The U.S. House of Representatives joined forces with the Senate late yesterday to temporarily lower federal student loan interest rates. In a show of bipartisan force, the House voted to provide 7 million students and their families with a measure of relief as they prepare to finance their futures this fall.  

Earlier this year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its annual report card about the health of the nation's infrastructure, giving the United States an overall grade of "D+" and stating that $3.6 trillion in investment is needed by 2020 to avoid catastrophes that could cost lives and cripple local economies. Not only would this investment protect lives, it also would boost job creation at a time when the economy is still struggling to get back to full employment. Here are 14 of the most critical areas the United States needs to invest in before it becomes too late to prevent needless deaths, according to ASCE.

Outside the Cannon House Office Building this afternoon, immigration activists, including AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen, took arrest for blocking traffic during a sit-in protest. 

Watch a video of the arrest from NBC News here. 

In late July, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) made widely condemned remarks that disparaged immigrants, saying that "for every one [DREAMer] who’s a valedictorian, there’s another hundred out there who weigh a hundred and thirty pounds—and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling seventy-five pounds of marijuana across the desert.” Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are responding to the comments by making the case for a comprehensive immigration policy with a road map to citizenship in King's home district in Iowa. The two senators will be holding a round-table discussion with DREAMers, farmers, students and small business owners from across the state.

In the immigration debate, why does citizenship matter?

That was the theme of a series of panels hosted by AFL-CIO at the headquarters today in Washington, D.C. The answers were varied, but took two main directions. The first answer is the concrete benefits that immigration provides, both to the immigrant and to the community they move to and work in. The second is the moral dimension that accompanies the efforts of people seeking work so they can improve the lives of themselves and their families, particularly in a current system that allows for them to be exploited.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now fully staffed and able to continue to function to protect workers’ rights after the Senate today confirmed five members. The votes end a months-long blockade on President Obama’s nominees by Senate Republicans who threatened to shut the board down Aug. 27. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the confirmations are:

Good news for all workers seeking to exercise the rights they are guaranteed by law. Those essential rights include the ability to bargain together for fair wages and living standards and a workplace safe from abuse, harassment and intimidation.

As working families celebrate Medicare's 48th birthday, the Alliance for Retired Americans and other advocates are urging Congress to pass the Medicare Drug Savings Act. 

Read some powerful stories about people who would be affected by Medicare benefit cuts. 

Pointing to the “broad spectrum of support” from faith, labor and business groups that have lined up to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a road map to citizenship, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the AFL-CIO Citizenship 2013 forum today, “I am confident we can prevail.”

McCain and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) kicked off the forum (we will bring more coverage later today) with a question-and-answer session at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., about the bill’s prospects in the House after bipartisan (68–32) passage in the U.S. Senate. 

Watch the full video coverage of the event from C-SPAN. 

While a comprehensive immigration reform bill has been moving through Congress this year, the nation has had a conversation about citizenship. That conversation comes directly to the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, July 30, with a special forum on immigration and citizenship with several prominent participants, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Hugh J. Campbell, son of a steelworker, sends us this:

The following is a response to President Obama Challenging CEOs to Hire the Jobless (see message after the jump).