Press Releases

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) released the following statement after the Trump Administration notified Congress last night that it intends to partially backfill canceled military construction projects taken instead to build the Mexican border wall, with European Deterrence Initiative projects now being sacrificed as the source of the backfill funding: Read more »

The lead Democratic appropriators who oversee the Veterans Administration health system in Congress implored President Donald Trump over the weekend to fully deploy the Defense Production Act to address the mounting concerns over shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) among all health care workers, especially those who protect veterans in the nation’s VA hospitals. Read more »

Members of Congress today called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to remove gun retailers and manufacturers from the list of essential businesses in its guidance to local and state officials in containing the spread of COVID-19. Firearm distributors provide no proven public health benefit, and in fact, the proliferation of guns pose added safety threats to communities. Read more »

Health care workers in Veterans Administration hospitals are being forced to limit patient contact, ration and re-use masks and are even being advised that some frontline health care workers don’t need to utilize PPEs. These self-described ‘austerity measures’ are due to personal protective equipment shortages resulting from the Trump Administration’s stubborn and irresponsible refusal to direct national supply chains and fully utilize the Defense Production Act. Read more »

Today is National Equal Pay Day, the date that marks how far into the next year a woman must work just to earn the same wages a man earned in the previous year. Read more »

Helping Venezuela peacefully return to democracy has always been a top priority for me and for our nation. Read more »

I will do all I can today to help every American avoid an even harsher disruption than the one that is already being unleashed on all of us right now. Read more »

I am proud to have voted today to protect our workers, health professionals, small businesses and veterans from this grave health and financial crisis we face. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act, will swiftly bring Americans much-needed relief. Read more »

This bill will help keep all of us safer and more fiscally secure. As an Appropriator, I take very seriously our committee’s duty to provide the resources America needs to stay healthy and sustain their families. Our veterans, and all American families, need a solid measure of health security and financial support right now. This bill does that Read more »

Courageous women spoke out, marched and braved the contempt of society and the law, not just to secure a real voice in their own home and community, but to make a more perfect union by winning the right to vote. That epic struggle must be told, and during Women’s History Month, it is. This year marks a century since the 19th Amendment was ratified, the year women finally secured the national franchise. Read more »