Press Releases
Congressional Dads Caucus Calls on House Administration to Increase Diaper Changing Tables for Visitors, Staff, and Members
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), and the Congressional Dads Caucus sent a letter urging the Committee on House Administration to expand access to diaper changing tables in restrooms across House office buildings. Castro and Gomez were inspired to write the letter after caring for their children in ill-equipped Capitol facilities during the extended 2023 vote to elect a House speaker. In 2016, Congress passed legislation to … Continue Reading
April 25, 2023
Castro, Kim Introduce New Legislation to Spur Innovative Approaches to Foreign Aid Delivery at USAID
The bipartisan Fostering Innovation in Global Development Act would direct USAID to prioritize evidence-driven foreign aid models that leverage the power of the private sector WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and Congresswoman Young Kim (CA-40) are introducing the Fostering Innovation in Global Development Act (FIGDA), bipartisan legislation that would improve the U.S. approach to foreign aid by authorizing $45 million annually for USAID to identify and scale effective … Continue Reading
April 21, 2023
Castro, Kaine, Lead 116 House and Senate Dems Calling For Temporary Protected Status Redesignation For El Salvador & Honduras
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and Senator Tim Kaine (VA), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, led 116 additional members of the House and Senate in calling on the Biden Administration to continue to protect displaced Salvadorans and Hondurans by redesignating El Salvador and Honduras for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Established by the U.S. … Continue Reading
April 18, 2023
Congressman Castro Submits $60 Million in Federal Funding Requests for San Antonio Community Projects
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) announced that his office has submitted more than $60 million in community project funding requests for the Fiscal Year 2024 federal appropriations cycle. If the requests are included in appropriations bills, passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate and signed into law, the funding will invest in affordable housing expansion, workforce development initiatives, renovations at the South San Civic Center, the construction of … Continue Reading
April 16, 2023
Ahead of Monday Return to Washington, Congressman Castro Opens Up to San Antonio Express-News About Cancer Surgery, Recovery
SAN ANTONIO - Earlier this week, ahead of his planned return to Washington on Monday, April 17, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) sat down with Elaine Ayala, a columnist at the San Antonio Express-News for his first extended interview since undergoing cancer surgery in late February. During the interview, which was recorded for Ayala's Nosotros podcast, Castro spoke at length about his diagnosis and recovery to raise awareness about the importance of cancer screening and treatment. The … Continue Reading
April 13, 2023
After Urging from Congressman Castro, HHS Moves to Grant ACA and Medicaid Access to DACA Recipients
SAN ANTONIO - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, following his request, moved to grant access to Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid coverage and financial assistance to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients: "For more than ten years, hundreds of thousands of young Americans have been unfairly excluded from the affordable health insurance they need. Today's announcement will … Continue Reading
April 12, 2023
After Push by Congressman Castro and CHC, Library of Congress Adds New Latino Musicians to National Recording Registry
CHC-nominated "Flashdance…What A Feeling" (1983) and "Gasolina" (2004) recognized as recordings with cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance in the United States alongside Mariachi recordings and Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" (1994). SAN ANTONIO - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement after the Library of Congress announced that Irene Cara's "Flashdance…What A Feeling" and Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" have been selected … Continue Reading
April 07, 2023
Statement from Congressman Castro on Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA
SAN ANTONIO - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement after U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary ruling to suspend the FDA's approval of mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortion: "Over the last two decades, mifepristone has been used safely and effectively by millions of Americans. Today's ruling is an outrageous act of judicial overreach that ignores years of scientific research in favor of bad-faith arguments by … Continue Reading
April 07, 2023
Castro, Warren, Cicilline, Jayapal Urge Department of Justice to Investigate Potentially Anticompetitive Practices at Warner Bros. Discovery
Ahead of One-Year Anniversary of the WarnerMedia/Discovery Merger Consummation, Lawmakers Call for a Post-Merger Review by the Department of Justice WASHINGTON - Today, ahead of the April 8 anniversary of the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger consummation, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01), ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, and Congresswoman … Continue Reading
April 06, 2023
Congressman Castro Introduces Legislation to Expand Federal Transit Contracting Opportunities for Women and Minority-Owned Businesses
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) led six members of Congress in introducing the Expanding Opportunities for Diverse Entrepreneurs Act, legislation that would expand the reach of the Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, which works to provide small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (including women and minorities) a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded transportation … Continue Reading
April 04, 2023
