Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Maryland Public Service Commission issued an order on Wednesday directing electricity companies to improve service reliability and resiliency.
Bethesda's congressional representative, Rep. Christopher Van Hollen, praised the Maryland Public Service Commission for its order, issued Wednesday, requiring the state's utility companies, such as Pepco, to improve the reliability and resiliency of electric service. "I commend the Maryland Public Service Commission for continuing to hold utilities accountable for their restoration efforts as a result of last summer’s derecho," he said in a statement. The commission, "using valuable input collected from affected residents, will order Pepco and other Maryland utilities to provide short-term and long-term plans that address sub-standard infrastructure, slow restoration efforts and lack of communication with customers," he continued. The …
The Maryland Public Service Commission issued an order Wednesday directing electricity companies to improve service reliability and resiliency.
Chevy Chase's congressional representative, Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr., praised the Maryland Public Service Commission for Wednesday's order requiring the state's utility companies, such as Pepco, to improve the reliability and resiliency of electric service. "I commend the Maryland Public Service Commission for continuing to hold utilities accountable for their restoration efforts as a result of last summer’s derecho," Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington said in a statement. The commission, "using valuable input collected from affected residents, will order Pepco and other Maryland utilities to provide short-term and long-term plans that address sub-standard infrastructure, slow restoration efforts and lack of communication with …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Rep. Christopher Van Hollen met with Potomac resident Alan Gross in a Cuban prison, where Gross has been detained for more than three years.
Potomac resident Alan Gross met with Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (D-Kensington) on Tuesday—in Cuba, where Gross has been detained in prison for more than three years. "Van Hollen met with Gross while on an official congressional trip to Cuba led by Sen. Patrick Leahy" (D-VT), The Washington Post reported. "We discussed a wide range of issues, and I assured him we were doing everything possible to secure his immediate release," Van Hollen said in a statement. "I indicated to President Raul Castro that the release of Mr. Gross is essential if we are going to improve the relationship between the United States and Cuba—something I believe is in the interest of both of our countries," Van Hollen added. Three years ago last December, Gross was …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Farm Bill impasse includes cuts that could leave 3 million Americans without food-assistance benefits.
A coalition of anti-hunger advocates from across Maryland is trying to show the state’s congressional representatives just how important food assistance programs are. Maryland Hunger Solutions, an advocacy arm of the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center, is heading a “Paper Apple Campaign” this week to urge U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Kensington, to push back against cuts proposed in the 2012 Farm Bill that advocates fear would cripple food-assistance programs that serve millions of Americans. More than 700,000 Marylanders rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the federal food stamp program) to help meet their nutritional needs, according to MHS. This summer’s …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Citing no parking, U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen again calls on Postal Service to relocate the new Bethesda post office.
U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD) is once again calling on the U.S. Postal Service to relocate the new Bethesda post office, which has no parking for patrons. In a July 27 letter to USPS, he called the site selection “misguided” and said the USPS “misrepresented its procedures and stated priorities” in choosing a site with no parking. USPS recently closed the two downtown Bethesda post offices at 7001 Arlington Rd. and 7400 Wisconsin Ave. and consolidated them at the new location at 6900 Wisconsin Ave. The consolidation is part of a nationwide effort by USPS to consolidate or close post offices in the face of declining revenues. With no dedicated parking at the new site, those who park next door in the lot for Mattress Discounters …
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Congressman is calling for new Bethesda post office location.
U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (D) is calling for a new Bethesda post office location after the United States Postal Service opened a new Wisconsin Avenue office with no parking, according to a June 19 letter from the Congressman to USPS. The news was first reported by The Gazette. The United States Postal Service recently closed the two downtown Bethesda post offices at 7001 Arlington Road and 7400 Wisconsin Avenue and consolidated them at the new location at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue. The consolidation is part of a nationwide effort by USPS to consolidate or close post offices in the face of declining revenues. But attempts to sublease parking from the commercial tenants next door to the new office were unsuccessful, Patch reported this …
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Van Hollen continues to attend all fundraising events scheduled before his appointment to the House supercommittee on deficit reduction.
Will Rep. Christopher Van Hollen’s position on the influential "supercommittee" bring a fundraising bonanza for the high-powered Democratic Congressman? That’s what some political insiders were wondering this week as the 12-member bipartisan supercommittee prepared for its second meeting in its attempt to reach an agreement aimed at reigning in the country’s runaway deficit. On Friday, Rep. Van Hollen (D-District 8) plans to host a major fundraiser at Charlie Palmer’s steakhouse, with suggested contribution levels pegged as high as $5,000, according to a report in Politico. Van Hollen apparently had the fundraiser on his schedule before he was named to the supercommittee. Nonetheless, it brings home the contentious issue of the influence …
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Congressional Super Committee charged with coming up with solutions to tackle the country's mounting deficit, and on which Rep. Van Hollen is a member, may look to trim mortgage deductions.
When the Congressional Super Committee convenes in September to start negotiations on how to tackle the country's mounting deficit, the issue of mortgage interest tax deductions will likely be on the table. Interestingly, Rep. Christopher Van Hollen, D-MD, already has hinted that he might be open to possible changes in the mortgage deduction rules, and Congressional sources believe this might be one area in which both Democrats and Republicans can make some headway and possibly even reach a compromise. John Koskinen, who heads Fannie Mae, is among those who believe the whole area of mortgage deductions will be at play as discussions among the 12-member bipartisan Super Committee get underway. "They were never on the table before but now …
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The looming deadline to square up the budget affects Montgomery County because of the many residents who work—directly or indirectly—for the federal government.
All politics may be local, as former House Speaker Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, D-MA, famously said back in the early 1980s. But here in Montgomery County, as the doomsday clock ticks down on the federal debt limit ceiling, that old political saying may not apply these days. Case in point: When Rep. Christopher Van Hollen, D-MD, held an informal luncheon session with Montgomery County Council members in his hometown of Kensington on Monday, 'local' issues got shoved onto the back burner as the 8th District Representative and ranking minority member of the House Budget Committee was pressed by several council members to discuss the tangled debate in Congress over raising the federal debt ceiling. As Van Hollen explained at a financial …
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Nearly 600 attend consumer protection forum featuring Elizabeth Warren in Silver Spring.
Downtown Silver Spring became ‘Ground Zero’ Tuesday night in the nation's long-running financial reform and consumer protection debates, as nearly 600 Montgomery County residents flocked to the Silver Spring Civic Building to hear Elizabeth Warren and a range of local and state consumer protection officials discuss "Financial Consumer Protection For Today’s Economy.” Rep. Christopher Van Hollen, D-Md., the nationally-known 8th District Congressman, hit upon a hot-button issue with this event which featured Warren as the keynote speaker. More than 30 local, state and federal agencies and nonprofit groups distributed brochures and booklets to a large audience with many consumer concerns. It was timely as well, as Warren is currently at the …
Joe Galvagna
9:19 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Van Hollen is a joke. Where has he been on this issue. There should have been hard requirements set down long ago for Pepco and others this nothing new. This man is not the solution he is the problem he needs to go. He is so out out of touch with reality he is not even on the chart. Wake up people we need new blood to solve problems not make more. more ›