Press Release

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) helped unveil the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune statue for the first time in Florida and the U.S. since arriving from Italy. The Dr. Bethune statue will soon represent the State of Florida in the United States Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection. Dr. Bethune will be the first African American to represent any state in the collection. Dr. Bethune takes the place of an obscure confederate general who has represented Florida in the state collection since 1... Read more

Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) led Florida Congressional Democrats in urging Governor Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to expeditiously distribute the $4.7 billion in federal COVID-19 aid to K-12 schools that they have had since March. The state has finally submitted its application for the remainder of American Rescue Plan ESSER, some $2.5 billion in funding today, though it was due to the Department of Education on June 7. Florida is the last state in the nation t... Read more

Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Reps. Jennifer Wexton (VA10), Lori Trahan (MA03) and Yvette Clarke (NY09) reintroduced the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, legislation to stop online practices such as manipulative marketing, amplification of harmful content, and damaging design features, which threaten young people online. “Research has made it clear that our increasingly online world is unsafe ... Read more

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released citations against Gopher Resource LLC with a willful violation – the highest violation possible - for exposing workers to serious workplace hazards. OSHA has proposed $319K in penalties to address violations. “Today’s damning OSHA report and penalties confirm that Gopher lead smelting plant sacrificed the health and lives of Tampa workers... Read more

Today, Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) and Billy Long (MO07) led 36 colleagues in introducing a bipartisan resolution recognizing September 28, 2021 as National Voter Registration Day. Castor introduced a similar resolution during the 116th Congress. National Voter Registration Day was created in 2012 to raise awareness about the need for Americans to register to vote and keep their registration current. “I am honored to introduce the bipartisan National Voter Registration Day resolution with Rep. Long... Read more

Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) announced that the Tampa Family Health Centers (TFHC) has been awarded $1,700,386 through the FY 2021 American Rescue Plan Capital Improvements Award, the second largest grant in the State of Florida. This initiative provides health centers funding for COVID-19-related capital needs, constructing new facilities, renovating and expanding existing facilities to enhance response to pandemics, and purchasing new state-of-the-art equipment, including telehealth te... Read more

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) released the following statement upon passage of the bipartisan FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): “The men and women in uniform who serve our country, including at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base, deserve the support necessary to meet ever-changing national security threats. This bipartisan defense bill will bolster our national security and invest in new, innovative technologies to maintain America’s competitive edge over our adversaries including Russ... Read more

U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (FL14) and Jamaal Bowman (NY16) led 21 House Members encouraging the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to work with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help provide all Americans with accessible broadband, particularly our neighbors who live in public housing. The Covid19 pandemic has exposed many of the challenges our most vulnerable communities face, including inaccessibility to reliable internet service. Cosigners of the letter include: Reps.... Read more

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s (U.S. ED) Office for Civil Rights’ investigation into whether the Florida Department of Education may be preventing school districts in the state from considering or meeting the needs of students with disabilities as a result of Florida’s mask opt-out policy in public schools. This week, the U.S. ED also announced Project SAFE (Supporting America's Families and Educators), a grant initiati... Read more

Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) urged U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson to expedite the replacement of a new Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower at Tampa International Airport due to its deteriorated condition. A bipartisan infrastructure package passed by the Senate and soon to be considered by the House allocates $25 billion to address our nation’s airports. “The Tampa Airport a... Read more