WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces on Thursday conducted a fifth strike against Iranian-backed Houthi rebel military sites in Yemen as President Joe Biden acknowledged that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-biden-retaliation-attacks-0804b93372cd5e874a0dd03513fe36a2">the American and British bombardment</a>&nbsp;had yet to stop the militants' attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that have disrupted global shipping.

The latest strikes destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles that “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. They were conducted by Navy F/A-18 fighter aircraft, the Pentagon said.

Biden said the U.S. would continue the strikes, even though so far they have not stopped the Houthis from continuing to harass commercial and military vessels.

“When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes," Biden said in an exchange with reporters before departing the White House for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-north-carolina-internet-election-270a1edc65ebad44cec44baf1f8f4f8b">a domestic policy speech</a>&nbsp;in North Carolina.

Hours after Biden spoke, Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a prerecorded statement that its forces had carried out another missile attack against the Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned cargo ship Chem Ranger. Saree said the attack took place in the Gulf of Aden, the waters just south of Yemen.

Earlier Thursday evening, the British military warned of a new attack on shipping some 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Yemen, also in the Gulf of Aden. The Pentagon was not immediately able to confirm the strikes but has cautioned that it anticipates the Houthis will continue their attacks.

The continued harassment of the ships has driven the U.S. and international partners to take extraordinary steps to defend them through a joint mission named Operation Prosperity Guardian, in which the consortium is trying to create a protective umbrella for the vessels by intercepting any missiles or drones that target them. It has also led the U.S. and British militaries to take measures to knock out missile sites, radars and air defense systems to try to tamp down the Houthis' ability to attack.

On Wednesday the U.S. military fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against 14&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Houthi-controlled sites</a>. That same day, the administration put the Houthis back on its list of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.state.gov/executive-order-13224/">specially designated global terrorists</a>. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing, while also allowing vital humanitarian aid to continue flowing to impoverished Yemenis.

“These strikes will continue for as long as they need to continue,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, adding, “I’m not going to telegraph punches one way or another.”

Despite sanctions and military strikes, including a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-biden-retaliation-attacks-0804b93372cd5e874a0dd03513fe36a2">large-scale operation</a>&nbsp;carried out Friday by U.S. and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis keep harassing commercial and military ships. The U.S. has strongly warned Iran to cease providing weapons to the Houthis.

“We never said the Houthis would immediately stop,” the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, said at a briefing, when asked why the strikes have not seemed to stop the Houthis. Since the joint U.S. and British operation got underway last Friday, hitting 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets in that initial round, the Houthis' attacks have been “lower scale,” Singh said.

For months, the Houthis have claimed attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports. They say their attacks aim to end the Israeli air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2">Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel</a>. But the links to the ships targeted in the rebel assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.

The attacks have also raised questions as to whether the conflict between Israel and Hamas has already expanded into a wider regional war.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705112808392.png" alt="View of aircraft launch for the attack Jan. 11 -image U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>View of aircraft launch for the attack Jan. 11 -image U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces on Thursday conducted a fifth strike against Iranian-backed Houthi rebel military sites in Yemen as President Joe Biden acknowledged that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-biden-retaliation-attacks-0804b93372cd5e874a0dd03513fe36a2">the American and British bombardment</a>&nbsp;had yet to stop the militants' attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that have disrupted global shipping.The latest strikes destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles that “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. They were conducted by Navy F/A-18 fighter aircraft, the Pentagon said.Biden said the U.S. would continue the strikes, even though so far they have not stopped the Houthis from continuing to harass commercial and military vessels.“When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes," Biden said in an exchange with reporters before departing the White House for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-north-carolina-internet-election-270a1edc65ebad44cec44baf1f8f4f8b">a domestic policy speech</a>&nbsp;in North Carolina.Hours after Biden spoke, Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a prerecorded statement that its forces had carried out another missile attack against the Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned cargo ship Chem Ranger. Saree said the attack took place in the Gulf of Aden, the waters just south of Yemen.Earlier Thursday evening, the British military warned of a new attack on shipping some 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Yemen, also in the Gulf of Aden. The Pentagon was not immediately able to confirm the strikes but has cautioned that it anticipates the Houthis will continue their attacks.The continued harassment of the ships has driven the U.S. and international partners to take extraordinary steps to defend them through a joint mission named Operation Prosperity Guardian, in which the consortium is trying to create a protective umbrella for the vessels by intercepting any missiles or drones that target them. It has also led the U.S. and British militaries to take measures to knock out missile sites, radars and air defense systems to try to tamp down the Houthis' ability to attack.On Wednesday the U.S. military fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against 14&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Houthi-controlled sites</a>. That same day, the administration put the Houthis back on its list of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.state.gov/executive-order-13224/">specially designated global terrorists</a>. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing, while also allowing vital humanitarian aid to continue flowing to impoverished Yemenis.“These strikes will continue for as long as they need to continue,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, adding, “I’m not going to telegraph punches one way or another.”Despite sanctions and military strikes, including a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-biden-retaliation-attacks-0804b93372cd5e874a0dd03513fe36a2">large-scale operation</a>&nbsp;carried out Friday by U.S. and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis keep harassing commercial and military ships. The U.S. has strongly warned Iran to cease providing weapons to the Houthis.“We never said the Houthis would immediately stop,” the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, said at a briefing, when asked why the strikes have not seemed to stop the Houthis. Since the joint U.S. and British operation got underway last Friday, hitting 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets in that initial round, the Houthis' attacks have been “lower scale,” Singh said.For months, the Houthis have claimed attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports. They say their attacks aim to end the Israeli air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2">Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel</a>. But the links to the ships targeted in the rebel assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.The attacks have also raised questions as to whether the conflict between Israel and Hamas has already expanded into a wider regional war.

US forces strike rebels again; bombing hasn't stopped ship attacks

JOHNSON COUNTY —A man injured in an accident has died as a result of his injuries.

On December 21, the Overland Park Police Department responded to an accident at 123rd St. and Antioch, according to Officer John Lacy.  The driver passed away on December 27.

On Thursday, the Police Department received notification from the Medical Examiner that the driver identified as 74-year-old Dennis Cotton of Overland Park died from injuries sustained from the collision.&nbsp;

JOHNSON COUNTY —A man injured in an accident has died as a result of his injuries.On December 21, the Overland Park Police Department responded to an accident at 123rd St. and Antioch, according to Officer John Lacy. The driver passed away on December 27.On Thursday, the Police Department received notification from the Medical Examiner that the driver identified as 74-year-old Dennis Cotton of Overland Park died from injuries sustained from the collision.&nbsp;

Police: Kansas man dies from injuries in December crash

DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new allegations after a high-speed chase.

A speeding truck led a short chase in North Douglas Co. before the driver, who is known to start violent pursuits, rammed into a patrol vehicle, lost control of his pickup and was soon arrested.

Just before 1:30 a.m. on Monday, police attempted to stop a Chevrolet pickup truck after the driver later identified as 48-year-old Steven Drake had been seen speeding near E. 1600 Road and Highway 24, according to a media release.

Drake initially slowed the truck and then immediately began to accelerate again and the prompted a pursuit.

During the pursuit, deputies successfully implemented a tactical-vehicle-intervention maneuver. However, Drake was able to recover and head east on the highway.

As deputies attempted to identify the driver, he rammed into a patrol vehicle which caused the truck to veer into the ditch and break off the wheel at the axle.

Deputies then took Drake into custody and booked him into the Douglas County jail on requested charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement. There were no injuries reported.

In June of 2022, police asked the&nbsp; public for help to locate Drake after he led police on two vehicle pursuits within a week.

Drake has previous felony convictions that include forgery, assault, theft, aggravated endangering a child, obstruction, aggravated interference with parental control, driving while suspended and three convictions for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1654253731903.png" alt="Drake-photo Lawrence Police" />
 <figcaption>Drake-photo Lawrence Police</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new allegations after a high-speed chase.A speeding truck led a short chase in North Douglas Co. before the driver, who is known to start violent pursuits, rammed into a patrol vehicle, lost control of his pickup and was soon arrested.Just before 1:30 a.m. on Monday, police attempted to stop a Chevrolet pickup truck after the driver later identified as 48-year-old Steven Drake had been seen speeding near E. 1600 Road and Highway 24, according to a media release.Drake initially slowed the truck and then immediately began to accelerate again and the prompted a pursuit.During the pursuit, deputies successfully implemented a tactical-vehicle-intervention maneuver. However, Drake was able to recover and head east on the highway.As deputies attempted to identify the driver, he rammed into a patrol vehicle which caused the truck to veer into the ditch and break off the wheel at the axle.Deputies then took Drake into custody and booked him into the Douglas County jail on requested charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement. There were no injuries reported.In June of 2022, police asked the&nbsp; public for help to locate Drake after he led police on two vehicle pursuits within a week.Drake has previous felony convictions that include forgery, assault, theft, aggravated endangering a child, obstruction, aggravated interference with parental control, driving while suspended and three convictions for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.&nbsp;

Driver rams Kan. patrol vehicle during high-speed chase

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jackson County Executive Frank White vetoed an ordinance Thursday that would have put a 3/8th-cent sales tax renewal on the April ballot to fund sports stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.

