Press Releases
Castro Statement on Passing of Chairman Elijah Cummings
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, released the following statement today after the passing of Chairman Elijah Cummings: "This morning, the nation woke up to a stunning loss. Chairman Cummings was an American hero, a beacon of hope, a profound storyteller; decent and fierce in his convictions and always … Continue Reading
October 16, 2019
Castro Floor Remarks Denouncing Trump’s Catastrophic Syria Policy
- As Delivered - WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today delivered the following remarks on the House floor in support of H.J.Res.77, the bipartisan joint measure condemning President Trump's "foreign policy" in Syria: "We are in the midst of a foreign policy disaster that will be a stain on the conscience … Continue Reading
September 27, 2019
Castro Statement After Vote on Second Re-Introduction of Emergency Declaration Resolution
WASHINGTON--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and author of the resolution to terminate the President's emergency declaration in February, today made the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to pass the second re-introduction of the same resolution to protect the Constitution against attacks from this … Continue Reading
September 24, 2019
Castro Statement on Impeachment
WASHINGTON--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today released the following statement on impeachment: "The House of Representatives cannot sit on their hands over this abuse of power any longer. We cannot allow this President to intimidate any foreign president into opening an investigation to dig up dirt on his … Continue Reading
September 19, 2019
Castro Statement After Second Re-Introduction of Emergency Declaration Resolution
WASHINGTON--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and author of the resolution to terminate the President's emergency declaration in February, today re-introduced the same resolution to once again protect the Constitution against the onslaught of attacks from this Administration to build its border wall, and most recently, pull … Continue Reading
September 18, 2019
Castro, Marchant Introduce Bipartisan Transparency for Transfer Students Act
WASHINGTON--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and Congressman Kenny Marchant (TX-24), Ranking Member of the House Ethics Committee, and member of the Ways and Means Committee, today introduced The Transparency for Transfer Students Act, legislation that ensures transfer students have better information on agreements … Continue Reading
September 11, 2019
Congressional Pre-K Caucus Announces New Co-Chair, Congressman Rodney Davis
Washington, D.C.-Today, the Congressional Pre-K Caucus Co-Chairs Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20); Congresswoman Katherine M. Clark (MA-05); and Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) announced that Congressman Rodney Davis (IL-13) will be the newest co-chair of the Congressional Pre-K Caucus. This bipartisan group of lawmakers seek to gain a deeper understanding of the benefits of early childhood education and promote policy recommendations and legislation in Congress to expand high-quality Pre-K … Continue Reading
September 04, 2019
Castro Statement on Military Construction Project Announcement from Defense and Impact on San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today released the following statement in response to the announcement that the Administration will be moving forward with its allocation of military construction projects to fund the President's border wall. $18.5 million will be pulled from San Antonio directly, … Continue Reading
August 28, 2019
Castro Statement on Trump’s Promise to Finish Border Wall ‘By Election Day’ and ‘Take the Land’
SAN ANTONIO--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today released the following statement in response to President Trump's promise to finish the border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential election and fast-track billions of dollars' worth of construction contracts, seize private land and disregard environmental standards, … Continue Reading
August 22, 2019
Castro, Cole, Spanberger Introduce Bill to Include Early Child Education Jobs in Work-Study Programs
SAN ANTONIO-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, Congressman Tom Cole (OK-4), and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced H.R. 4196 to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make jobs in early childhood education … Continue Reading
August 20, 2019
Castro, Grijalva Call for Department of Labor to Resume Visa Certification Process for Abused Workers and Trafficking Victims
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-3), Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter calling for the Department of Labor to reverse a newly issued guidance that creates unnecessary hurdles for vulnerable immigrant workers: "By needlessly complicating … Continue Reading
August 13, 2019
Castro, Ruiz, King, and Bilirakis Introduce Jennifer Kepner HOPE Act to Provide Low-Cost Healthcare to Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, Congressman Raul Ruiz (CA-36), Congressman Peter King (NY-2), and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) today introduced H.R. 4137, the Jennifer Kepner Healthcare for Open-Air Burn-Pit Exposure (HOPE) Act, to help veterans exposed to burn pits receive access to quality, … Continue Reading
August 09, 2019
Castro Spokesperson Statement on House GOP Letter Calling for Ethics Inquiry
WASHINGTON-The Office of Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today released the following statement after seven House Republicans called for an ethics inquiry into a tweet from the Congressman, which included publicly available donor information: "The request to the House Ethics Committee is baseless and these Members … Continue Reading
August 02, 2019
Castro Confronts Pompeo on Nuclear Arms Control
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today sent a letter to Secretary Pompeo on the date of the United States' formal withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty to express concern about the future of U.S.-Russian arms control and to urge the expeditious extension of the New START … Continue Reading
July 30, 2019
Castro Releases Podcast Episode on the State of Play for Trade
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today released a Diplomatic Cable episode with Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Washington, D.C. office. As former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Cutler worked on a range of U.S. Trade negotiations in the … Continue Reading
July 26, 2019
Castro Introduces Resolution to Address the Exploitation of Child Labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today introduced a resolution to combat the rampant exploitation of children and child labor in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo: "Cobalt is a valuable and strategic mineral of importance to the United States and American businesses. But companies have a … Continue Reading
July 24, 2019
Castro Questions Mueller During Highly Anticipated Testimony
- As Delivered - WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today had the following exchange with Robert Mueller during the highly anticipated Intelligence Committee hearing, where members and the American people heard testimony to the former Special Counsel: CASTRO: Thank you, Chairman. Thank you Special Counsel … Continue Reading
July 18, 2019
Castro Introduces the HERE Act, Legislation Supporting Hispanic Students and Institutions for College and Beyond
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today introduced the HERE Act, legislation that would create a new grant program to support partnerships and collaboration between Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and school districts that educate the majority of Hispanic students, so that they can better prepare and … Continue Reading
July 17, 2019
Castro and Moore Co-Draft Letter to USCIS and ICE to Address Ongoing Mistreatment of Abused Immigrants
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, co-drafted and sent a letter today to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to address the mismanagement of the U-visa program, which was … Continue Reading
July 16, 2019
Castro Introduces the CHANGE Act, Legislation Correcting Alienating Names in Government
WASHINGTON-Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today introduced the CHANGE Act, legislation that eliminates the term "alien" and "illegal alien" from the Immigration and Nationality Act, and replaces them with "foreign national" and "undocumented foreign national," respectively: "Words matter. It's vital that we respect … Continue Reading