Early this morning, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter succeeded in the first powered, controlled flight on another planet and demonstrated that rotorcraft flight is possible in the thin Martian atmosphere. During Ingenuity’s 39.1 seconds of flight, the Perseverance Rover assisted in communicating data from Ingenuity between Mars and Earth. The rover also captured several images of Ingenuity during ... Read More »
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who chairs the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, today hailed President Biden’s announcement that he intends to nominate Pamela Melroy to serve as Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). “In Pamela Melroy the President has chosen a highly qualified nominee, a veteran of the U.S. A... Read More »
As millions of Americans experience increasing housing insecurity and communities throughout the country face affordable housing shortages and high levels of homelessness, a bipartisan, bicameral group of U.S. Senators and Representatives today introduced legislation to build more than two million new affordable housing units nationwide in the next 10 years and better meet the needs of at-risk gro... Read More »
Rep. Don Beyer today voted for H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act, landmark legislation to help close the gender wage gap by strengthening equal pay protections for women. The bill, which passed in the House, would create more effective remedies for women who are not being paid equal pay for equal work, including requiring employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related re... Read More »
Today, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement in response to the release of the Biden-Harris administration’s FY22 discretionary funding request: “The Biden-Harris administration’s FY22 discretionary funding request would make critical investments to boost education in low-income areas, fight climate change, adva... Read More »
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who chairs the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, today welcomed the increased investments in space and aeronautics, research and development, and scientific missions contained in the Biden-Harris Administration’s FY22 discretionary funding request. Beyer said: “The President’s skinny budget is an encouraging statement of ... Read More »
Today, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers led by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) and U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Judy Chu (D-CA), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) announced the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act (Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act). The legislation would improve hate c... Read More »
Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) introduced a resolution with Representatives Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Don Beyer (VA-08), Terri Sewell (AL-07), and Ron Kind (WI-03) to direct the Biden administration to restart and conclude negotiations on the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). The EGA negotiations are designed to incentivize a greener global economy by eliminating tariffs globally on a ... Read More »
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) issued the following statement today on the widely reported decision by President Biden to nominate Beyer’s constituent, retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) special agent David Chipman, to serve as ATF Director: “David Chipman has spent a long and distinguished career working to save American lives by preventing gun violence, efforts which included risking ... Read More »
Today the National Park Service released its long-awaited George Washington Memorial Parkway safety study. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) commissioned the study to determine how to improve safety in its sections south of the City of Alexandria in Fairfax County. The Parkway has been the site of several serious crashes recently, sending motorists to the hospital and snarling traffic. “Traffic volume and hig... Read More »
Today, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement ahead of the infrastructure investments President Biden plans to push for later this afternoon, the first of a two-part package of investments intended to help the nation build back better. “More than a year into a pandemic that has killed more than 550,000 Americans ... Read More »
Governor Ralph Northam today announced the Commonwealth has finalized agreements with Amtrak, CSX, and Virginia Railway Express, launching a $3.7 billion investment to expand and improve passenger, commuter, and freight rail in Virginia and create a vital connection in America’s national rail network between the Northeast and Southeast corridors. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to build a 21... Read More »
Don Beyer column: Washington, D.C., should be a state Published in the Richmond Times Dispatch March 30, 2021 There is a curious geopolitical divide for residents with addresses on stretches of Eastern Avenue, which runs along the northeastern boundary of the nation’s capital. The houses, driveways and yards are in places indistinguishable. But the people who live on the eastern side of the road e... Read More »
Today, 30 Members of Congress, led by U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Don Beyer (D-VA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA), urged President Joe Biden to rectify instances in which several White House staffers were reportedly suspended, put on probation, or asked to resign after honestly disclosing past cannabis use. In addressing these reports, the lawmakers ask... Read More »
Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics is holding a hearing titled, “Examining R&D Pathways to Sustainable Aviation.” Chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-VA), opening statement for the record is below. Good morning, and welcome to our distinguished witnesses. Thank you for being here. I also want t... Read More »