“This proposed sales tax would generate over $2 billion from our residents, yet there is no clear understanding or assurance regarding the teams’ commitments and contributions to the county,” White said in a news release, the Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/article284418645.html">reported</a>. “It’s not a good deal for taxpayers and I cannot support an agreement that is not in their best interest.”

Shortly after the veto announcement, four county legislators said they sided with White. In order to override White's veto, the County Legislature — which has nine members — would need six votes. They are approaching a Jan. 23 deadline to put the stadium tax decision in front of voters this spring.

The Royals and Chiefs released a joint statement after White's veto that said, “We respect the County Executive’s veto authority. We will continue working with the legislators to ensure that this ordinance is on the ballot on April 2 so that Jackson County voters have the opportunity to decide on the extension of the current 3/8th-cent sales tax.”

The Royals are seeking to use the sales tax to help fund&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/royals-kansas-city-stadium-c3c3745c5d54d5c59df1f7776f0b04b3">building a new downtown ballpark,</a>&nbsp;though they have not yet announced their location. The Chiefs have consistently stated their intentions to renovate Arrowhead Stadium.

The current stadium leases at the Truman Sports Complex expire in 2031. Although some legislators pointed out Thursday that April isn’t the only ballot in 2024 or in the years ahead of that expiration date, both teams have targeted April for the measure. They are said to have support from the current governor’s office, which has pushed their urgency.

On Jan. 8, county legislators voted 8-1 to approve ballot language for the new 3/8th-cent sales tax to replace the current one that expires in September 2031. White wasn’t in favor of that at the time and wanted more time to get additional concessions from the teams for the county in the deal.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jackson County Executive Frank White vetoed an ordinance Thursday that would have put a 3/8th-cent sales tax renewal on the April ballot to fund sports stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Without robust, binding agreements in place, I have vetoed Ordinance 5822, a proposal for a substantial sales tax to retain the Royals and Chiefs in Jackson County. Full press release, veto message &amp; statement supporting veto from three legislators below ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/4HzNfLVjVe">pic.twitter.com/4HzNfLVjVe</a>&mdash; Frank White (@JCEFrankWhite) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCEFrankWhite/status/1748088760611312023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“This proposed sales tax would generate over $2 billion from our residents, yet there is no clear understanding or assurance regarding the teams’ commitments and contributions to the county,” White said in a news release, the Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/article284418645.html">reported</a>. “It’s not a good deal for taxpayers and I cannot support an agreement that is not in their best interest.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/qFyYkZryGc">pic.twitter.com/qFyYkZryGc</a>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1748110666395762723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Shortly after the veto announcement, four county legislators said they sided with White. In order to override White's veto, the County Legislature — which has nine members — would need six votes. They are approaching a Jan. 23 deadline to put the stadium tax decision in front of voters this spring.The Royals and Chiefs released a joint statement after White's veto that said, “We respect the County Executive’s veto authority. We will continue working with the legislators to ensure that this ordinance is on the ballot on April 2 so that Jackson County voters have the opportunity to decide on the extension of the current 3/8th-cent sales tax.”The Royals are seeking to use the sales tax to help fund&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/royals-kansas-city-stadium-c3c3745c5d54d5c59df1f7776f0b04b3">building a new downtown ballpark,</a>&nbsp;though they have not yet announced their location. The Chiefs have consistently stated their intentions to renovate Arrowhead Stadium.The current stadium leases at the Truman Sports Complex expire in 2031. Although some legislators pointed out Thursday that April isn’t the only ballot in 2024 or in the years ahead of that expiration date, both teams have targeted April for the measure. They are said to have support from the current governor’s office, which has pushed their urgency.On Jan. 8, county legislators voted 8-1 to approve ballot language for the new 3/8th-cent sales tax to replace the current one that expires in September 2031. White wasn’t in favor of that at the time and wanted more time to get additional concessions from the teams for the county in the deal.

County official vetoes stadium tax for April ballot, affecting Royals, Chiefs

BUTLER COUNTY —Emergency crews rescued a horse from a frozen pond in Butler County.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Butler County Animal Response Team received a mutual aid request from Andover Fire-Rescue for a horse last seen on Tuesday evening that was stuck out on the ice on a pond, according to a social media report.

 The three year old 1800 pound draft mare was 15-20 feet out on the pond but had not broken through the ice. She was discovered around noon Wednesday.

Andover Fire-Rescue was able to move her off the ice onto the shore.  The horse was unable to stand on her own.

At 1:30p.m., the Butler County Animal Response Team arrived on scene and a veterinarian sedated the horse and secured the animal on a rescue glide so she could be moved away from the pond and onto level, and drier, ground.

Rescuers gave the horse fluids and she was blanketed, and allowed to rest and recover.  When she was unable to stand, a Becker Sling was applied, and with the assistance of a skip loader,  she was raised to a standing position.

After a period of recovery, several attempts were made to have her bear weight.  She was unable to stand and lowered back to the ground.  The veterinarian remained on scene administering treatment and she was covered and allowed to further rest and recover.

&nbsp; The Butler County Animal Response Team is comprised of volunteers from all over&nbsp;Butler County. They were on scene about 90 minutes after request for assistance.&nbsp;

"Andover Fire's actions and care were a crucial component in getting her to the safety of solid ground. Once we were able to provide the necessary large animal equipment, and trained large animal rescue volunteers, we were able to move her safely away to level and dry ground."

"The owner of the horse, a borrowed skid loader, and veterinarian on site were also important to effecting the rescue."

"Please keep this sweet girl in your thoughts and prayers that she makes a successful recovery."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705591777989.png" alt="Photos Butler County Animal Response Team" />
 <figcaption>Photos Butler County Animal Response Team</figcaption>
 </figure>BUTLER COUNTY —Emergency crews rescued a horse from a frozen pond in Butler County.On Wednesday afternoon, the Butler County Animal Response Team received a mutual aid request from Andover Fire-Rescue for a horse last seen on Tuesday evening that was stuck out on the ice on a pond, according to a social media report. The three year old 1800 pound draft mare was 15-20 feet out on the pond but had not broken through the ice. She was discovered around noon Wednesday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705591833380.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Andover Fire-Rescue was able to move her off the ice onto the shore. The horse was unable to stand on her own.At 1:30p.m., the Butler County Animal Response Team arrived on scene and a veterinarian sedated the horse and secured the animal on a rescue glide so she could be moved away from the pond and onto level, and drier, ground.Rescuers gave the horse fluids and she was blanketed, and allowed to rest and recover. When she was unable to stand, a Becker Sling was applied, and with the assistance of a skip loader, she was raised to a standing position.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705591809396.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>After a period of recovery, several attempts were made to have her bear weight. She was unable to stand and lowered back to the ground. The veterinarian remained on scene administering treatment and she was covered and allowed to further rest and recover.&nbsp; The Butler County Animal Response Team is comprised of volunteers from all over&nbsp;Butler County. They were on scene about 90 minutes after request for assistance.&nbsp;"Andover Fire's actions and care were a crucial component in getting her to the safety of solid ground. Once we were able to provide the necessary large animal equipment, and trained large animal rescue volunteers, we were able to move her safely away to level and dry ground.""The owner of the horse, a borrowed skid loader, and veterinarian on site were also important to effecting the rescue.""Please keep this sweet girl in your thoughts and prayers that she makes a successful recovery."

Horse rescued from frozen Kansas pond 

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Police officials who responded to the deadly Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting waited far too long to confront the gunman, acted with “no urgency” in establishing a command post and communicated inaccurate information to grieving families, according to a Justice Department report released Thursday that identifies “cascading failures” in law enforcement's handling of the massacre.

<a href="https://portal.cops.usdoj.gov/resourcecenter/content.ashx/cops-r1141-pub.pdf">Click here to read </a>the 600 page report

<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24366914-uvalde-report">The Justice Department report,</a>&nbsp;the most comprehensive federal accounting of the maligned police response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School, catalogs a sweeping array of training, communication, leadership and technology problems that federal officials say contributed to the crisis lasting far longer than necessary. All the while, the report says, terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and agonized parents begged officers to go in.

“Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in active shooter situations and gone right after the shooter and stopped him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday at a news conference in Uvalde after Justice Department officials briefed family members on their findings. The Uvalde victims, he said, "deserved better."

