Dear friend,

This week, I was pleased to announce $50 million in funding for the Port of Wilmington’s expansion project!

If you’d like to learn more about the announcement and hear what I was up to in Washington and Delaware, keep reading.

This Week in Washington

Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce Markup

I serve on the House Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce which focuses more closely on trade, consumer protection, data security, and more. I attended a markup that focused on 16 bills that deal with everything from our supply chains to ticket fees. I discussed my bipartisan work with Representative Larry Bucshon to craft legislation to strengthen our supply chains. If you want to hear my remarks, click the video below:

This Week in Delaware

$50 Million for the Port of Wilmington

I announced alongside Senator Carper and Senator Coons that the Port of Wilmington will receive a $50 million Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grant award from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Port of Wilmington’s Edgemoor terminal expansion! This is great news for our state and will expand the Port’s capacity to export and import more goods while reducing emissions, growing our economy, and creating good-paying jobs at the same time. If you want to read more about the announcement, click here.

Joining DETV’s "The Agenda"

I sat down with Kerwin Gaines, the host of DETV’s “The Agenda,” where we talked about everything from the recent votes to elect a new Speaker of the House and how the economy is doing to international affairs. If you’d like to watch our conversation, please click here or below:

Finding a Path to Prosperity for Small Businesses

I was in Bridgeville this week for the Path to Prosperity Economic Development Series which is run by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Small Business Administration (SBA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The event brought together small businesses, government agencies, entrepreneurs, and community partners to build partnerships right here in Delaware that can help grow our local economy. It focused on everything from access to capital, managing funds, securing federal contracts, and cybersecurity. Small businesses are the economic engine of our communities, and I’m proud to fight for them in Congress alongside the Biden-Harris administration so they can thrive in Delaware and across the country.

Affordable Housing in Laurel

I visited Laurel Redevelopment Corporation to talk about their plans to revitalize Laurel's downtown and waterfront with green infrastructure, as well as affordable housing units to help increase our housing supply, to help drive economic development in Western Sussex County. We also talked about ways in which the Town of Laurel, along with federal, state, and local government and community partners, can work together to improve community safety.

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Brian Shannon, and Bill McGowan of the Laurel Redevelopment Corporation.

Open Enrollment is Here!

The Open Enrollment period has begun! Delawareans looking to purchase health insurance coverage for 2024 through the Marketplace have until January 15, 2024, to enroll. Last year, nearly 35,000 Delawareans signed up for health insurance on Delaware’s marketplace, the highest number yet. Remember that if you already have a health insurance plan through the Marketplace, you will need to re-enroll to maintain your coverage for 2024. To review your current plan, enroll in a new plan, or get more information, go to healthcare.gov or choosehealthde.com.

On Halloween, I had the pleasure of visiting with the students and faculty at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Newark! This year, they were one of only three schools in Delaware to be recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School – and it’s easy to see why! The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. I was so glad to be able to visit and hand out some Halloween treats to celebrate this well-deserved honor! To read more about my visit, check out this article from the Newark Post.