Dear friend,

On Veterans Day, we pause to thank and honor our veterans – here in Delaware and across the country – for their allegiance to our freedoms and our flag.

This Week in Washington

Working to Increase Our Affordable Housing Supply

On Wednesday, I took to the House Floor to submit an amendment to the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bill. My amendment was to include the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant program in the THUD bill. The program is based on broadly supported bipartisan bills, including my Housing Supply and Affordability Act which was part of my Jobs Agenda I announced earlier this year and would incentivize the reforming of local land-use policies such as redlining that hinder the expansion of our affordable housing supply. Because affordable housing is foundational to employment, education, and more. I was glad that the House voted to add my amendment to the bill. If you want to hear more about the amendment, click the video below:

However, the THUD bill became one of two appropriations bills that the Republican conference pulled off the floor for not having enough votes to pass them. We are now just one week away from another potential government shutdown. It is my hope that Speaker Johnson will remember his desire to find common ground – a point he made in his speech to the House when elected – and work in a bipartisan way with House Democrats to keep the government open and operating.

This Week in Delaware

Fixing Aging Wastewater Infrastructure

This week, I joined Senator Carper and Senator Coons, along with Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, in announcing $3 million in federal funding for upgrades to part of the City of Wilmington’s aging wastewater infrastructure. These funds will help reduce localized flooding in the area, helping the infrastructure withstand the impacts of extreme weather and last another 50 years. You can read more about the announcement in this article from the News Journal here.

Black Girl Health Con

The Black Girl Health Collective hosted its inaugural Black Girl Health Con this past weekend – an all-day event that focused on connecting Black women with health care providers and community organizations to help improve health outcomes. Black women are about three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as white women and have a 40 percent higher death rate from breast cancer. I shared with them my ongoing work in Washington as a member of the House Health Subcommittee to combat the health disparities impacting Black women.

REMINDER: 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.

This morning, I attended the annual Veterans Day Ceremony at the War Memorial Plaza in New Castle hosted by the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs (DCVA), the Delaware Office of Veterans Services (OVS), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority. It was both an honor and a privilege to be with Delaware’s veterans, servicemembers, Veteran Service Organizations, and community members to mark this all-important day. This year’s event was about “Honoring Local Heroes,” and my message was simple: we all have a role to play in honoring our local heroes, whether on Capitol Hill or right here in Delaware. I thank these groups for hosting this event each year so we can do just that, and I salute our veterans for their profound service to our state and to our nation.