficit neutral. It also confirmed Callista Gingrich as Ambassador to the Vatican. The House was on a district work week.October 9, 2017: The House passed legislation enhancing protections for whistleblowers at the VA and other agencies, in addition to $36.5 billion in disaster relief for areas damaged by hurricanes and wildfires. The Senate was on a district work week.October 2, 2017: The House passed legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, in addition to the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018 that allows reconciliation to be used for tax reform. The Senate re-confirmed Ajit Pai to the Federal Communications Commission, along with Lee Cissna as the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Randal Quarles as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Eric Hargan as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.September 25, 2017: The House passed a bill providing tax relief to victims of hurricanes that also reauthorized the FAA and allowed for private flood insurance. It also approved bills cutting off Social Security benefits to fugitives wanted for felonies, calling for a strategic partnership with the Association of South East Asian Nations, and reauthorized the federal home visiting program for pregnant women and families. The Senate confirmed a member of the National Labor Relations Board, a circuit court judge, an assistant attorney general, and an assistant secretary of the treasury.September 18, 2017: The Senate passed the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2018 and confirmed Noel Francisco as Solicitor General. The House wasn't in session, as lawmakers had a district work week.Week of September 11, 2017: The House passed an appropriations package containing eight of the annual spending bills that was then combined with the package containing the other four bills. It also passed legislation to deport gang members in the country illegally, create a voluntary cancer registry for firefighters, study the use of virtual currency by terror groups, and notify local law enforcement about the release of terrorism convicts. The Senate confirmed the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a deputy secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and debated amendments to the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2018.Week of September 5, 2017: The House approved bills providing disaster relief, limiting the use of civil asset forfeiture, and clarifying the role of the federal government in regulating self-driving cars. It also considered amendments to an appropriations package. The Senate passed the disaster relief bill so President Donald Trump could sign it into law, and also confirmed a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia.Week of July 31, 2017: The Senate passed a reauthorization of the FDA's drug user fee programs, and confirmed Christopher Wray as FBI Director, a circuit court judge, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, a deputy secretary of energy, and numerous diplomatic nominees. The House was on recess, and the Senate began its August recess on Friday.Week of July 24, 2017: The House passed the intelligence budget for fiscal year 2018; a "minibus" appropriations package for defense, veterans, energy & water, and the legislative branch; and a bill imposing sanctions on Iran, Russia, and North Korea. The Senate also passed that sanctions bill, confirmed a nominee to be deputy secretary of the interior, and debated but failed to advance a Republican healthcare bill.Week of July 17, 2017: The House passed a pair of energy infrastructure bills, legislation giving states more time to implement the EPA's new ozone standards, and swapping land in a wildlife refuge with the state of Alaska so an emergency road can be built through the refuge. The Senate confirmed a nominee to serve as deputy secretary of state, and a U.S. circuit court judge.Week of July 10, 2017: The House passed a bill authorizing defense spending for fiscal year 2018, along with a bill that increases water deliveries to California's Central Valley while reforming the permitting process for water storage projects. The Senate confirmed an information and regulatory administrator to the Office of Management and Budget, a U.S. district court judge in Idaho, and the ambassador to Japan.Week of June 26, 2017: The House passed bills reaffirming America's commitment to NATO's collective defense and reforming medical malpractice lawsuits involving federally subsidized care. It also passed Kate's Law to enhance sentences for unauthorized immigrants that repeatedly enter the country illegally, and a bill to cut federal law enforcement grants to sanctuary cities. The Senate confirmed a nominee to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.Week of June 19, 2017: The House passed bills to make it easier for utility companies to maintain trees near power lines on federal land, make the Bureau of Reclamation the lead agency on water storage projects, and allow states to test a wage subsidy program aimed at helping people on welfare find long-term jobs. The Senate confirmed the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), along with a nominee to the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Commission, and a nominee to a post in the Treasury Dept. that looks to cut off financing for terrorism.Week of June 12, 2017: The House passed bills related to tax credits for health insurance premiums, including bills to verify the eligibility of recipients, to let veterans use the credits on non-VA insurance, and ensure that those on COBRA continuation coverage can access the tax credits. It also sent a VA accountability to the president's desk. The Senate passed a bill to expand sanctions on Iran and Russia for their destabilizing activities.Week of June 5, 2017: The House passed an overhaul of financial industry regulations that repeals and reforms parts of the Dodd-Frank Act, along with a bill to let certain law enforcement officers and veterans bypass polygraph tests for Customs and Border Protection. The Senate passed a bill to increase accountability at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and protect whistleblowers who report misconduct.Week