Even for a mass shooting that has already been the subject of intense scrutiny and in-depth examinations — an earlier report by Texas lawmakers, for instance, faulted&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-texas-education-violence-school-31aa135678f8118ed96d893ea77cf8ea">law enforcement at every level</a>&nbsp;with failing “to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety" — the nearly 600-page Justice Department report adds to the public understanding of how officers failed to stop an attack that killed 19 children and two staff members.

The flawed initial response was compounded in the following days by an ineptitude that added to family members' anguish, according to the report. One family member spent hours pulling glass out of an injured son's body because the surviving children were not screened for medical problems.

A county district attorney told families that they would need to wait for autopsy reports before death notifications were made, prompting some to yell: “What, our kids are dead? No, no!” Untrained hospital staff told family members that their loved ones had died, while in other cases, families were incorrectly told that a child had survived when they had not. At one point, an official told waiting families that another bus of survivors was coming, but that was untrue.

“Mirroring the failures of the law enforcement response, state and local agencies failed to coordinate, leading to inaccurate and incomplete information being provided to anxious family and community members and the public,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.

The problems began almost immediately with a flawed assumption by officers at the scene that the shooter was barricaded, or otherwise contained, even as he continued to fire shots. That “mindset permeated throughout much of the incident response" as police, rather than rushing inside the classrooms to end the carnage, waited more than an hour to confront the gunman in what the report called a costly “lack of urgency.”

The gunman, Salvador Ramos, was killed roughly 77 minutes after police arrived on the scene, when a tactical team finally went into the classroom to take him down.

“An active shooter with access to victims should never be considered and treated as a barricaded subject,” the report says, with the word “never” emphasized in italics.

In other errors, the report says, police acted with “no urgency” in establishing a command center at the school, creating confusion among police about who was in charge. The then-school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, discarded his radios on arrival because he deemed them unnecessary. Though he tried to communicate by phone with officers in the school hallway, “unfortunately, on multiple occasions, he directed officers intending to gain entry into the classrooms to stop, because he appeared to determine that other victims should first be removed from nearby classrooms to prevent further injury.”

Uvalde, a community of more than 15,000 about 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio, continues to struggle with the trauma left by the killings and remains divided on the issue of accountability. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell has said she’s still considering whether to bring criminal charges.

Asked about the report and the possibility of charges Thursday, President Joe Biden said he was briefed by his staff “but I don’t know that there’s any criminal liability.”

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott initially praised the officers’ courage, saying the reason the shooting was "not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do" and that they had been brave in "running toward gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives.

But that narrative crumbled under scrutiny, as a report from a panel of state lawmakers and investigations by journalists laid bare how a mass of officers went in and out of the school with weapons drawn but didn’t enter the classroom where the shooting was taking place.

“The actions of the responding officers, combined with the ‘heroic’ storyline that started with (a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety) and continued the next day during the Governor’s and director’s news conference, dealt a serious blow to public confidence in local and state law enforcement,” the report states.

The city of Uvalde said in a statement that it had requested and fully cooperated with the federal investigation and had “already implemented changes in leadership, new personnel, new training, and new equipment.”

The report intentionally omits the identity of the gunman or any explanation of a possible motive. But it does include page-long remembrances of each of the victims, including 10-year-old Jose Flores Jr., who loved cars and the Houston Astros, and Amerie Jo Garza, who on the morning of the shooting had celebrated her appointment to the honor roll.

And it highlights anguished and panicked quotes from a 911 call by students trapped in the classroom — “Help!” “Help!” “Help!” “I don't want to die. My teacher is dead” — experiencing “unimaginable horror” while officers stood just outside in the hallway.

“I hope that the failures end today,” said Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter Lexi Rubio was killed in the shooting. “My child, our children are named in this report because they are dead.” Of the officers who failed that day, she added: "They should be named.”

Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-shootings-texas-education-dd7031b2ce60283a3769ebdb669fa5d2">Irma Garcia</a>&nbsp;was one of the teachers killed, said before the release of the report that she was daunted by the prospect of reliving the circumstances of her sister’s death and what she really wanted was criminal charges.

“A report doesn’t matter when there are no consequences for actions that are so vile and murderous and evil,” said Duran. “What do you want us to do with another report? ... Bring it to court,” she said.

The federal review was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-school-shooting-justice-department-reviewing-response-ed6ea4160d723c2a25cde1c909d31fa7">launched</a>&nbsp;just days after the shooting. Since then, how police respond to mass shootings around the country has come under closer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lewiston-maine-shooting-warning-signs-robert-card-e154aac79b4f9d42a5381c20cd6618dd">scrutiny</a>.

The families of some of the Uvalde victims have blasted police as cowards and demanded resignations. At least five officers have lost their jobs, including two Department of Public Safety officers and the on-site commander, Arredondo.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705594680900.png" alt="Photo U.S. Department of Justicd" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Department of Justicd</figcaption>
 </figure>UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Police officials who responded to the deadly Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting waited far too long to confront the gunman, acted with “no urgency” in establishing a command post and communicated inaccurate information to grieving families, according to a Justice Department report released Thursday that identifies “cascading failures” in law enforcement's handling of the massacre.<a href="https://portal.cops.usdoj.gov/resourcecenter/content.ashx/cops-r1141-pub.pdf">Click here to read </a>the 600 page report<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24366914-uvalde-report">The Justice Department report,</a>&nbsp;the most comprehensive federal accounting of the maligned police response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School, catalogs a sweeping array of training, communication, leadership and technology problems that federal officials say contributed to the crisis lasting far longer than necessary. All the while, the report says, terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and agonized parents begged officers to go in.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Attorney General Merrick Garland: &quot;Within minutes of arriving inside the school, officials on scene transitioned from treating the scene as an active shooter situation to treating the shooter as a barricaded subject. This was the most significant failure.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/wt392AWJsW">pic.twitter.com/wt392AWJsW</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1748095943851806971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in active shooter situations and gone right after the shooter and stopped him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday at a news conference in Uvalde after Justice Department officials briefed family members on their findings. The Uvalde victims, he said, "deserved better."Even for a mass shooting that has already been the subject of intense scrutiny and in-depth examinations — an earlier report by Texas lawmakers, for instance, faulted&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-texas-education-violence-school-31aa135678f8118ed96d893ea77cf8ea">law enforcement at every level</a>&nbsp;with failing “to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety" — the nearly 600-page Justice Department report adds to the public understanding of how officers failed to stop an attack that killed 19 children and two staff members.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Attorney General Merrick Garland: &quot;The chaos and confusion that defined the law enforcement response while the shooter remained a threat also defined the aftermath...Some families were told that their family members had survived, when they had not.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/XUebqxTIa7">pic.twitter.com/XUebqxTIa7</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1748085414022332585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The flawed initial response was compounded in the following days by an ineptitude that added to family members' anguish, according to the report. One family member spent hours pulling glass out of an injured son's body because the surviving children were not screened for medical problems.A county district attorney told families that they would need to wait for autopsy reports before death notifications were made, prompting some to yell: “What, our kids are dead? No, no!” Untrained hospital staff told family members that their loved ones had died, while in other cases, families were incorrectly told that a child had survived when they had not. At one point, an official told waiting families that another bus of survivors was coming, but that was untrue.“Mirroring the failures of the law enforcement response, state and local agencies failed to coordinate, leading to inaccurate and incomplete information being provided to anxious family and community members and the public,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.The problems began almost immediately with a flawed assumption by officers at the scene that the shooter was barricaded, or otherwise contained, even as he continued to fire shots. That “mindset permeated throughout much of the incident response" as police, rather than rushing inside the classrooms to end the carnage, waited more than an hour to confront the gunman in what the report called a costly “lack of urgency.”The gunman, Salvador Ramos, was killed roughly 77 minutes after police arrived on the scene, when a tactical team finally went into the classroom to take him down.“An active shooter with access to victims should never be considered and treated as a barricaded subject,” the report says, with the word “never” emphasized in italics.In other errors, the report says, police acted with “no urgency” in establishing a command center at the school, creating confusion among police about who was in charge. The then-school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, discarded his radios on arrival because he deemed them unnecessary. Though he tried to communicate by phone with officers in the school hallway, “unfortunately, on multiple occasions, he directed officers intending to gain entry into the classrooms to stop, because he appeared to determine that other victims should first be removed from nearby classrooms to prevent further injury.”Uvalde, a community of more than 15,000 about 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio, continues to struggle with the trauma left by the killings and remains divided on the issue of accountability. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell has said she’s still considering whether to bring criminal charges.Asked about the report and the possibility of charges Thursday, President Joe Biden said he was briefed by his staff “but I don’t know that there’s any criminal liability.”In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott initially praised the officers’ courage, saying the reason the shooting was "not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do" and that they had been brave in "running toward gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives.But that narrative crumbled under scrutiny, as a report from a panel of state lawmakers and investigations by journalists laid bare how a mass of officers went in and out of the school with weapons drawn but didn’t enter the classroom where the shooting was taking place.“The actions of the responding officers, combined with the ‘heroic’ storyline that started with (a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety) and continued the next day during the Governor’s and director’s news conference, dealt a serious blow to public confidence in local and state law enforcement,” the report states.The city of Uvalde said in a statement that it had requested and fully cooperated with the federal investigation and had “already implemented changes in leadership, new personnel, new training, and new equipment.”The report intentionally omits the identity of the gunman or any explanation of a possible motive. But it does include page-long remembrances of each of the victims, including 10-year-old Jose Flores Jr., who loved cars and the Houston Astros, and Amerie Jo Garza, who on the morning of the shooting had celebrated her appointment to the honor roll.And it highlights anguished and panicked quotes from a 911 call by students trapped in the classroom — “Help!” “Help!” “Help!” “I don't want to die. My teacher is dead” — experiencing “unimaginable horror” while officers stood just outside in the hallway.“I hope that the failures end today,” said Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter Lexi Rubio was killed in the shooting. “My child, our children are named in this report because they are dead.” Of the officers who failed that day, she added: "They should be named.”Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-shootings-texas-education-dd7031b2ce60283a3769ebdb669fa5d2">Irma Garcia</a>&nbsp;was one of the teachers killed, said before the release of the report that she was daunted by the prospect of reliving the circumstances of her sister’s death and what she really wanted was criminal charges.“A report doesn’t matter when there are no consequences for actions that are so vile and murderous and evil,” said Duran. “What do you want us to do with another report? ... Bring it to court,” she said.The federal review was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-school-shooting-justice-department-reviewing-response-ed6ea4160d723c2a25cde1c909d31fa7">launched</a>&nbsp;just days after the shooting. Since then, how police respond to mass shootings around the country has come under closer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lewiston-maine-shooting-warning-signs-robert-card-e154aac79b4f9d42a5381c20cd6618dd">scrutiny</a>.The families of some of the Uvalde victims have blasted police as cowards and demanded resignations. At least five officers have lost their jobs, including two Department of Public Safety officers and the on-site commander, Arredondo.

