In an effort to keep the pressure on the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to eliminate the massive backlog of veterans claims, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) announced today her cosponsorship of a legislative package to immediately address the problem that has nearly 900,000 veterans waiting an average of nine months before they receive a decision from the VA. Read more »

Today, the VA Department announced that it has implemented a new initiative to expedite compensation claim decisions for veterans who have waited one year or longer. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) released the following statement regarding this announcement ... Read more »

"I commend and thank Col. Lenny Richoux for his outstanding service to our nation, to our community and to MacDill Air Force Base. As commander of MacDill, Col. Richoux showed true leadership, creativity and wisdom. Read more »

The Defense Department Appropriations bill contains significant investments for our service members, veterans and their families, as well as investments for MacDill Air Force Base and the work to develop the next generation of refueling tankers, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said today. The bill is slated for a House vote this afternoon. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor posthumously honored Sgt. John A. Hess, an Army veteran who served in Tampa during WWII and then in Korea and died before he was able to obtain his military medals and awards. Castor’s office has been able to secure those medals for Sgt. Hess’ wife, Onelia. Read more »

Congresswoman Kathy Castor released the following statement today regarding the change of command at Tampa- headquartered U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM): Read more »

Congresswoman Kathy Castor announced today that $15.2 million is allocated for infrastructure expansion at MacDill Air Force Base, a construction initiative that will create and maintain jobs in the Tampa Bay area. The money is designated in the fiscal year 2012 Military Construction/ VA Appropriations bill, which the House of Representatives is expected to vote on today. 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 »

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 »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor is urging eligible veterans, military personnel and their beneficiaries to apply for retroactive supplemental pay as soon as possible because the new deadline – April 8 – is approaching. Read more »