Dear friend,

I helped kick off NOAA Day on the Hill and conveyed our gratitude to NOAA scientists and hurricane hunters for all they do to keep us safe and informed.

NOAA is especially vital to Floridians who depend on daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, healthy fisheries, coastal restoration and marine commerce. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need, when they need it. NOAA’s mission to better understand our natural world and help protect its precious resources extends beyond national borders to monitor global weather and climate, and work with partners including USF researchers and local Coast Guard.

Special shoutout to my new pal, Ember, and a brave hurricane hunter who hails from Tampa!

On the left: Ember - Ocean & Atmospheric Research Therapy Dog at NOAA. On the right: Lieutenant Commander Kevin Doremus - a pilot with the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. His job is to guide a Lockheed WP-3D Orion, a plane designed to withstand fierce winds and rain, through the hurricane eyewall. 

What did the GOP offer as its first bills back from the Independence Day recess?  Tackle price gouging? No. Anything to address the gun violence epidemic? No. The GOP was focused on dishwashers and refrigerators … really. The GOP doesn’t like energy efficiency measures that save you money and save energy.  They are out of touch with the outrageous electric bills in Florida—especially during the hottest summer on record. Here’s a money-saving tip: In addition to cost-saving energy efficiency measures, check out www.energy.gov/save for rebates and tax credit info on home upgrades. You may not need that new air conditioner/heat pump today, but there are big discounts when you do.

Here’s my floor speech in opposition to the GOP Dishwasher bill:

The MAGA crowd care more about “freedom for fridges” than freedom for American women to make their own health care decisions. It’s outrageous.

H.J.Res. 165 would turn back the clock on Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education. The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a final rule on Title IX that would protect against all sex-based harassment and discrimination; require schools to respond promptly to all complaints in a fair and transparent way; and support students and families by protecting against retaliation. The rule does not address students’ participation in sports. The Trump-DeVos era rule allowed colleges and universities to turn a blind eye to incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination that they should have had knowledge of and only required schools to address the most severe and pervasive cases of sexual harassment and discrimination. I opposed the GOP bill.

H.R. 8281 the “SAVE Act” is an extreme attempt to suppress voting by requiring a birth certificate – not a military id or driver’s license — to register to vote.  Millions of Americans would be prevented from registering to vote easily, if at all, including new registrants, and already-registered voters who update their registration as the result of a move, a name change, or a party switch. People who have changed their names, including millions of married women, could not use their birth certificates as the name differs. What is really going on? MAGA extremists are focused on voter suppression and scare tactics.  It is illegal for noncitizens to vote, and our local elections supervisors audit and constantly review and update the voting rolls. The Act would gut mail and online voter registration and lead to purges of eligible voters. The Act also would subject election officials to hefty criminal fines and up to five years in federal prison for simple mistakes. The bill is extreme and a solution in search of a problem.

In the Innovation, Data and Commerce Subcommittee, the consumer protection Federal Trade Commissioners and I discussed the critical need for a comprehensive data privacy law and particularly the need to protect children online. That's why I introduced the bipartisan COPPA 2.0 Act to modernize COPPA, a law passed more than two decades ago.

COPPA 2.0 would build upon current law to strengthen protections related to the online collection, use and disclosure of personal information of children and minors up to age 16. This bill would address the excessive collection and surveillance of youth, ban harmful targeted advertising and prompt Big Tech platforms to provide young people and parents with the tools needed to navigate the online world. Watch my full questioning here.

Do you have a casework issue related to passports, Social Security, Medicare, the IRS or Veterans Affairs? My office is here to help you cut through the red tape of federal agencies. 

You can call my office at (813) 871-2817 or (727) 369-0201 for assistance.

I hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,

Kathy Castor

Member of Congress