WASHINGTON (AP) — Weary but jubilant House Democrats ended their extraordinary sit-in on the chamber's floor Thursday more than 24 hours after it began, a protest that let them broadcast their demands around the world for gun-control votes in the wake of the mass shooting at a Florida nightclub.
There were no indications that Republicans who run the House had granted Democrats' insistence for votes on bills strengthening background checks and barring firearms sales to people on the government's no-fly list.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), currently engaged in a heated battle to retain her seat, on Thursday praised the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's announcement that the federal government will help pay for programs to place catch monitors aboard commercial groundfishing fishing fleets.
Ayotte had previously filed legislation aimed at terminating the at-sea monitoring program after the federal government in March began charging fisherman the cost of bringing monitors aboard during at least 20 percent of all trips. The monitors' role is to be a third-party witness to fishing expeditions and to collect data that can help determine future fishing quotas.
