U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor

I was proud to stand with environmental champion and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, who has devoted her professional career to public health and the public interest at last night’s State of the Union. While President Trump continues to rollback bedrock clean air and clean water protections and ignores the costly impacts of the climate crisis, I remain committed to enacting real climate solutions. Fact checkers have been very busy following the SOTU. The misrepresentations by the president regarding preexisting health conditions and lowering drug costs were especially egregious.

National leadership on children’s right to privacy: Last week, I introduced the PRotecting the Information of our Vulnerable Children and Youth Act (Kids PRIVCY Act -H.R. 5703) to strengthen the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Children should not be tracked and followed whether in they are in their neighborhoods or online, yet digital companies gather and abuse our children's personal information. Current law has not kept up with technological advancements. Most kids now use an iPad at a very young age and have a cellphone before they are teenagers. We need to ensure they have meaningful privacy protections. My Kids PRIVCY Act will update the law to provide families with the necessary tools to keep kids safe, and it’s been endorsed by the leading national kids online privacy organizations as well.

My Committees

Today, my Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing entitled "Vaping in America: E-Cigarette Manufacturers' Impact on Public Health." E-cigarettes and vapes are addictive due to nicotine and harmful to brain and lung development, but are now common among young people. Congress raised the age from 18 to 21 in December but insidious marketing practices still target kids and get them hooked.

Today, my Select Committee on the Climate Crisis held a hearing entitled "Creating a Climate Resilient America: Overcoming the Health Risks of the Climate Crisis.” The Climate Crisis is making air pollution worse and, as temperatures rise, public health suffers. The number and gravity of cases of heart and lung disease, asthma, extended allergy seasons and extreme heat exposure (particularly for people who work outside) are on the rise. My committee is developing recommendations to reduce carbon pollution and adapt to the changing climate. Time is of the essence.

Votes This Week

H. Res. 826 - Expressing disapproval of the Trump administration’s harmful actions towards Medicaid: The Trump Administration is once again trying to cut health care for children, pregnant women and our senior neighbors by slashing Medicaid funding. I am strongly opposed to these efforts that would inflict pain on our most vulnerable in Florida and wrote to Governor DeSantis about this dangerous proposal last year.

H.R. 5687 - Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, 2020: In the wake of devastating earthquakes that continue to rock Puerto Rico, our fellow Americans suffering and in need of aid. This funding would provide robust assistance to help families and communities across the island recover and puts the island on a better path to long-term recovery. I recently met with members of my Puerto Rico Recovery & Assistance Task Force to discuss the need for our Tampa community to once again join together as we anticipate more displaced friends and family arriving here from Puerto Rico.

H.R. 2546 - Colorado Wilderness Act of 2019 [Protecting America’s Wilderness Act]: This bill would permanently protect more than 600,000 acres of wilderness across Colorado.

Also today, the GOP-controlled Senate will vote to give impeached President Trump a pass on his Abuse of Power and Obstruction, following a trial with no witnesses and evidence. The fundamental Checks and Balances of the U.S. Constitution are weaker today as GOP Senators let impeached President Trump off the hook for his betrayal of his oath of office. President Trump abused his power to solicit foreign interference in our elections for his own personal political gain, thereby jeopardizing our national security, the integrity of our elections and our democracy. When the President got caught, he tried to cover it up by obstructing the House’s investigation into his misconduct.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Senators then failed in their responsibility to America and ignored their Oath to do “impartial justice”. They turned a blind eye to any concept of a “fair trial”. Some GOP senators criticized the President for his wrongdoing, but in the end did nothing to restrain the President from future wrongdoing.

I know my Tampa neighbors and I will continue to value America’s Constitution, to show that what is right still matters, and demonstrate that we still possess the character essential in “keeping our Republic.” The hard fact is President Trump’s behavior and the vote of GOP Senators today make it that much harder for us to prove this to the world and to our kids and grandkids.