🎥Read new revelations in DOJ report on Uvalde school shooting

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas on Thursday passed a broad package of tax cuts promoted as widespread relief that the Democratic governor is likely to veto because she says it favors the wealthy and threatens the state’s budget in the future.

The opposing viewpoints kept the two sides locked in a political impasse as the window for meaningful tax cuts narrows.

The GOP-supermajority Legislature approved a plan to cut income, sales and property taxes by a total of nearly $1.6 billion over the next three years. But Gov. Laura Kelly is expected to veto the bill because it would move Kansas to a single personal income tax rate of 5.25% to replace three rates that now top out at 5.7%.

The measure cleared the Legislature on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240118120353_952601/">an 81-37 vote</a>&nbsp;in the House after the Senate approved it Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240117171712_681644/">25-11.</a>&nbsp;While Republicans appeared to have the two-thirds majority in the House to override a veto, the defections of two Republicans and a conservative independent in the Senate appear to leave them at least a vote short there.

A similar dispute&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-gop-infighting-3fcfeb252137bdda907655ae7f7fd69e">thwarted big tax cuts</a>&nbsp;last year, when a dozen other states cut taxes, according to the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation.

Kelly's office wasn't commenting Thursday, but she's been public about her strong opposition to the “flat” tax proposal, viewing it as a boon to the state's “super wealthy.” Also, her office released a projection Thursday showing that the GOP plan would cause a budget shortfall in 2029.

Democratic state Rep. Henry Helgerson of Wichita argued during Thursday's debate that lawmakers cannot enact the Republicans' tax cuts without committing to budget cuts first.

“Right now, I don't see it,” he said.

The figures released by Kelly's office didn't show what assumptions it used for growth in spending or revenues over time, and Republicans dismissed them. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said he agrees that the state faces future budget problems if Kelly wants to “spend like a drunken sailor.”

“However, if the state engages in basic fiscal responsibility, there will continue to be ample money available to deliver ongoing and meaningful tax reductions to Kansans,” Masterson said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Republicans also defended their package as fair because it contains provisions that will exempt roughly 310,000 additional Kansas residents from income taxes, on top of the 40,000 or so poorest ones. The plan included provisions that would exempt the first $20,300 of a married couple’s income from state taxes — more if they have children, with the amounts rising with inflation after 2025.

Republican leaders married the income tax proposals to a proposal from Kelly to eliminate the state’s 2% sales tax on groceries starting April 1 and proposals she embraced to exempt all of retirees’ Social Security income from taxes and to lower homeowners’ property taxes.

“It's a great package,” Republican state Sen. Caryn Tyson, the Senate tax committee's chair, said before Wednesday's vote in her chamber. “It's got a little something for everybody.”

The impasse last year over taxes had Kansas projecting that it will have nearly $4.5 billion in surplus cash at the end of June, equal to 17% of the state’s current $25 billion budget.

Yet Kansas also is debating tax cuts at a time when the nationwide tax-cutting trend could be slowing as a revenue surge fueled by federal&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-missouri-state-government-minnesota-jefferson-city-oregon-d1119c7dea604eeb51bc14b8ed260e95?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">spending and inflation</a>&nbsp;recedes.

Kansas' state tax collections are in line with last year's but about 1.1% below projections. Monthly collections have fallen short of expectations each of the past three months; that happened only five times in the previous six years.

“This is a time when state revenues and surpluses, we're seeing, are starting to flatten across the country,” said Neva Butkus, a state policy analyst for the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Butkus also said that, even with its provisions aimed at helping poor families, the GOP package would widen the gap between the poorest, who already pay a higher percentage of their incomes in taxes, and the wealthiest.

Figures from the Kansas Department of Revenue show that with the proposed single-rate tax, a little more than half of the raw dollar savings would go to the 3.8% of filers from Kansas earning more than $250,000 a year. That group pays 41% of the personal income taxes collected from Kansas residents.

The smallest cuts, both in terms of raw dollars and the average percentage, would go to Kansas residents earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year.

“Not only does it help the wealthy, it does nothing for the middle class,” said state Rep. Tom Sawyer, another Wichita Democrat.

But many Republicans argued that a simpler income tax system is fairer and said Kansas needs to become more competitive with other states. The Tax Foundation said in a 2022 report that Kansas residents pay more of their incomes in taxes than residents of most surrounding states.

In 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/state-of-the-union-address-business-iowa-kim-reynolds-des-moines-45161d72ab4d0e62f9bb81aa7b07a8cd">Iowa moved to a flat tax,</a>&nbsp;initially set at 4.4% but scheduled to drop eventually to 3.9%. Now, GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds is pushing to cut the rate to $3.65% for this year.

