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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell today announced that Ecovia Renewables LLC has been awarded $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The funding will go towards engineering microbial systems that convert the byproducts of industrial crops into valuable materials, such as plastics, in an eco-friendly manner. Read more »

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) says the Interior Department may be breaking the law as it develops the forthcoming stream protection rule. He was referring to the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement's decision not to share new documents on the regulation with cooperating states. Mining companies, states and pro-coal lawmakers, many of them skeptical of the proposal, see… Read more »

When U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell (D-12th District) decided to have local students make valentines for veterans in February, she had no idea what that would become. Read more »

Two months ago, the Mussed sisters of Dearborn and their mother traveled to Yemen for the wedding of a cousin. Like many in metro Detroit's Yemeni-American communities, they liked to visit family and friends in the Middle Eastern country where thousands in Michigan have roots. But this year, the four U.S. citizens found themselves caught in the middle of a conflict that intensified… Read more »

The House passed a nearly $612 billion defense policy bill Friday despite President Barack Obama's veto threat and Democratic worries that the measure opens the door to sharp cuts in domestic spending later this year. The vote was 269-151 for the bill, which maps next year's military and national security programs. It would also preserve for another year the… Read more »

A freshman Michigan congresswoman wants Congress to ask President Barack Obama to use “all of his available authorities” to evacuate U.S. citizens and nationals from Yemen “as soon as possible.” The House Rules Committee late Wednesday approved an amendment by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, to the proposed 2016 defense budget. Her… Read more »

The National Endowment for the Arts recently announced an $18,000 grant to help fund a concert series that will perform in Ann Arbor and Dearborn. The Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor applied for the grant to help support its World At the Edge concert series. The series will feature artists who will perform jazz-based works of art based on their multicultural ethnic… Read more »

Five Michigan freshmen members of Congress — including three Republicans — urged the Obama administration to demand provisions to crack down on currency manipulation in a 12-nation free trade deal under negotiation. Last month, House and Senate committees approved “fast track” legislation that would require Congress to vote up or down on a… Read more »

After wrapping up two-and-a-half hours of same-sex marriage arguments at the Supreme Court, two plaintiffs and a number of advocates crossed First Street to head to Capitol Hill. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., hosted a packed reception Tuesday afternoon welcoming Michigan residents April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse to the Longworth House Office Building. The women are plaintiffs in the case… Read more »

After years of hard work, grit, and determination, Michigan's economy is finally coming back. Manufacturing is in its best stretch of job growth in a decade, unemployment is at its lowest level in eight years, and the auto industry, the backbone of our economy, has come roaring back. While the economy is growing stronger every day, many people in Michigan still don't feel the success at… Read more »