Congressman Don Beyer is serving his fourth term as the U.S. Representative from Virginia’s 8th District, representing Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County. He serves as the Chairman of Congress' Joint Economic Committee, and also serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, and on the House Committee on Science Space and Technology, where he chairs the Space Subcommittee. He is a Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition's Climate Change Task Force.
He was the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1998, and was Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein under President Obama. Rep. Beyer’s signature work as lieutenant governor included advocacy for Virginians with disabilities and ensuring protections for Virginia’s most vulnerable populations as the Commonwealth reformed its welfare system in the mid-1990s. Rep. Beyer was Virginia’s Democratic nominee for governor in 1997.
Stopping the harmful consequences of global climate change is the existential crisis of our generation. We cannot continue pumping pollutants into our air at no economic cost.
Fourteen of the fifteen hottest years on record have been in this century. Global temperature changes are causing prolonged droughts, extreme weather events, and rising sea levels.
On the House Committees on Ways and Means and Science, Space, and Technology, I continue to advocate to fulfill our responsibility to leave this world better than we inherited it. In the 117th Congress I am also serving as Co-Chair of the Safe Climate Caucus.
America must continue to be an innovative leader in the fight against global climate change. We need intelligent conservation policies that preserve our natural resources and an energy policy that is not solely focused on drilling, but makes smart investments in clean and renewable energy to lower costs to the American taxpayer while protecting the air, land, and water.
We live in trying times. In a few short months the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, ravaging communities throughout the United States. The historic public health crisis caused economic devastation worse than anything this country has seen in my lifetime. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the National Capital Region have been hit hard, as the confirmed case numbers and unemployment rate grow.
But though the news is grim, our resolve to do what it takes to overcome adversity remains strong. My parents’ generation survived the Great Depression and won World War II, and I firmly believe that with hard work, organization, and cooperation, we will get through this.
Do your part and help prevent the spread of coronavirus by sharing accurate information from the CDC, including prevention tips, and guidance on what to do if you are sick. I encourage you to call your doctor if you or someone you know begins to feel symptoms such as fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath (the uninsured can call Neighborhood Health at 703-535-5568).
The COVID-19 pandemic hit our region hard, and regional leaders are working to respond. As the situation develops, regional governments will communicate changes and updates via websites for the Governor of Virginia, the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, and Fairfax County.
Public health guidelines include washing hands frequently, avoiding touching your face, avoiding those who are sick, self-isolating if you show symptoms or come into contact with someone who is sick, disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces, and above all, STAYING HOME and making only essential trips outside the house.
On March 30, Governor Northam issued a stay-at-home order for the Commonwealth of Virginia to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which will remain in place until June 10. The State Department previously issued a global pandemic advisory against international travel, and WMATA has severely restricted public transit operations across the region.
WMATA customers are asked to wear face-coverings or homemade masks, and the CDC now recommends wearing masks in public spaces, and has issued guidance on making them.
We need to continue our economic recovery with a middle class economic action plan that works for all American families. We must raise the minimum wage, ensure equal pay for equal work, end government shutdowns, and promote tax policies that empower the working class and middle class.
Families are forced to stretch their dollars too far. Our minimum wage has been stagnant for over two decades. Women are the breadwinners in 40 percent of American households but aren’t guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Affordable housing is on the wane, especially in many urban and suburban communities, forcing people to live far from their jobs. We need strong work retraining programs to ensure that all Americans benefit from our 21st century economy.
In Congress, I am committed to protecting and strengthening our public schools and supporting our educators. I believe that a quality education is measured in more than just test scores. We must ensure that teachers have the supports they need and the flexibility to be creative and are not stuck teaching to the test. I also believe that supporting our children’s education includes tracking student growth and maintaining a holistic education that includes physical fitness and arts education as well as access to after school programs. We also must maintain high standards in school nutrition and ensure that students still have access to meals in the summer.
I will continue to fight to uphold fundamental federal civil rights protections by advocating for robust federal funding for Title I and IDEA as well as ensuring that the Office of Civil Rights is working proactively with colleges and universities to address sexual assault. I oppose any initiative (like vouchers or “school choice”) that would undermine our public schools or re-segregate our society. Schools are not a marketplace; we need all of our schools to be successful so that regardless of what school our children attend they have access to a quality education.
I believe we must do more to address student loan debt, college affordability, and create successful post-secondary pathways that recognize career and technical education. I am a strong supporter of student loan refinancing, all-year access to Pell grants, allowing subsidized Stafford loans to graduate students, FAFSA application simplification, among many other initiatives that keep higher education accessible and affordable.
The fight for equality is one of the central struggles of the American story. It is also a major part of my work on behalf of the people of Northern Virginia.