Masterson said retaining an income tax with multiple rates would keep Kansas “behind the eight ball” economically.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705603081567.png" alt="Kansas Senate Tax Committee Chair Caryn Tyson, Republican,&nbsp; Parker, during a hearing this week -photo Kan. legislature YouTube" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Senate Tax Committee Chair Caryn Tyson, Republican,&nbsp; Parker, during a hearing this week -photo Kan. legislature YouTube</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas on Thursday passed a broad package of tax cuts promoted as widespread relief that the Democratic governor is likely to veto because she says it favors the wealthy and threatens the state’s budget in the future.The opposing viewpoints kept the two sides locked in a political impasse as the window for meaningful tax cuts narrows.The GOP-supermajority Legislature approved a plan to cut income, sales and property taxes by a total of nearly $1.6 billion over the next three years. But Gov. Laura Kelly is expected to veto the bill because it would move Kansas to a single personal income tax rate of 5.25% to replace three rates that now top out at 5.7%.The measure cleared the Legislature on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240118120353_952601/">an 81-37 vote</a>&nbsp;in the House after the Senate approved it Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240117171712_681644/">25-11.</a>&nbsp;While Republicans appeared to have the two-thirds majority in the House to override a veto, the defections of two Republicans and a conservative independent in the Senate appear to leave them at least a vote short there.A similar dispute&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-gop-infighting-3fcfeb252137bdda907655ae7f7fd69e">thwarted big tax cuts</a>&nbsp;last year, when a dozen other states cut taxes, according to the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation.Kelly's office wasn't commenting Thursday, but she's been public about her strong opposition to the “flat” tax proposal, viewing it as a boon to the state's “super wealthy.” Also, her office released a projection Thursday showing that the GOP plan would cause a budget shortfall in 2029.Democratic state Rep. Henry Helgerson of Wichita argued during Thursday's debate that lawmakers cannot enact the Republicans' tax cuts without committing to budget cuts first.“Right now, I don't see it,” he said.The figures released by Kelly's office didn't show what assumptions it used for growth in spending or revenues over time, and Republicans dismissed them. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said he agrees that the state faces future budget problems if Kelly wants to “spend like a drunken sailor.”“However, if the state engages in basic fiscal responsibility, there will continue to be ample money available to deliver ongoing and meaningful tax reductions to Kansans,” Masterson said in an emailed statement Thursday.Republicans also defended their package as fair because it contains provisions that will exempt roughly 310,000 additional Kansas residents from income taxes, on top of the 40,000 or so poorest ones. The plan included provisions that would exempt the first $20,300 of a married couple’s income from state taxes — more if they have children, with the amounts rising with inflation after 2025.Republican leaders married the income tax proposals to a proposal from Kelly to eliminate the state’s 2% sales tax on groceries starting April 1 and proposals she embraced to exempt all of retirees’ Social Security income from taxes and to lower homeowners’ property taxes.“It's a great package,” Republican state Sen. Caryn Tyson, the Senate tax committee's chair, said before Wednesday's vote in her chamber. “It's got a little something for everybody.”The impasse last year over taxes had Kansas projecting that it will have nearly $4.5 billion in surplus cash at the end of June, equal to 17% of the state’s current $25 billion budget.Yet Kansas also is debating tax cuts at a time when the nationwide tax-cutting trend could be slowing as a revenue surge fueled by federal&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-missouri-state-government-minnesota-jefferson-city-oregon-d1119c7dea604eeb51bc14b8ed260e95?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">spending and inflation</a>&nbsp;recedes.Kansas' state tax collections are in line with last year's but about 1.1% below projections. Monthly collections have fallen short of expectations each of the past three months; that happened only five times in the previous six years.“This is a time when state revenues and surpluses, we're seeing, are starting to flatten across the country,” said Neva Butkus, a state policy analyst for the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.Butkus also said that, even with its provisions aimed at helping poor families, the GOP package would widen the gap between the poorest, who already pay a higher percentage of their incomes in taxes, and the wealthiest.Figures from the Kansas Department of Revenue show that with the proposed single-rate tax, a little more than half of the raw dollar savings would go to the 3.8% of filers from Kansas earning more than $250,000 a year. That group pays 41% of the personal income taxes collected from Kansas residents.The smallest cuts, both in terms of raw dollars and the average percentage, would go to Kansas residents earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year.“Not only does it help the wealthy, it does nothing for the middle class,” said state Rep. Tom Sawyer, another Wichita Democrat.But many Republicans argued that a simpler income tax system is fairer and said Kansas needs to become more competitive with other states. The Tax Foundation said in a 2022 report that Kansas residents pay more of their incomes in taxes than residents of most surrounding states.In 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/state-of-the-union-address-business-iowa-kim-reynolds-des-moines-45161d72ab4d0e62f9bb81aa7b07a8cd">Iowa moved to a flat tax,</a>&nbsp;initially set at 4.4% but scheduled to drop eventually to 3.9%. Now, GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds is pushing to cut the rate to $3.65% for this year.Masterson said retaining an income tax with multiple rates would keep Kansas “behind the eight ball” economically.“It's not the future,” he said.

GOP lawmakers approve a 'flat' income tax for Kansas; governor's veto looms

WASHINGTON (AP) —A year ago, pro-life activists from across the U.S. gathered for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-florida-state-government-kentucky-6ed9dbcdaae33312f1425ea38b681a7e">their annual March for Life</a>&nbsp;with reason to celebrate: It was their first march since the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court</a>, seven months earlier, had overturned the nationwide right to abortion.

At this year’s march, on Friday, the mood will be very different — reflecting formidable challenges that lie ahead in this election year.

“We have undeniable evidence of victory — lives being saved,” said John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life. “But there is also a realization of the significant hurdles that our movement has right now in the public conversation.”

Participants at the march in Washington will salute the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-exception-lawsuit-legislature-confusion-b2808df90937e96887aa4e1f9c565771">14 states enforcing bans</a>&nbsp;on abortion throughout pregnancy. They will proclaim that thousands of babies have been born who otherwise might have been aborted, even as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-count-dobbs-ruling-states-3acdfba421b9f4a5ea0003de6c67260b">studies show</a>&nbsp;the total number of abortions provided in the U.S. rose slightly in the year after that enforcement began.

Moreover, anti-abortion leaders know that their side has a seven-state losing streak in votes on abortion-related ballot measures. Even in red states such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-amendment-election-2023-fe3e06747b616507d8ca21ea26485270">Ohio</a>, Kansas and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-kentucky-abortion-3fa387a4cdc355d50a223f4788aa0ae8">Kentucky</a>, the outcomes favored keeping abortion access legal.

In this year’s election, several more states are expected to have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-ballot-measure-2024-state-vote-e7d635835dc3a440789ad87787553ec1">abortion-rights ballot measures</a>, and Democratic candidates in many races, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-kamala-harris-abortion-c634452da5e103913982e1cc5a0cae78">President Joe Biden</a>, will be highlighting their support for abortion access.

“We have been around for more than 50 years, and I don’t know of any year that was easy,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee.

“But it definitely got harder after Dobbs,” she added. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Tobias was referring to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in June 2022, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

The key consequence of Dobbs was to return decision-making on abortion policy to individual states. Some Democratic-governed states — such as California,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-new-york-doctor-protection-shield-161fc73174a04f68e93c4312b3b21ea0">New York</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-politics-health-new-jersey-state-government-006f9a1182946397c9e79342ad80c778">New Jersey</a>&nbsp;— have strengthened protections for abortion access. Roughly 20 states with Republican-controlled legislatures have either banned abortion or sought to impose new restrictions.

After Dobbs, “I didn’t want anyone to get the false sense that we were at the end of our work,” said Brent Leatherwood, an abortion opponent who heads the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy wing.

“We’ve gone from a focal point at the federal level to 50 different focal points,” he said. “It may be another 50 years before we truly establish a culture of life, where preborn lives are saved and mothers are supported.”

Even the current claims of lives being saved due to the Dobbs decision are subject to question. While abortions have decreased to nearly zero in states with total bans, they have increased elsewhere – notably in states such as Illinois, Florida and New Mexico, which are near those with more restrictions.

Anti-abortion leaders are keenly aware that their opponents in the abortion debate depict the wave of state bans as an infringement on women’s rights and a potential danger to their health.

Thus the theme of this year’s March for Life strives to convey support for women facing unexpected pregnancies: “Pro Life: With Every Woman, For Every Child.”

“&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-business-health-nashville-personal-taxes-fffa6f6f86e6eaa448b8ea89087a1c46">Pregnancy care centers</a>&nbsp;and maternity homes are the very backbone of our movement,” March for Life president Jeanne Mancini wrote in a recent opinion piece.

She and her allies have encouraged states to offer support programs for new mothers in need — helping them find housing, jobs and health insurance.

Among the scheduled speakers at the march is Jean Marie Davis, executive director of Branches Pregnancy Resource Center in Brattleboro, Vermont. Davis says a similar center in New Hampshire helped her break free several years ago after she became pregnant while ensnared in a sex-trafficking operation.

Other scheduled speakers include House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.

Mancini said last year’s march drew tens of thousands of people; she’s hoping this year’s march will be bigger.

The participants, she said, will be in a “persevering mood.”

J.J. Straight, part of an American Civil Liberties Union team working to protect and broaden abortion access, says her side also feels determined, especially in light of the recent ballot-measure results.

“We’ve seen a tremendous pushback to the anti-abortion agenda,” she said. “There’s a huge coalition of folks, regardless of their party and other demographics, who absolutely draw the line at this kind interference in their health care.”

Among the reasons for uncertainty for all parties in the debate is the inconsistent way that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-exception-lawsuit-legislature-confusion-b2808df90937e96887aa4e1f9c565771">federal and state courts</a>&nbsp;have adjudicated abortion-related cases. There have been numerous legal challenges to the various state laws banning or restricting abortion, some failing and others succeeding at least temporarily.

There’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-exceptions-lawsuit-82611bda29112775247d8e7adbc0a81b">pending lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in Texas filed by women who say the state’s abortion ban forced them to continue pregnancies despite serious risk to their health.

In an even higher profile Texas case,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-ban-7d865cdfd75bdc6b2f4186f4d1e6e8bd">Kate Cox</a>, a mother of two, sought an abortion after learning the baby she was carrying had a fatal genetic condition. Her request for an exemption from Texas’ ban — one of the country’s strictest — was denied by the state Supreme Court, and Cox left Texas to seek an abortion elsewhere.