of May 22, 2017: The House passed a number of bills aimed at improving the services of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and preventing the sexual abuse of children. The Senate confirmed former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad to be Ambassador to China, Anul Thapar to be a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and John Sullivan to be Deputy Secretary of State.Week of May 15, 2017: The House passed legislation aimed at preventing attacks against law enforcement by making the murder or attempted murder of first responders an aggravating factor in federal death penalty cases. It also passed new sanctions on supporters of the Assad regime in Syria. The Senate confirmed nominees to be deputy secretary of transportation and associate attorney general.Week of May 8, 2017: The Senate was the sole chamber of Congress in session, as the House was on a recess. It confirmed several nominees to positions in the executive branch, including Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative, Scott Gottlieb as FDA Commissioner, and Heather Wilson as Secretary of the Air Force.Week of May 1, 2017: Congress passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending package to fund the federal government through the end of September. The House also passed its bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, the American Health Care Act, and a new package of sanctions on North Korea.Week of April 24, 2017: Congress returned from a two week recess to pass a seven-day continuing resolution to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. The Senate confirmed the last two members of President Trump's Cabinet, Sonny Perdue and Alexander Acost, the secretaries of agriculture and labor, respectively.Week of April 3, 2017: The Senate confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court after deploying the "nuclear option." The House passed bills to brand North Korea as a state sponsor of terror, reform bankruptcy law for big financial firms, and protect small businesses' ability to self-insure their workforce.Week of March 27, 2017: Congress sent bills repealing an internet privacy rule and blocking family planning grants from going to abortion providers to President Trump's desk. The House passed bills requiring the EPA to only use public science in its rulemaking and reforming the agency's science advisory board.Week of March 20, 2017: The House cancelled a planned vote on the American Health Care Act but passed bills to apply federal anti-trust law to the health insurance industry and let small businesses pool together to buy their employees health insurance. The Senate debated the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and approved bills repealing regulations related to hunting predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges, workplace safety recordkeeping, and internet data privacy.Week of March 13, 2017: The Senate confirmed two Trump nominees — Seema Verma to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence — and voted to let states determine whether recipients of unemployment benefits should be drug tested. The House worked a shortened week because of a snowstorm, but approved bills reforming personnel practices as the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA).Week of March 6, 2017: The House passed a defense spending package for fiscal year 2017 in addition to several lawsuit reform bills. The Senate sent bills blocking rules related to teacher preparation, state accountability plans for education, and Bureau of Land Management planning to President Trump's desk.Week of February 27, 2017: The Senate gave final approval to President Trump's nominees to lead the Depts. of Commerce, the Interior, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Energy. The House passed bills to make more information about pending regulations public and require that high-cost regulations to be reviewed by an independent commission.Week of February 13, 2017: The House passed bills aimed at improving claims processing at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) before passing five bills repealing various Obama-era regulations. The Senate confirmed President Trump's picks to lead the VA, the Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Week of February 6, 2017: The House passed an email privacy bill along with legislation blocking Obama era regulations on state education accountability plans, teacher preparation, and a Bureau of Land Management planning rule. The Senate confirmed three of Trump's cabinet nominees — Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as Attorney General.Week of January 30, 2017: The Senate confirmed Trump's pick to lead the Dept. of Transporation, Elaine Chao, and Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State, in addition to passing a bill to block the Obama era "Stream Protection Rule." The House had passed that bill and other regulatory disapproval bills earlier in the week, including a rule that blocked people considered "mental defectives" by Social Security from buying guns.Week of January 23, 2017: The House passed legislation that would make the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding from being used to fund abortions except in extreme situations, into a permanent law and several communications-related bills. The Senate confirmed Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) as the Trump administration's CIA Director and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations.Week of January 17, 2017: President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday shortened this congressional work week, as the House wasn't in session and the Senate focused on holding confirmation hearings for Trump's nominees.Week of January 9, 2017: The House and Senate both approved a budget resolution that starts the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) through the process of reconciliation. Congress also passed legislation to grant a waiver to retired Marine Corps General Jim Mattis so that he could serve as Secretary of Defense. Aside from that, the House focused on regulatory reform bills while the Senate held hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's nominees.