Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer, joined by two dozen other Members of Congress, urged ongoing pressure from the State Department on Egyptian officials to cease their harassment of the media, human rights organizations and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The letter, spurred by a request from the Fund for Global Human Rights and supported by Amnesty International, Freedom House, Human Rights… Read more »

In response to political rhetoric vilifying select religious groups and increasingly hostile rhetoric toward religious freedom in the immigration system, a House delegation, including Reps. Don Beyer (VA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Keith Ellison (MN), Joe Crowley (NY), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Mike Honda (CA), Betty McCollum (MN), André Carson (ID), introduced the Freedom of Religion Act today to prohibit the use of religious litmus tests as a means to ban immigrants, refugees, and international visitors trying to enter the United States. Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer issued the following statement today after investigators presented their findings on the 2015 smoke incident at L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) board. The investigator’s findings were critical of the coordinated emergency response. They also highlighted persistent safety deficiencies at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit… Read more »

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx today announced three new federal appointees to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Board of Directors, exercising his newly-granted authority under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Under the FAST Act, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and the federal government may appoint four members each to the 16 member… Read more »

Congressmen Don Beyer (D-VA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) led 49 other Members of Congress in writing to thank President Obama for the Department of the Interior’s decision to remove the Atlantic Ocean from the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program.  The decision removes the Atlantic from any offshore drilling plans until 2022. “Offshore drilling… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer expressed his strong approval of the Paris Agreement, signed today as part of a celebration of Earth Day in a ceremony in New York City.  “The Paris Agreement contains the kind of bold action needed to address climate change,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “Climate change represents the most significant threat to future generations. Our commitment today is crucial to… Read more »

Congressional representatives from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia wrote Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx to immediately endorse the National Park Service’s (NPS) FASTLANE Grant application, following news that the District of Columbia agreed to join as a local sponsor. The FASTLANE grant program requires federal land management agencies to apply jointly with a… Read more »

Citing constraints on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that prevent it from carrying out its mission to enforce gun safety laws, Congressman Don Beyer introduced the ATF Enforcement Act today.  In addition to removing procedural blocks that prevent the ATF from protecting American families, the bill would also allow the ATF Director position to bypass… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer today marked Equal Pay Day, the point in the year when women’s wages finally catch up to what men were paid the previous year, by pointing to the effects of the wage gap, and the steps which Congress could take to address it. “Women deserve to earn exactly what men make for the same work, and not one cent less,” said Rep. Beyer. “On average women make only $0.79… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer released the following statement after Secretary Tom Perez announced the Department of Labor’s new rule to protect low and middle income Americans planning for their retirement from conflicted financial advice: “I strongly support the Department of Labor’s final conflict of interest rule. Secretary Perez has done remarkable work to protect retirement savers and… Read more »