U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor released the following statement today regarding the Florida Orchestra’s approval by the U.S. Department of Treasury for its cultural exchange with Cuba. Castor urged expeditious approval of the license over the past weeks. Read more »

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act today, which includes a number of amendments by Congresswoman Kathy Castor to aid the Tampa Bay area. Read more »

The vitally important findings of Florida university researchers provide a window into the environmental damage caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout. The research would not have been possible without these hard-fought, expedited research funds. Read more »

Congresswoman Kathy Castor released the following statement today regarding Gov. Scott’s signing of a bill that will have a drastic, devastating impact on access to voting in the state of Florida. Rep. Castor and several other members of the Florida delegation wrote a letter to the Justice Department this week, expressing their concern and urging the department to review the impact of the legislation on the Voting Rights Act. Five Florida counties – including Hillsborough – are protected under Section 5 preclearance requirements. Read more »

Congresswoman Kathy Castor successfully amended the National Defense Authorization Act to improve the prospects for local job creation as the House Armed Services Committee passed the bill out of committee early today. The Castor amendments provide additional funding for national air force base infrastructure and health care research that can be leveraged for MacDill Air Force Base, the University of South Florida, and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. Castor also authored a specific commendation to the Special Operations personnel for the successful and historic mission to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Read more »

"Finally after 10 long years, the maniacal founder of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network who had the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands has met his end. President Obama and the outstanding men and women in America's intelligence and armed forces, especially those in Special Operations, remained focused on bringing Osama bin Laden to justice - and today justice was done." Read more »

Surrounded by students at the Hillsborough Community College today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor criticized the harsh cuts to Pell Grants, college aid for students and education investments under the Republican budget passed by the U.S. House. Castor, HCC President Dr. Ken Atwater and two students spoke at the Dale Mabry campus about how the Republican budget will deal a severe blow to students and teachers, as well as institutions such as HCC, the University of South Florida and other local colleges and universities. Read more »

I applaud the Administration -- Department of the Interior, NOAA and Department of Justice -- for negotiating with BP for this $1 billion down-payment. This includes a $100 million payment to the trustees of the state of Florida for Gulf Coast early environmental restoration. This is great news for Florida, coming one year after the BP/ Deepwater Horizon disaster devastated our state. Restoring our Gulf Coast is vital to our recovery. Read more »

Congresswoman Kathy Castor released the following statement today regarding Gov. Scott’s decision not to file against Transocean: “I urge Gov. Scott to aggressively fight to protect Florida taxpayers. Other states and communities appear to be more proactive in their approaches to recoup tax dollars and damages. As the Alabama Attorney General said when he filed suit last August, ‘based… Read more »

In one of the most high profile votes of the Republican-led Congress, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced her intended vote this afternoon against the GOP budget plan to end Medicare and replace it with a voucher system that would reduce benefits and shift costs to older Americans and their families. Read more »