Pending Retirement

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Suhas Subramanyam, VA

Democrat

Linked statement

“I'm upset. My constituents worked for the government a long time. They can't get their retirement money. It's been months. They earned that money. It's their money. The government is holding it up. The government promised to pay them. They broke their promise. The government cut money from offices that handle retirement. That's why people can't get their money. I want the government to process these retirements fast. These people deserve better. They worked for the government their whole careers.”
41% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I have heard from many of my constituents whose Federal retirement benefits are still delayed. They have been waiting months for retirement applications that are stuck in limbo at Federal agencies. Career civil servants who spent decades serving this country are waiting to receive the benefits that they have paid into all of these years. The delayed timeline not only impacts their financial security, but it also breaks the promise we made to civil servants. This is another symptom of the impacts of DOGE on the Federal Government, including cuts to the H.R. departments that help process retirements. Our constituents deserve better after dedicating their careers to service. Mr. Speaker, I call on this administration to honor the commitment we made to civil servants and process these retirements expeditiously.

Suhas Subramanyam, VA

Democrat
“I want to scare you. I want you to think about being followed. That is what these cameras do. They track you everywhere. They make a record of your life. They track regular people. They don't get permission. They don't get a warrant. They sell your information. They sell it to police or other people. This is happening all over. Even in my neighborhood. Many police have been accused of abusing this. We need rules now. We need to protect privacy. We need to protect civil liberties. We need to stop unauthorized spying. We need action now.”
48% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, imagine if someone followed you around everywhere you went with a notepad logging every single one of your moves, everywhere you went, and everything you did, and then reported that to a private company that sells that data to law enforcement or to the highest bidder. That is basically what Flock cameras are. They aren't traffic cameras. They use AI to log everywhere you go, everything you do, and everywhere you visit; and they build a pattern of life on everyday, law-abiding citizens, without a warrant and without consent. They are getting installed all over Virginia and all over the country. Even my neighborhood, Brambleton, is looking into installing them. That means hundreds of thousands of warrantless searches across our region without any guardrails. It is no surprise that they can and have been abused. More than 50 law enforcement officers have been accused or charged with misusing this technology, and we cannot continue to let this stand. We must put safeguards in place now, and we must protect the privacy and civil liberties of every single American and prevent unauthorized surveillance. We need action now.

Suhas Subramanyam, VA

Democrat
“We talked about AI ten years ago. AI people said we needed rules. AI is here now. It can self-improve. It can copy itself. AI can work together to hack things. We need to pass laws now. There are ways to make AI safer. We all agree on them. We need auditing and information. We need to be transparent. We need safety in the development process. We need ways to contain AI. This is just common sense. We need to pass bills now. We need to pass bills like the FRONTIER Act. We need to do this now. We cannot wait. We need to pass laws this week. We cannot wait for the next Congress.”
60% shorter Analysis
Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I sat down with some of the leaders in the AI industry. They told me that there were going to be dire consequences if we didn't put AI safeguards in place and that there would be massive implications for our country and for the world if we didn't act. That meeting was 10 years ago. I was in the White House as a technology policy adviser, and the AI leaders were saying then that we needed to act now. Here we are today. We have AI frontier models with the capability to wreak havoc. We are getting to a place where AI can self-improve and duplicate itself. The stuff that was theoretical 10 years ago is now happening. We have swarms of AI chatbots working together in a Machiavellian way to hack and undermine systems. We must act now. There are commonsense ways that security researchers, industry experts, and even Members of Congress here agree can make this safer, like auditing, information reporting, transparency, building safety throughout the AI development process, and real containment strategies, so that AI models don't escape their sandbox during development. This is common sense, and we need to act now. My colleagues and I have already put forward bipartisan legislation, like the FRONTIER Act, led by Representatives Obernolte and Trahan, and other bills. It is because voluntary standards are not a true safeguard, and sitting on the sidelines is not a safeguard. Even President Trump, despite what he just said online, is not a safeguard for the rapid development of AI and what it can cause. We need action now. We need to put legislation on the floor this week. We cannot wait until the next Congress.

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