Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Environment Subcommittee, and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the Committee, led 96 members in urging President Trump to heed the dire warnings in the second volume of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA) and act on climate change. The NCA is the most comprehensive science-based evaluation of the consequences of climate change, the risks of inaction, and pote... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s proposal to significantly weaken protections for wetlands and waterways under the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction: “Trump’s proposed rule to gut the Clean Water Act’s environmental protections for streams and wetlands will put at risk the water sources that tens of millions of Americans depend upon,” said Rep. Beyer. “Trump is again acting to boost the profits of industry magnates and corporate polluters who spent m... Read more

Rep. Beyer today called for swift consideration of his bill, the bipartisan Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection (ASAP) Act, following an announcement by the National Marine Fisheries Service that the Trump Administration had formally approved permitting for seismic blasting in the Atlantic ocean. Beyer said: “Coastal states, communities, small businesses, political leaders from both parties, and the United States Navy all stand united in opposition to drilling, seismic blasting, and invasive petr... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer issued the following statement today on the National Climate Assessment, after the Trump Administration’s release of that document over a holiday weekend: “The National Climate Assessment makes it clear that climate change is killing Americans now. It also makes it clear that the level of danger will grow over time, that inaction will be far costlier than confronting the problem, and that it is not too late to act. These truths will affect millions of American lives whether Donald... Read more

Last week, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (VA-8) and Bobby Scott (VA-3), introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA), which would protect students from the dangers of seclusion and restraint. If enacted, the law would establish strong federal standards to prohibit the use of seclusion and to limit restraint in federally funded schools, improve the safety of students and school staff, and ensure parents are informed whe... Read more

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today introduced a bill to require uniformed federal police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. Norton and Beyer introduced their bill just before the one-year anniversary of the November 17, 2017, shooting of unarmed 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar by U.S. Park Police officers. Ghaisar was fatally shot in his car by Park Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, after he fled a car crash and... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer issued the following statement today in reaction to President Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to the position of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): “Andrew Wheeler has already demonstrated that he will be a terrible EPA Administrator, through his proposals to roll back the Clean Power Plan and weaken standards on pollutants like mercury and methane, and through his poor ethics record. Trump’s decision to appo... Read more

A day before the anniversary of the U.S. Park Police shooting of Bijan Ghaisar, an unarmed, 25-year-old man who died days later from his wounds, Rep. Don Beyer issued the following statement: “One year after the shooting of Bijan Ghaisar, we are no closer to understanding why he had to die. The complete lack of transparency by federal authorities continues to hurt Bijan’s loved ones and undermine trust in the community. There is no excuse for taking this long to release the most basic informatio... Read more

Today, Rep. Don Beyer called for the House of Representatives to pass the NO HATE Act following the release of the 2017 hate crime statistics, which showed a rise in hate crimes in the U.S. for the third consecutive year. The release of the data comes just after the October 27 shooting in Pittsburgh, in which a gunman carried out an anti-Semitic attack that claimed 11 lives at the Tree of Life Synagogue. The legislation, sponsored in the Senate by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would give la... Read more

Today, Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act to protect students from the dangers of seclusion and restraint at school. The legislation would make it illegal for any school receiving taxpayer dollars to... Read more