Press Releases

The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill Rep. Beyer introduced with California Republican Mimi Walters to protect the rights of sexual assault survivors to their sexual assault forensic evidence collection kits, known colloquially known as rape kits, and to standardize practices in the preservation of those kits. The measure passed the Senate unanimously in May. “Sexual… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer released the following statement in honor of Women’s Equality Day: “We celebrate Women’s Equality Day each year on this day to commemorate the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which finally gave American women the right to vote 96 years ago. This historic milestone came after a decades-long struggle for equal access to the ballot box by the women’s suffrage… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer, the Ranking Member on the House Science Subcommittee for Oversight, strongly condemned the Committee’s issuance of subpoenas to private server companies related to Sec. Clinton’s email server. “This is a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars by Chairman Smith and the Science Committee Republicans for blatantly partisan purposes,” said Rep. Beyer. “The House Science… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer today welcomed news that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is delaying its requirement for a text authentication for customers trying to use their online Social Security accounts (my Social Security). On July 31, SSA began requiring my Social Security account holders to sign into their accounts using a one-time code sent via text message, thereby preventing… Read more »

Following a proposal issued by the Reagan National Community Noise Working Group, Rep. Beyer today wrote to Administrator Michael Huerta of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) supporting the group’s new recommendation for a plan to reduce aircraft noise on departures south of the airport. The proposal was drafted by the Working Group in consultation with the FAA, the Metropolitan… Read more »

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today released its Track Integrity Investigation on the WMATA Metrorail system. The investigation, which addresses inspections from FTA’s Spring 2016 safety blitz and mostly predates WMATA’s SafeTrack plan, found major, longstanding deficiencies in the way that WMATA conducts rail inspections and protocol used to carry out routine repairs and track… Read more »

Representatives Donald S. Beyer Jr. and Gerald E. Connolly today sent a letter the Office of Personnel Management demanding additional details about the sudden and significant jump in premiums under the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. Notices were mailed this week to the nearly 264,000 affected FLTCIP participants, including thousands of federal and postal employees whom… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer released the following statement today regarding the loss of Congressman Mark Takai of Hawaii: “I am so saddened to hear of the passing of my fellow member of the freshman class, Mark Takai.  Mark was a friend to all of us, a hallmate on the fourth floor of Cannon, and a warm spirit whose presence we had already missed.  His being robbed of life at the age… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer today announced that he introduced bipartisan legislation, in partnership with Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ),  to stop seismic airgun blasting along the Atlantic seaboard. While offshore petroleum extraction is off limits in the Atlantic until at least 2022 due to a recent Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) decision, permits for seismic airgun blasting remain… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer released the following statement on continuing Congressional inaction in the famous of major public health crises: “Gun violence, Zika, and contaminated drinking water are urgent problems confronting Americans now,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “The fact that Congress has gone into summer recess without making progress on any of these issues is a stunning failure of… Read more »