Dear friend,

It’s been one year since the Supreme Court overturned fifty years of precedent and struck down Roe v. Wade. Fortunately, in Delaware, a woman’s right to choose is protected. But over the course of the last year, we’ve seen state legislatures across the country emboldened to outlaw abortion services or restrict them so heavily that they’re unavailable, disproportionately impacting poor women, young women, rural women, and women of color.

The path forward is clear. We must enshrine into federal law the constitutional protections of Roe through the Women's Health Protection Act – legislation I voted to pass last Congress and stand ready to vote for again. Ultimately, personal health care decisions should not be made by politicians — they should be made by individuals and their doctors. We will not give up the fight for reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and our most fundamental freedoms.

This Week in Washington

Bill Introductions

Air pollution is a matter of public health and environmental justice. That’s why I proudly introduced the Technology Assessment for Air Quality Management Act this week with Representative Jennifer McClellan in the House and Senator Ed Markey in the Senate.

This legislation would authorize $55 million over five years for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update and expand its tools and technologies for monitoring air quality while ensuring that these tools are integrated with environmental justice mapping and screening to better measure and manage unhealthy levels of air pollution across the United States. You can read more about the legislation by clicking here.

“OH SNAP” Act

I also recently introduced the Opt for Health with SNAP (OH SNAP), Close the Fruit and Vegetable Gap Act in the House alongside Senator Cory Booker who introduced it in the Senate. Approximately 90% of Americans do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables to maintain a healthy diet, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Fruit and vegetable consumption can reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other diet-related illnesses.

This legislation would significantly expand the successful Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) to incentivize SNAP recipients to consume fruits and vegetables, ultimately making our communities healthier and stronger. It’s a win-win-win-win for SNAP participants, public health, farmers, and local economies. You can read more about the legislation by clicking here.

Protecting LGBTQI+ Rights

As a member of the Congressional Equality Caucus, I’m proud to be an original co-sponsor of the Equality Act which was reintroduced this week. In 2023, there have been a record 70 anti-equality bills signed into law in the United States, including bills to restrict access to gender-affirming care, censor LGBTQI+ topics from being discussed in the classroom, and ban transgender young people from participating in athletics. That’s why this legislation is so important – because it would prohibit discrimination against members of the LGBTQI+ community in the areas of employment, education, credit, jury service, federal funding, housing, and public accommodations.

Delawareans in DC

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Children’s Hospital Association’s Family Advocacy Day where we talked about ensuring our mental health care workforce is strong, protecting Medicaid and CHIP, and addressing the mental and behavioral health crisis impacting our young people – all policies that I care deeply about. It’s why I’m proud to champion legislation that puts kids first like my bipartisan bill, the Helping Kids Cope Act, to improve access to community-based services and support, support training to enhance the pediatric mental health workforce, and invest in critical pediatric mental health infrastructure. And shoutout to the Beebe Family – Kirk for being a strong advocate and his mom, dad, and big brother, Andrew – for representing Nemours Children’s Hospital. Keep up the good fight!

Above: Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and the Beebe Family.

CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE NOW OPEN

The Congressional App Challenge officially launched last week and applications are now being accepted! The Challenge is a competition to encourage middle and high school students to utilize and learn coding skills. It’s an opportunity for students to compete against other peers in our state by creating an original application in a variety of programming languages and on different platforms. My office has had so many incredible and innovative winners – you can check out last year’s winners here. And if you’re interested in applying, please click here.