For abortion-rights activists, Cox’s case was a powerful illustration of how abortion bans could be dangerous for women with pregnancy complications.

“Never in our history have we had such overwhelming reaction to any case,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We got phone calls, emails, snail-mail. Over and over, people talked about her with awe, her courage in going public.”

Seago, the Texas Right to Life president, defended Texas’ abortion ban. He said the Cox case and the pending lawsuit simply underscored the need for Texas health authorities to clarify what doctors are and aren’t allowed to do in dealing with problem pregnancies.

Carol Tobias acknowledged there can be difficult pregnancies.

“But I don’t think hard circumstances should be used to establish state laws,” she said. In such cases, she added, “the doctors have two patients. They need to take care of both of them to best of their ability.”

All the new bans make an exception to allow abortion if deemed necessary to save the life of the mother. There are divides within the anti-abortion movement over additional exceptions — for example, in cases of rape and incest, or when severe fetal abnormalities are diagnosed.

Other divisions have surfaced over who should be criminalized by the new laws.

Among leading anti-abortion activists, there’s a general consensus that women should not be prosecuted for seeking or obtaining an abortion. But there is support for criminal penalties against doctors and others who help people get an abortion; some states, including Texas and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/idaho-abortion-trafficking-travel-ban-270a403d7b4a5e99e566433556614728">Idaho</a>, seek to deter people from traveling out of state to get abortions or obtaining abortion pills by mail.

Dr. Jamila Perritt, an abortion-rights supporter who is president of Physicians for Reproductive Health, worries that abortion opponents in states with bans will criminalize people who seek abortions outside the formal medical system.

“The impact of their campaign has been devastating — and it will get worse,” she said. “I’m worried about many more people being arrested and prosecuted.”

One of the biggest unknowns, heading toward to Election Day on Nov. 5, is how power in Washington will be divided between the two major parties.

Abortion-rights supporters fear a Republican sweep of Congress and the White House might trigger a bid to impose a federal abortion ban. Conversely, some abortion opponents — including Chris Smith — fear a Democratic sweep might lead to a law overriding the state abortion bans that are now in effect.

Such legislation — as modeled in the unsuccessful&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-bills-house-vote-fc24d99f184d7aeec4926a6520311da5">Women’s Health Protection Act</a>&nbsp;of 2021-22 — would be “an existential threat,” Smith said.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abortion-inflation-us-supreme-court-health-7ea4f8fa597c97042503d856a082ef94">Sen. Lindsay Graham</a>, R-S.C., has introduced a bill proposing to ban most abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of gestation. SBA Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group, supports the bill, according to its state policy director, Katie Glenn Daniel. But the measure has vehement critics on both sides of the abortion divide.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705585012650.png" alt="Photo courtesy SBA Pro-Life America" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy SBA Pro-Life America</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —A year ago, pro-life activists from across the U.S. gathered for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-florida-state-government-kentucky-6ed9dbcdaae33312f1425ea38b681a7e">their annual March for Life</a>&nbsp;with reason to celebrate: It was their first march since the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court</a>, seven months earlier, had overturned the nationwide right to abortion.At this year’s march, on Friday, the mood will be very different — reflecting formidable challenges that lie ahead in this election year.“We have undeniable evidence of victory — lives being saved,” said John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life. “But there is also a realization of the significant hurdles that our movement has right now in the public conversation.”Participants at the march in Washington will salute the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-exception-lawsuit-legislature-confusion-b2808df90937e96887aa4e1f9c565771">14 states enforcing bans</a>&nbsp;on abortion throughout pregnancy. They will proclaim that thousands of babies have been born who otherwise might have been aborted, even as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-count-dobbs-ruling-states-3acdfba421b9f4a5ea0003de6c67260b">studies show</a>&nbsp;the total number of abortions provided in the U.S. rose slightly in the year after that enforcement began.Moreover, anti-abortion leaders know that their side has a seven-state losing streak in votes on abortion-related ballot measures. Even in red states such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-amendment-election-2023-fe3e06747b616507d8ca21ea26485270">Ohio</a>, Kansas and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-kentucky-abortion-3fa387a4cdc355d50a223f4788aa0ae8">Kentucky</a>, the outcomes favored keeping abortion access legal.In this year’s election, several more states are expected to have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-ballot-measure-2024-state-vote-e7d635835dc3a440789ad87787553ec1">abortion-rights ballot measures</a>, and Democratic candidates in many races, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-kamala-harris-abortion-c634452da5e103913982e1cc5a0cae78">President Joe Biden</a>, will be highlighting their support for abortion access.“We have been around for more than 50 years, and I don’t know of any year that was easy,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee.“But it definitely got harder after Dobbs,” she added. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”Tobias was referring to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in June 2022, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.The key consequence of Dobbs was to return decision-making on abortion policy to individual states. Some Democratic-governed states — such as California,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-new-york-doctor-protection-shield-161fc73174a04f68e93c4312b3b21ea0">New York</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-politics-health-new-jersey-state-government-006f9a1182946397c9e79342ad80c778">New Jersey</a>&nbsp;— have strengthened protections for abortion access. Roughly 20 states with Republican-controlled legislatures have either banned abortion or sought to impose new restrictions.After Dobbs, “I didn’t want anyone to get the false sense that we were at the end of our work,” said Brent Leatherwood, an abortion opponent who heads the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy wing.“We’ve gone from a focal point at the federal level to 50 different focal points,” he said. “It may be another 50 years before we truly establish a culture of life, where preborn lives are saved and mothers are supported.”Even the current claims of lives being saved due to the Dobbs decision are subject to question. While abortions have decreased to nearly zero in states with total bans, they have increased elsewhere – notably in states such as Illinois, Florida and New Mexico, which are near those with more restrictions.Anti-abortion leaders are keenly aware that their opponents in the abortion debate depict the wave of state bans as an infringement on women’s rights and a potential danger to their health.Thus the theme of this year’s March for Life strives to convey support for women facing unexpected pregnancies: “Pro Life: With Every Woman, For Every Child.”“&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-business-health-nashville-personal-taxes-fffa6f6f86e6eaa448b8ea89087a1c46">Pregnancy care centers</a>&nbsp;and maternity homes are the very backbone of our movement,” March for Life president Jeanne Mancini wrote in a recent opinion piece.She and her allies have encouraged states to offer support programs for new mothers in need — helping them find housing, jobs and health insurance.Among the scheduled speakers at the march is Jean Marie Davis, executive director of Branches Pregnancy Resource Center in Brattleboro, Vermont. Davis says a similar center in New Hampshire helped her break free several years ago after she became pregnant while ensnared in a sex-trafficking operation.Other scheduled speakers include House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.Mancini said last year’s march drew tens of thousands of people; she’s hoping this year’s march will be bigger.The participants, she said, will be in a “persevering mood.”J.J. Straight, part of an American Civil Liberties Union team working to protect and broaden abortion access, says her side also feels determined, especially in light of the recent ballot-measure results.“We’ve seen a tremendous pushback to the anti-abortion agenda,” she said. “There’s a huge coalition of folks, regardless of their party and other demographics, who absolutely draw the line at this kind interference in their health care.”Among the reasons for uncertainty for all parties in the debate is the inconsistent way that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-exception-lawsuit-legislature-confusion-b2808df90937e96887aa4e1f9c565771">federal and state courts</a>&nbsp;have adjudicated abortion-related cases. There have been numerous legal challenges to the various state laws banning or restricting abortion, some failing and others succeeding at least temporarily.There’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-exceptions-lawsuit-82611bda29112775247d8e7adbc0a81b">pending lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in Texas filed by women who say the state’s abortion ban forced them to continue pregnancies despite serious risk to their health.In an even higher profile Texas case,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-ban-7d865cdfd75bdc6b2f4186f4d1e6e8bd">Kate Cox</a>, a mother of two, sought an abortion after learning the baby she was carrying had a fatal genetic condition. Her request for an exemption from Texas’ ban — one of the country’s strictest — was denied by the state Supreme Court, and Cox left Texas to seek an abortion elsewhere.For abortion-rights activists, Cox’s case was a powerful illustration of how abortion bans could be dangerous for women with pregnancy complications.“Never in our history have we had such overwhelming reaction to any case,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We got phone calls, emails, snail-mail. Over and over, people talked about her with awe, her courage in going public.”Seago, the Texas Right to Life president, defended Texas’ abortion ban. He said the Cox case and the pending lawsuit simply underscored the need for Texas health authorities to clarify what doctors are and aren’t allowed to do in dealing with problem pregnancies.Carol Tobias acknowledged there can be difficult pregnancies.“But I don’t think hard circumstances should be used to establish state laws,” she said. In such cases, she added, “the doctors have two patients. They need to take care of both of them to best of their ability.”All the new bans make an exception to allow abortion if deemed necessary to save the life of the mother. There are divides within the anti-abortion movement over additional exceptions — for example, in cases of rape and incest, or when severe fetal abnormalities are diagnosed.Other divisions have surfaced over who should be criminalized by the new laws.Among leading anti-abortion activists, there’s a general consensus that women should not be prosecuted for seeking or obtaining an abortion. But there is support for criminal penalties against doctors and others who help people get an abortion; some states, including Texas and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/idaho-abortion-trafficking-travel-ban-270a403d7b4a5e99e566433556614728">Idaho</a>, seek to deter people from traveling out of state to get abortions or obtaining abortion pills by mail.Dr. Jamila Perritt, an abortion-rights supporter who is president of Physicians for Reproductive Health, worries that abortion opponents in states with bans will criminalize people who seek abortions outside the formal medical system.“The impact of their campaign has been devastating — and it will get worse,” she said. “I’m worried about many more people being arrested and prosecuted.”One of the biggest unknowns, heading toward to Election Day on Nov. 5, is how power in Washington will be divided between the two major parties.Abortion-rights supporters fear a Republican sweep of Congress and the White House might trigger a bid to impose a federal abortion ban. Conversely, some abortion opponents — including Chris Smith — fear a Democratic sweep might lead to a law overriding the state abortion bans that are now in effect.Such legislation — as modeled in the unsuccessful&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-bills-house-vote-fc24d99f184d7aeec4926a6520311da5">Women’s Health Protection Act</a>&nbsp;of 2021-22 — would be “an existential threat,” Smith said.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abortion-inflation-us-supreme-court-health-7ea4f8fa597c97042503d856a082ef94">Sen. Lindsay Graham</a>, R-S.C., has introduced a bill proposing to ban most abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of gestation. SBA Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group, supports the bill, according to its state policy director, Katie Glenn Daniel. But the measure has vehement critics on both sides of the abortion divide.

