The Congressional Budget Act requires Congress to enact a budget resolution by today, April 15. However, while the Republican Congress introduced one of most brutal budgets ever and even passed it out of the Budget Committee, Republicans failed to meet their obligation to bring it to the House Floor for a vote today. The surprising turn of events for the “majority” party highlights the dysfunction and turmoil in the Republican-led Congress where their already-savage budget proposal proved not radical enough to move for final passage. House Democrats remain committed to fighting for working Americans and bringing forth a budget consistent with the bipartisan, bicameral agreement already reached last fall. Read more »
U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) recently sent letters to House Leadership and leaders of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce requesting their assistance in advancing the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act, H.R.1197, to the House floor for a vote. Read more »
Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) released the statement below following her recent trip to Cuba and President Obama’s announcement today of his planned trip to the island: Read more »
Following the landmark ruling today on America's clean energy future by the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor filed a bipartisan jobs and energy bill to spur investment and research in widespread distributed energy technology, such as rooftop solar. Often the cheapest, most reliable and efficient energy source, distributed energy creates electricity at or near the customer, as opposed to centralized generation at large power plants that often requires electricity to be transmitted long distances to consumers. Combined with incentives to reduce demand for electricity that were affirmed today by the U.S. Supreme Court, America must chart a modern course for powering our communities that includes localized sources. Read more »
Congress today came together to pass an important omnibus appropriations bill that funds medical research, education and clean energy initiatives that will boost jobs across the Tampa Bay area and America. Democrats successfully beat back scores of harmful Republican policy ‘riders’ on Planned Parenthood, Cuba, environmental protection and other topics. Read more »
On the eve of the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s historic announcement to re-establish U.S./Cuba diplomatic relations, today U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14-Tampa Bay) announced that she will help breathe life into a bipartisan task force to press for congressional action that will build on the progress. Read more »
The long-overdue, bipartisan education reform bill, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), received final passage today in Congress and is now headed to President Obama’s desk for signature. Read more »
The $305 billion transportation bill approved by Congress last week could prove beneficial locally in highway improvements and by providing more funding and planning capabilities for Port Tampa Bay and the regional bus system. Read more »
After numerous stopgap measures used over the past several years to merely keep transportation funding afloat, a bipartisan agreement for the long-stalled transportation and infrastructure bill passed the House and Senate yesterday and is on its way to the President to be signed into law. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act will invest $281 billion in local communities across the country over the next five years, boosting Florida’s share of the Federal Highway Funding by more than $890 million. Read more »
Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) urged House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan and House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Fred Upton to disband the Select Panel to Attack Women’s Health, which targets Planned Parenthood without justification. Read more »
