Rep. Don Beyer issued the following statement today on the departure of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt: “Finally. Scott Pruitt was able to keep his position for so long -- despite astonishing megalomania and unethical behavior – only because of Donald Trump’s historic embrace of corruption. Pruitt acknowledged behavior in Congressional hearings and televised interviews that violated federal regulations and spoke to extreme levels of wasteful spending and abuse of public office. He committed doze... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today wrote to Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General (IG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, asking that he expand the investigation into the reports of neglect, and both physical and sexual abuse at shelters housing migrant children. Rep. Beyer urged Levinson to review how the federal government maintains and evaluates contracts with the facilities after concerns of abuse were raised. Further, Rep. Beyer asked the IG to investigate communication and agency guida... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today released the following statement on the close of the fifth annual Immigration Heritage Month: “Immigrant Heritage Month celebrates the fact that the United States is a nation of immigrants, built by immigrants. Sadly, too many people in positions of power have forgotten this core facet of America’s identity, or worse, are working to end it. During June, I met parents who haven’t seen their children in months because of policies put in place by the Trump Administration. I spo... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today led 77 Democrats in a letter to Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Director Scott Lloyd. They sought answers regarding allegations of mistreatment toward migrant children currently in the custody of ORR, and expressed concerns about ORR’s process of releasing children, which is exacerbating family separation. The letter asked HHS and ORR to address the allegations, and allow Members to meet the... Read more

In the wake of fresh evidence that the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions are far greater than previously thought, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and four House Democratic colleagues today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt urging him to reinstate a formal Information Collection Request (ICR) to the industry that he canceled in early 2017. The letter comes as a new report in the journal Science found that methane emissions from the ... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME: “This terrible ruling continues decades of Republican attacks on workers’ right to organize. The thousands of civil servants, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public-sector employees I represent will see their collective bargaining power significantly weakened by this decision. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s majority has spent the month of June concentrating power in th... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Trump v. Hawaii: “I believe that the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Donald Trump’s Muslim ban will go down as one of the worst mistakes in the Court’s history. Chief Justice Roberts and the Justices who concurred in his opinion chose to intentionally overlook the obvious animus of bigotry which was the sole motivation for every iteration of the Muslim ban. It is clear in hindsight that prejudice was th... Read more

Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) today visited an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracted facility today in Anne Arundel County to see the effects of the Trump Administration’s family separation policy in person. There they met two fathers, Carlos and Mario (last names withheld for their protection), who had been separated from their young children for months without being able to speak with them. Rep. Beyer said: “Today I went to an ICE-affiliated detentio... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today called for the resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump Administration. Beyer said: “Yesterday I witnessed firsthand the cruelty being inflicted upon people seeking asylum in the United States by our own government. The distraught fathers I met at a detention facility represented only two of the thousands of families which have suffered under the Trump Administration’s family separation policy, but their stories were deeply disturbing. Bot... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today excoriated the Trump Administration over its continuing healthcare sabotage, after the release of a new “association health plan” rule allowing for more junk plans which lack basic protections. “Virginians are facing the potential for premium increases of over 50%, and Donald Trump is just trying to make it worse,” said Rep. Beyer. “This association health plan rule is designed to allow more businesses and self-employed workers to purchase junk insurance plans, further weake... Read more