Representative Jackie Speier News

California saw plenty of change to its congressional delegation last year, with the long-serving likes of Fortney "Pete" Stark , David Dreier , Jerry Lewis , Joe Baca , Elton Gallegly , Mary Bono Mack and more either retiring or getting turned out.

Despite urgent efforts by the White House, Congress and the Pentagon to address the military's burgeoning sexual assault crisis, degrading hate speech against women remains ubiquitous in the military - and it's as close as the nearest computer screen.

This is a sampling from Bay Area News Group's Political Blotter blog. Read more and post comments at www.ibabuzz.com/politics . Rep.

An astonishing rise in sex crimes in the military plus fresh accusations of sexual assault against servicemen assigned to rape-prevention units have sparked accusations that sexual assault has become endemic in all branches of the U.S. military.

Retired Col. Allan Cruz, USMC, and Chief Johnny Johnson, World War II Navy veteran, will be the guest speakers at the 72nd annual Memorial Day observance, "Never to be Forgotten," on May 27 at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.

In a gathering with reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the problem of rampant sexual assault in the military is something the military needs to handle but wouldn't yet endorse legislation to take reporting such crimes out of the chain of command.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed the military to inspect its facilities and remove sexually explicit and degrading materials by July, according to the Pentagon's top officer in charge dealing with Maj.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krunsinski arrives at the Arlington County Courthouse with his attorney, Sheryl Shane, to be arraigned on a misdemeanor sexual battery charge Thursday in Arlington, Va.

For months we've been writing about state efforts to label genetically modified organisms .

Congresswoman Jackie Speier during Wednesday's hearing on the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi had what could be the weirdest exchange with Greg Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in Libya.

President Obama's push for tackling the military's persistent problem of sexual assault has provided a major boost to advocates in Congress who want to overhaul the way the Pentagon handles sexual assault cases.

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In light of the recent increase in reported sexual assaults in the military, Rep.

Listening to U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, tell it, the issue of Internet taxation is not an issue of raising revenue.

MAY 08: State Department foreign service officer and former deputy chief of mission/charge d'affairs in Libya, Gregory Hicks testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a hearing titled, 'Benghazi: Exposing Failure and Recognizing Courage' in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill May 8, 2013 in ... (more)

U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier has fired off a letter to the Secretary of Defense, bringing his attention to what she called a "disturbing Facebook page," which includes many negative comments and photos denigrating women in the Marine Corps.

MARCH 20: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., speaks at a news conference on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act to discuss the benefits the law has had for American women.

This week, several top Republicans have claimed that a supposed White House administration cover-up of the September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, would soon bring down the Obama administration, and on Wednesday, Rep.

Rep. Jackie Speier repeatedly asked Gregory Hicks Wednesday to verify his remarks that lawyers at the State Department told him not to be interviewed by Rep.

Democratic lawmakers and victims' advocates said they will push to strip U.S. military commanders of the power to prosecute sexual assaults after a Pentagon survey found attacks jumped 35 percent over the past two years.