March for Life: Activists brace for challenges as they gather for annual event

RUSH COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Rush County Sheriff’s Office are conducting a death investigation after a man was found deceased Wednesday morning near La Crosse.

At around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the Rush County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen who reported seeing a body lying in the south ditch on Avenue N, around a half mile east of U.S. Highway 183, near La Crosse, accordimg to a media release from the KBI. Deputies responded to the location and found the body.

The man has been identified as 18-year-old Zachary Thiel, of La Crosse. A vehicle believed to have been driven by Thiel was located stuck in the snow, approximately a half mile east of Thiel’s location.

RUSH COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Rush County Sheriff’s Office are conducting a death investigation after a man was found deceased Wednesday morning near La Crosse.At around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the Rush County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen who reported seeing a body lying in the south ditch on Avenue N, around a half mile east of U.S. Highway 183, near La Crosse, accordimg to a media release from the KBI. Deputies responded to the location and found the body.The man has been identified as 18-year-old Zachary Thiel, of La Crosse. A vehicle believed to have been driven by Thiel was located stuck in the snow, approximately a half mile east of Thiel’s location.

KBI: Body of Kansas teen found in ditch

FORD COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged sex crimes.

On Tuesday, an officer was patrolling Wright Park,&nbsp;71 N 2nd Avenue in Dodge Cityduring closed hours, according to a media release from police.

The officer found a vehicle parked in the area and when he checked on the vehicle, he found that it was occupied by 21-year-old Garden City resident identified as Hector Romero and a 12-year-old Dodge City female engaged in sexual activity. 

Romero had allegedly used a social media account to contact the 12-year-old at random.&nbsp; Police arrested Romero without incident and he has been charged by the Ford County Attorney's Office with rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, and aggravated intimidation of a victim. 

Romero is being held on a $250,000 bond. 

Police reminded all parents to "please keep an eye out for what your children are doing on their social media platforms. There are people out there looking to lure children into inappropriate relationships."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705604369700.png" alt="Romero-photo Ford County" />
 <figcaption>Romero-photo Ford County</figcaption>
 </figure>FORD COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged sex crimes.On Tuesday, an officer was patrolling Wright Park,&nbsp;71 N 2nd Avenue in Dodge Cityduring closed hours, according to a media release from police.The officer found a vehicle parked in the area and when he checked on the vehicle, he found that it was occupied by 21-year-old Garden City resident identified as Hector Romero and a 12-year-old Dodge City female engaged in sexual activity. Romero had allegedly used a social media account to contact the 12-year-old at random.&nbsp; Police arrested Romero without incident and he has been charged by the Ford County Attorney's Office with rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, and aggravated intimidation of a victim. Romero is being held on a $250,000 bond. Police reminded all parents to "please keep an eye out for what your children are doing on their social media platforms. There are people out there looking to lure children into inappropriate relationships."

SW Kan. man caught in car with 12-year-old he met on social media

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s White House gathering with lawmakers to find a compromise on foreign aid and immigration was “productive,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, but a deal has still not been reached.

Biden hosted congressional leaders and other lawmakers to discuss the administration’s stalled&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/israel-ukraine-global-aid-and-border-funding-would-hit-106-billion-under-biden-request">$106 billion national security supplemental request</a>, which includes aid for Ukraine and Israel.

Senate Republicans have refused to support the White House request, which was sent to Capitol Hill in October, unless new policies curbing asylum and parole are attached. And House GOP leadership has insisted changes resemble their border security bill dubbed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2">H.R. 2</a>, which passed in the lower chamber on a party-line vote in May.

“We understand that there’s concern about the safety, security, sovereignty of Ukraine, but the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty and our safety and our security,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said after the meeting.

Republican lawmakers have been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/17/with-gop-pushing-hard-on-immigration-parole-emerges-as-a-make-or-break-issue-in-congress/">focused on immigration</a>&nbsp;at the U.S.-Mexico border as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters-by-component">arrivals</a>&nbsp;have increased, and as the party’s 2024 presidential front-runner, former President Donald Trump, campaigns on the issue, often using terms like “invasion.”

More than a dozen key committee chairs and ranking members joined House and Senate leaders Wednesday in talks with the administration’s top national security and budget officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Office of Management Budget Director Shalanda Young.

Parts of the meeting were classified, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Biden used the meeting to underscore “the importance of Congress ensuring Ukraine has the resources it needs — including air defense and artillery capabilities — to defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion,” according to a readout of the discussion provided by the White House.

“The President discussed the strategic consequences of inaction for Ukraine, the United States, and the world. He was clear: Congress’s continued failure to act endangers the United States’ national security, the NATO Alliance, and the rest of the free world,” the readout stated.

Biden also told lawmakers “we must act now to address challenges at the border.”

The president is “encouraged” by bipartisan negotiations in the Senate and urged Congress to “swiftly” pass his full request, according to the readout.

Johnson, speaking to reporters outside the White House after the meeting, said he spoke to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in December and heard from the leader that “the necessary ingredient is the proper weapons systems that they need.”

“There are certain things that are needed to ensure that they can prevail,” Johnson continued. “We need the questions answered about the strategy, about the endgame, and about the accountability for the precious treasure of the American people.”

Still, he said, “we must insist that the border be the top priority. I think we have some consensus around that table. Everyone understands the urgency of that.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking outside the White House shortly after Johnson, described a “very positive meeting” and a “large amount of agreement around the table that we must do Ukraine, and we must do border.”

Schumer said both parties agreed that helping Ukraine is “essential” and that a loss for that nation “would be nothing short of devastating.”

“The only way we will do border and Ukraine, or even either of them, is (by being) bipartisan,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat. “You cannot – cannot – do things with one party in a divided Congress. And so anyone who says, any party that says ‘do it my way or no way,’ we’re not going to get anything done.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking back at the Capitol after the meeting, said he thought it was a “good idea” to get both Democratic and Republican lawmakers together.

“We had a really constructive discussion about the supplemental, which we anticipate will be on the floor next week,” McConnell said. “We’ve been talking about this for a very long time. It’s time to try to act.”

McConnell said he believes negotiators are “close” to brokering a bipartisan agreement on border security and immigration policy changes.

Such a deal would allow the Senate to move forward with the emergency spending package that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and U.S. border enforcement agencies.

“It’s not going to get better in my opinion until you actually say, ‘We’re going to it next week.’ And I think that’s the view of the majority leader,” McConnell said.

Schumer didn’t commit to putting the bill on the floor for a vote next week, but said once there is an agreement the body will move “very quickly.”

“I am more optimistic than ever before that we can come to an agreement. I put the chances a little bit greater than half now,” he said after the meeting.

Negotiations over border security are being headed by Sen. James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema, independent of Arizona. The trio has been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/immigration-negotiations-congress-center-parole-asylum-policy">working</a>&nbsp;to strike a deal with the White House since before Christmas.