Americans deserve equal treatment under the law without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age, or disability. I have worked to advance this principle in a number of ways, from advocating for laws against voter suppression, to authoring legislation opposing the previous administration's Muslim Ban, to continuous advocacy for disabled Americans. I support full equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals, and have cosponsored legislation to ban workplace discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In May of 2021, President Biden signed legislation into law which included the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act, a bill I wrote to strengthen our nation's response to hate crimes.
More than 76,000 federal employees call Virginia's 8th Congressional District home, a greater number than most states. They play critical roles in national security, transportation, commerce, food safety, and many other sectors.
I have worked to improve the treatment of our public servants by stopping government shutdowns, giving them earned pay raises to keep up with inflation, and treating them with greater respect than our nation has in its recent history, which I believe is essential if we are to attract the ablest or the most creative minds to lead our nation forward.
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of legislation to grant paid parental leave to federal employees for the birth or fostering of a child, and the FAIR Act, which would give significant pay raises to federal workers.
I will fight efforts to undermine the civil service and will continue to support and promote solutions and improvements for federal employees.
Gun violence claims over 30,000 lives per year, including nearly 20,000 firearm-related suicides. Despite this epidemic, Congress has sadly failed for years to take basic steps to curb gun violence despite overwhelming support for such measures by Americans from all political backgrounds.
It is a major priority for me to enact laws requiring a background check on every gun sale, in order to help keep guns out of the hands of those like to use them to commit crimes. I also support enacting restrictions on weapons designed for the battlefield, which are so often used in the mass shootings that have claimed so many lives in schools, churches, hospitals, theaters, malls, and so on. I have also championed "Extreme Risk Protection Order" laws, also known as "red flag" laws, which empower family members and law enforcement to petition a judge for a warrant to remove guns from those who demonstrate a serious threat to themselves or others.
None of these measures by themselves would completely end gun violence in America, but studies suggest that each of them has the power to save many lives. I will continue to push for these and other gun reforms in the House of Representatives.
Congress has a duty to provide oversight of the Administration and the Executive Branch, and I take that role seriously no matter who is in the White House.
Under the previous administration, I led or joined a number of initiatives, both legislative and legal, to hold the former president and his administration accountable whenever they failed to meet the high standards this country expects of its leaders.
I support President Biden's leadership and celebration of American unity, diversity, optimism, and accomplishment. At the same time, I will continue to fulfill my Congressional responsibility of congressional oversight to help ensure that this vision becomes a reality.
On February 12, 2021, Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology elected Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) to serve as Chair of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics for the 117th Congress.
“I am humbled and honored to have been selected as the Chairman for the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee,” said Beyer. “Over the last year, we witnessed some of the most impactful moments for U.S. space exploration in decades. As someone who has long supported NASA’s important work on earth sciences, I am also excited to advance a climate-driven agenda, working hand in hand with NASA’s new climate advisor and advancing research into cleaner modes of flight. I am eager to boldly go forward with this important work with my colleagues in the 117th Congress for an ambitious space and aeronautics agenda.”
Beyer has served on the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee since taking office in 2015, where he has been a longtime advocate for NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Beyer serves as co-Chair of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus, and was a vocal defender of NASA’s Earth Science Division following attacks by Science Committee Republicans early in the Trump Administration. Beyer also led the effort to protect funding for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), now named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, in the face of proposed defunding by the Trump Administration, an effort which ultimately succeeded.
Beyer is the author of the Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act, legislation that would bolster NASA’s efforts to reduce emissions from the aviation industry while also reducing the impact of airplane noise in airport-adjacent communities. He loves nerding out on science and space policy, and has long supported missions to return to the moon and subsequently land Americans on Mars. He is a proponent of increasing representation of women and people of color in the space program, and once arranged a special screening of the film Hidden Figures for members of his community.
Beyer is also an unabashed science fiction enthusiast.
Other Members of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee include Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Charlie Crist (D-FL), and Donald Norcross (D-NJ).
The American Rescue Plan is a multi-trillion dollar pandemic relief legislation that is helping to put money in Americans’ pockets, bolster a national vaccination strategy, support the needy, hungry, and unemployed, provide funding for state and local governments on the frontlines of the pandemic to protect the jobs of teachers and first responders, sustain jobs and small businesses, and fund the safe reopening of America’s schools.
The pain and suffering of this pandemic have not been evenly distributed, and the American Rescue Plan is providing aid to those who need it most. The assistance in this bill has already had an enormous impact for communities in Northern Virginia, the whole Commonwealth, and across the country.
Northern Virginia suffers from some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation. The only way to mitigate the effects of traffic gridlock, and minimize the harmful impact to our environment, is through forward-thinking, multimodal solutions.
We must continue to improve Metro to keep it a safe, world-class transportation system. Forty percent of Metro’s peak ridership is federal employees; a federal role is not only appropriate but necessary. Preserving the $150 million annual federal investment for capital and safety improvements is a top priority.
