The Aquarium is saddened by the unexpected loss of Milo the sea lion. He was loved by the staff and visitors alike. Milo was born in 2006 in a fellow Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institution and came to the Aquarium of the Pacific in 2007.
This past weekend, Milo had shown a loss of appetite, although he had no pre-existing health conditions. Staff then began preliminary treatments, examinations and tests to determine the cause. He passed away suddenly [April 27]. A necropsy was performed, which revealed Milo passed away from liver disease. Milo is survived by his half-brother Harpo, who also arrived at the Aquarium in 2007.
Thousands of visitors and staff felt a special bond with Milo, who will be sorely missed.
Marilyn Padilla
Director of Public Relations
Aquarium of the Pacific
First, the good news…
I was proud to vote yes on the Omnibus. This bill was a refreshing bipartisan change. With all of the acrimony in Congress, it is nice to see legislation where everyone feels like they were able to achieve something. The negotiations provided California, and especially the 47th District, with numerous victories. It included funds for the Joint Forces Training Base as well as $30 million for the Starbase STEM education program for 5th graders hosted at the base. We were able to secure funds for the Port of Long Beach, for summer Pell Grants, $3 billion for Community Development Block Grants and funding for the Caltrain. It’s a long list. The good news is that many really bad elements were kept out. Did we get everything we wanted? Definitely not. But that is how a bipartisan bill works. I am just very proud of what we were able to achieve for California and the 47th District.
Alan Lowenthal
Congressmember
47th District
Now, the bad news…
I am appalled by the GOP healthcare bill. I am also dismayed by the abject disregard the GOP seems to have for our fellow Americans. I could not, in any way, vote for this bill. If I could vote no on it 100 times, I would proudly do so. This version of their plan turned out to be worse than the first version, just with a new coat of paint.
Since the GOP first proposed their plan, I received thousands of messages from constituents, as well as visits to my office and my recent town hall, all to let me know about their stories of life before the ACA, and to tell me that they have no interest in going back. I know that my Republican colleagues heard from their constituents as well–they should have listened to them.
The GOP offered no coherent vision of who this bill was supposed to help and seemed to ignore the fact that if would hurt tens of millions of Americans. The majority of the American people oppose it; groups representing seniors, hospitals, doctors, patients, and children oppose it; even many Republican House Members opposed it.
This bill guts Medicaid and premium tax credits to those most in need in order to give a huge tax break to the wealthiest Americans and CEOs of insurance companies. The latest version also allows states to let insurance companies charge seniors and those with pre-existing conditions even more, as well as do away with the essential health benefits guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act.
The Congressional Budget Office made clear, 24 million Americans are going to suffer if this bill becomes law. It is reckless and heartless. I don’t think the American people are going to soon forget today’s vote.
Alan Lowenthal
Congressmember
California’s 47th District
This bill is atrocious. It is cruel. I simply cannot believe that something this bad could pass the House of Representatives, but it has.
This bill will strip 24 million people of their health insurance. It is a crushing age tax for Americans of 50—64 years of age and will force them to pay up to five times as much as what a 30-year-old would pay for the same coverage. It will destabilize funding for Medicare, taking $75 billion out of the trust fund, and blow a $10 billion annual hole in MediCal. It will practically eliminate the guarantee of coverage for pre-existing conditions, which could affect over 300,000 people in my district. But it will provide a massive, $600-billion tax cut to America’s richest. It is an outright assault on the poor and the sick, and a huge transfer of wealth to the rich. Even worse, the Republican majority rushed to a vote on it without giving the Congressional Budget Office a chance to tell us just how bad it is.
I served for eight years as the insurance commissioner of California. I know exactly what insurance companies will do under policies that give them free reign, and that’s what this bill does. The amendments that were put on this bill at the last second do nothing to reduce the devastation it will impose on America’s most vulnerable. It is a sad day in Congress.
John Garamendi
Congressmember
California’s 3rd District