Before leaving for the meeting, McConnell brushed aside disparaging comments from House GOP leaders about Senate negotiations on border and immigration policy, noting that if Republicans controlled the government, they likely wouldn’t get a single Democratic vote for the types of policies being discussed.

“This is a unique opportunity to accomplish something in divided government that wouldn’t be there under unified (Republican) government,” McConnell said. “So we’re hoping to get a credible border package.”

McConnell later noted during that press conference whatever the Senate eventually passes could actually garner Biden’s signature. He also suggested that the two chambers could go to conference to reconcile their differences.

Murphy said during a press conference before the White House meeting that while he’s not yet optimistic about the negotiations, he agrees with Schumer “that we are closer than we have ever been before.”

“Our goal is to give the executive branch more tools to better manage the border while living up to our values as a nation of immigrants,” Murphy said. “This is the most complicated area of American statute, so it’s not surprising that it’s taking us some time to work out the final few issues and get those resolved into text.”

Ahead of the meeting with Biden, Johnson said that he would continue to seek “answers to critical questions” about Ukraine.

“… But before we even talk about Ukraine, I am going to tell the president what I’m telling all of you and we’ve told the American people: Border, border, border. We have to take care of our own house. We have to secure our own border before we talk about doing anything else,” Johnson told reporters during the House Republicans’ weekly press conference.

When asked to respond to Johnson’s comments, White House National Security Council spokesman Adm. John Kirby said, “Today’s meeting is about Ukraine. That’s what we’re going to focus on in that discussion.”

“I would remind (Johnson) that since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in February ‘22 we have provided multiple classified and unclassified briefings to members of Congress,” Kirby also said.

The U.S. provided its latest aid&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3627179/biden-administration-announces-new-security-assistance-for-ukraine/">package</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine in late December, and the administration said that was the final assistance available until Congress approves new aid.

Kirby said Ukraine continues to go through its stockpiles of artillery shells and rockets “at a pretty advanced clip.”

The White House believes negotiations on the deal are “headed in the right direction,” Jean-Pierre said.

When asked about White House negotiations with Senate and House Republicans, Jean-Pierre said House Republicans “have gotten in the way when it comes to border security.”

“We want to work with them, but they’ve been very clear where they stand,” she said during the daily press briefing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705589493311.png" alt="U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, center, speaks to reporters after a White House meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, about supplemental aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and U.S. border security. At left is Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, and at right is Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, center, speaks to reporters after a White House meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, about supplemental aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and U.S. border security. At left is Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, and at right is Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s White House gathering with lawmakers to find a compromise on foreign aid and immigration was “productive,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, but a deal has still not been reached.Biden hosted congressional leaders and other lawmakers to discuss the administration’s stalled&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/israel-ukraine-global-aid-and-border-funding-would-hit-106-billion-under-biden-request">$106 billion national security supplemental request</a>, which includes aid for Ukraine and Israel.Senate Republicans have refused to support the White House request, which was sent to Capitol Hill in October, unless new policies curbing asylum and parole are attached. And House GOP leadership has insisted changes resemble their border security bill dubbed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2">H.R. 2</a>, which passed in the lower chamber on a party-line vote in May.“We understand that there’s concern about the safety, security, sovereignty of Ukraine, but the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty and our safety and our security,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said after the meeting.Republican lawmakers have been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/17/with-gop-pushing-hard-on-immigration-parole-emerges-as-a-make-or-break-issue-in-congress/">focused on immigration</a>&nbsp;at the U.S.-Mexico border as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters-by-component">arrivals</a>&nbsp;have increased, and as the party’s 2024 presidential front-runner, former President Donald Trump, campaigns on the issue, often using terms like “invasion.”More than a dozen key committee chairs and ranking members joined House and Senate leaders Wednesday in talks with the administration’s top national security and budget officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Office of Management Budget Director Shalanda Young.Parts of the meeting were classified, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.Biden used the meeting to underscore “the importance of Congress ensuring Ukraine has the resources it needs — including air defense and artillery capabilities — to defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion,” according to a readout of the discussion provided by the White House.“The President discussed the strategic consequences of inaction for Ukraine, the United States, and the world. He was clear: Congress’s continued failure to act endangers the United States’ national security, the NATO Alliance, and the rest of the free world,” the readout stated.Biden also told lawmakers “we must act now to address challenges at the border.”The president is “encouraged” by bipartisan negotiations in the Senate and urged Congress to “swiftly” pass his full request, according to the readout.<h2>‘We need the questions answered’</h2>Johnson, speaking to reporters outside the White House after the meeting, said he spoke to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in December and heard from the leader that “the necessary ingredient is the proper weapons systems that they need.”“There are certain things that are needed to ensure that they can prevail,” Johnson continued. “We need the questions answered about the strategy, about the endgame, and about the accountability for the precious treasure of the American people.”Still, he said, “we must insist that the border be the top priority. I think we have some consensus around that table. Everyone understands the urgency of that.”Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking outside the White House shortly after Johnson, described a “very positive meeting” and a “large amount of agreement around the table that we must do Ukraine, and we must do border.”Schumer said both parties agreed that helping Ukraine is “essential” and that a loss for that nation “would be nothing short of devastating.”“The only way we will do border and Ukraine, or even either of them, is (by being) bipartisan,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat. “You cannot – cannot – do things with one party in a divided Congress. And so anyone who says, any party that says ‘do it my way or no way,’ we’re not going to get anything done.”Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking back at the Capitol after the meeting, said he thought it was a “good idea” to get both Democratic and Republican lawmakers together.“We had a really constructive discussion about the supplemental, which we anticipate will be on the floor next week,” McConnell said. “We’ve been talking about this for a very long time. It’s time to try to act.”McConnell said he believes negotiators are “close” to brokering a bipartisan agreement on border security and immigration policy changes.Such a deal would allow the Senate to move forward with the emergency spending package that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and U.S. border enforcement agencies.“It’s not going to get better in my opinion until you actually say, ‘We’re going to it next week.’ And I think that’s the view of the majority leader,” McConnell said.Schumer didn’t commit to putting the bill on the floor for a vote next week, but said once there is an agreement the body will move “very quickly.”“I am more optimistic than ever before that we can come to an agreement. I put the chances a little bit greater than half now,” he said after the meeting.Negotiations over border security are being headed by Sen. James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema, independent of Arizona. The trio has been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/immigration-negotiations-congress-center-parole-asylum-policy">working</a>&nbsp;to strike a deal with the White House since before Christmas.<h2>Earlier Wednesday</h2>Before leaving for the meeting, McConnell brushed aside disparaging comments from House GOP leaders about Senate negotiations on border and immigration policy, noting that if Republicans controlled the government, they likely wouldn’t get a single Democratic vote for the types of policies being discussed.“This is a unique opportunity to accomplish something in divided government that wouldn’t be there under unified (Republican) government,” McConnell said. “So we’re hoping to get a credible border package.”McConnell later noted during that press conference whatever the Senate eventually passes could actually garner Biden’s signature. He also suggested that the two chambers could go to conference to reconcile their differences.Murphy said during a press conference before the White House meeting that while he’s not yet optimistic about the negotiations, he agrees with Schumer “that we are closer than we have ever been before.”“Our goal is to give the executive branch more tools to better manage the border while living up to our values as a nation of immigrants,” Murphy said. “This is the most complicated area of American statute, so it’s not surprising that it’s taking us some time to work out the final few issues and get those resolved into text.”Ahead of the meeting with Biden, Johnson said that he would continue to seek “answers to critical questions” about Ukraine.“… But before we even talk about Ukraine, I am going to tell the president what I’m telling all of you and we’ve told the American people: Border, border, border. We have to take care of our own house. We have to secure our own border before we talk about doing anything else,” Johnson told reporters during the House Republicans’ weekly press conference.When asked to respond to Johnson’s comments, White House National Security Council spokesman Adm. John Kirby said, “Today’s meeting is about Ukraine. That’s what we’re going to focus on in that discussion.”“I would remind (Johnson) that since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in February ‘22 we have provided multiple classified and unclassified briefings to members of Congress,” Kirby also said.The U.S. provided its latest aid&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3627179/biden-administration-announces-new-security-assistance-for-ukraine/">package</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine in late December, and the administration said that was the final assistance available until Congress approves new aid.Kirby said Ukraine continues to go through its stockpiles of artillery shells and rockets “at a pretty advanced clip.”The White House believes negotiations on the deal are “headed in the right direction,” Jean-Pierre said.When asked about White House negotiations with Senate and House Republicans, Jean-Pierre said House Republicans “have gotten in the way when it comes to border security.”“We want to work with them, but they’ve been very clear where they stand,” she said during the daily press briefing.