The best way to ensure true financial security for middle class families is to support women in the workforce.
Working women make up almost half of the American labor force and serve as primary breadwinners in over 40 percent of American households. In addition, a growing percentage of women are single mothers; more than half of women under 30 who give birth do so outside of marriage and consequently serve a significant economic role for that child. Yet women still have no guarantee of equal pay for equal work. We must declare this era in American life as the past, not the present.
Women must be able to make their own economic decisions, including whether and when to have children, and then have the capacity to balance work and family. This delicate equilibrium is possible only with affordable child care, workplace flexibility, and paid family and medical leave, as well as reliable health care. Today, the United States is one of only two nations that does not guarantee paid parental leave. It is past time to giving working women and families this critical tool.
The headquarters of the United States military at the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, the Iwo Jima Memorial, Joint Base Meyer-Henderson Hall, Fort Belvoir, as well as thousands of defense-related jobs and even more of our service members all call Virginia’s 8th District home. As the son of a West Point graduate and a Korea veteran, I feel a special commitment to defense and veterans’ issues.
We must maintain a robust national defense that keeps American citizens and our allies safe. Simultaneously, as the former United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, I believe in the power of diplomacy and in our responsibility to do all in our power to find nonmilitary solutions to crises whenever possible.
Battlefield scars, whether mental, physical or both, heal slowly. Our Veterans Administration has a moral obligation to make our troops whole again. After a decade of war, our troops deserve a healthcare system that works for them and is able to process claims in a robust, efficient, and effective manner. I look forward to working with the VA and with our constituents who are veterans to seek solutions.
The 8th District is also home to thousands of defense-related jobs. The professionals who hold these positions help keep our nation safe. Simultaneously, many of them make us more efficient in our defense budget, precise and safe in our military operations, and innovative in caring for our veterans. We must avoid the harmful effects of sequestration while maintaining a robust defense apparatus.
All American families should have access to quality healthcare. No family in the United States should face economic ruin because of a health crisis, or have to choose between a trip to the emergency room and heating their home for the month.
President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) was an incredible step toward that reality for all American families. Gender is no longer a pre-existing condition, children have the option to stay on their parents’ plans longer, and students are free to pursue their educational dreams without worrying about health demands.
However, there is still much to do. Millions of the neediest citizens still fall into the gap between Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA’s lowest rate plans, including 140,000 in Virginia. America remains one of only two countries in the world without paid family leave, and women are still at risk of losing their right to choose.
I will fight for further improvements in the U.S. healthcare system, especially for the neediest populations. I will work to provide paid sick, maternity, and family leave for all American workers. And I believe that a woman’s health care choices are her own and should never be dictated by her employer, or by any government.
It is our responsibility to pass comprehensive immigration reform that secures a path to citizenship for the hard-working people who contribute to our economy and to our communities. They deserve the opportunity to become new Americans
I fully support the DREAM Act: We must ensure that children who came to the United States early in life have the opportunity to succeed by attending college, receiving in-state tuition, and working for a better life for future generations.
Our country has a diverse heritage woven by people from all across the globe. We cannot close our borders and turn our backs on the rest of the world. I will work with my colleagues to achieve the dream of a bipartisan immigration reform package.
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Virginia’s 8th congressional district is home to over 50,000 veterans and active duty service men and women. I am proud to represent a district with such a strong ethic of service. As the son of a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, I am deeply committed to caring for those who sacrifice to protect our freedoms. My father used the G.I. Bill and put his education and skills to work in what became our family business. Our nation must continue to provide those who serve in the military with the necessary resources to adjust to civilian life. Battlefield scars, whether mental, physical or both, heal slowly. Our Veterans Administration (VA) has a moral obligation to make our troops whole again. After over a decade of war, our troops deserve a robust healthcare system that processes claims efficiently and effectively. If that system breaks down, we in Congress must help it do better. This comes in the form of providing legislative solutions, where veterans’ care is traditional an area of strong bipartisanship, and also in the area of constituent casework. My district office assists constituents with VA benefits. I encourage veterans who require assistance to call us at 703-658-5403. Some of the most important ways that we repay our veterans include small business loans, housing assistance, and education funding. Many of our civilian industries in Northern Virginia thrive under the management or with the assistance of veterans, and I am a cosponsor of the Reducing Barriers for Veterans Education Act because I believe that investment in education is money well spent. I support numerous other measures to ensure equal and honorable treatment of all veterans, including the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act, the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, and the Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act. The 8th District of Virginia is home to the Pentagon, the Marine Corps Memorial, the Navy Memorial, the Air Force Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. I take great pride in the fact that we are surrounded by symbols of our nation’s support for veterans, and I am committed to making sure that our government’s symbolic recognition is matched by our care for veterans. |