Statement from Congressman Castro on the Arraignment of Donald Trump
SAN ANTONIO - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement after former President Donald Trump was arraigned on felony charges related to business fraud: "For decades, Donald Trump has flouted the law to serve his own interests and ambitions. Before he became president, he and his companies were forced to pay millions of dollars in fines and settlements for discrimination, illegal lobbying, defamation, and more. As president, he used his position as leader of the … Continue Reading
April 03, 2023
Top House Foreign Affairs Democrats, Senate Judiciary Chair Request GAO Probe into Trafficking of U.S.-Origin Firearms to Caribbean
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05), and Senator Dick Durbin (Ill.) wrote to the Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accountability Office calling for a federal probe into the consequences of firearms trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean. Congressman Castro is the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Congressman Meeks is the Ranking Member of the full House Foreign … Continue Reading
March 30, 2023
Congressman Castro Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Expand Healthcare and Benefits to U.S. Veterans Stationed in the Panama Canal Zone
WASHINGTON - Today, Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Dina Titus (D-NV), Mary Miller (R-IL), André Carson (D-IN), Darren Soto (D-FL), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the Panama Canal Zone Veterans Act to establish a presumption of service connection for more than a dozen illnesses and conditions associated with exposure to herbicide in the Panama Canal Zone between 1958-1999. The legislation would expand access to healthcare and benefits … Continue Reading
March 28, 2023
Congressman Castro, 100+ House Democrats Urge Biden Administration Not to Restart Harmful Family Detention Policies
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and more than 100 House Democrats wrote to President Biden to express serious concern about reports that the administration is considering a return to the family detention policies that were halted in 2021. Castro is the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. "Shortly after you took office, you rightfully committed to end the practice of detaining families and children, with the last … Continue Reading
March 24, 2023
Congressman Castro, Congressional Dads Caucus Members Slam GOP's Anti-Family Bill
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and members of the Congressional Dads Caucus released the following statements after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, Republican legislation that would open the door for extremists to dictate what students can and cannot read and learn in school. "We should encourage all parents to be engaged in their child's education and active in their school community, but this bill - under the guise of parental rights - undermines our … Continue Reading
March 24, 2023
Statement from Congressman Castro on the Expected Release of Paul Rusesabagina, Hero of the Rwandan Genocide and Political Prisoner
SAN ANTONIO - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement after the government of Rwanda confirmed it plans to release Paul Rusesabagina, a permanent resident of San Antonio who has been wrongfully detained in Rwanda since August 2020: "Paul Rusesabagina is a hero, and his unjust detention was a stain on Rwanda's progress toward a peaceful and stable future. Together with his family, friends, and supporters around the world, I am overjoyed to hear the news of … Continue Reading
March 23, 2023
House Passes Bipartisan Castro/Kim PARTNER with ASEAN Act to Strengthen U.S.-ASEAN Relations
WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Providing Appropriate Recognition and Treatment Needed to Enhance Relations (PARTNER) with ASEAN Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and Congresswoman Young Kim (CA-40) that would strengthen the partnership between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by authorizing ASEAN to be designated as an international organization with diplomatic privileges and … Continue Reading
March 23, 2023
Congressman Castro Leads 26 Members in Introducing the Transparency in Government Contracts Act
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) led 26 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in introducing the Transparency in Government Contracts Act, legislation that would support Congressional efforts to improve contracting opportunities for businesses owned by minorities, women, and people with disabilities by requiring the federal government to disaggregate the contracts it awards to businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals by race, … Continue Reading
March 22, 2023
Castro, Lieu, Kim, and Houlahan Applaud End of State Department's Assignment Restrictions Policy
WASHINGTON - Today, Representatives Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Andy Kim (NJ-03) and Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06) released the following joint statement after Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Department would end its assignment restrictions policy. In 2021, the members introduced the Accountability in Assignment Restrictions Act, which aimed to reform the practice of assignment restrictions at the State Department. "As the co-leads of the Accountability in … Continue Reading
March 14, 2023
As Asylum-Seekers Report Ongoing Issues with CBP One App, Congressman Castro and House Democrats Demand Action from DHS
Read the full letter here. SAN ANTONIO - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) joined Congressman Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04), Congressman Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), and 32 other House Democrats in a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting immediate action to address ongoing issues of accessibility and equity with the CBP One mobile application, which many asylum-seekers are now required to use to book appointments with … Continue Reading