News Releases

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), led a bipartisan group of his colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately work to ensure SNAP participants can receive home food delivery and curbside pickup during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, Casey urged the USDA to address this problem after his office received a phone call from a constituent who cannot safely leave home to travel to the grocery store, yet was denied home delivery as a...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) has introduced the Farmers Feeding Families – Coronavirus Response Act, which would provide much-needed additional funding to purchase goods from small and medium farmers and producers who are sitting on surplus crops and provide them to food banks and food assistance programs who are facing unprecedented demands. Representatives Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA-08) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-05) have introduced companion legislation in...

Washington, D.C. – As the COVID-19 pandemic strains the child welfare system, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are releasing a draft of the Emergency Funding for Child Protection Act, which would provide $500 million in emergency funds for local child protective services and $1 billion for community-based child abuse prevention programs. As children are being kept at home to limit the spread...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are releasing statements following the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision impacting AK Steel-Cleveland Cliffs: “This is a positive but long overdue step which must now be carried through to ensure the United States does not lose its last remaining electrical steel manufacturer. For two years, I have been calling on this Administration to take action on electrical steel cores and laminations....

Scranton, PA - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement to announce that public housing authorities in Pennsylvania will receive more than $8.1 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher program as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act: “I am pleased that Pennsylvania will receive more than $8.1 million to help our public housing authorities provide...

Scranton, PA – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is encouraging Pennsylvania food distributors, including food hubs, farmers markets and other entities, to apply for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box initiative. This initiative, funded by assistance included in the CARES Act, is designed to connect regional and local food distributors capable of sourcing, assembling and delivering food boxes with non-profit organizations, food banks and...

Scranton, PA – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that he has led a delegation of Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Representatives in a letter calling out the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for unfairly allocating funds created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help hospitals and other providers. The delegation expressed concern that this distribution unfairly...

Scranton, PA – In light of the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the agriculture industry, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) held a call with Pennsylvania agriculture leaders to discuss solutions, challenges and needs for farmers across the Commonwealth. In the past five weeks, dairy farmers have seen an estimated $5.7 billion loss due to price declines. The fresh produce industry has experienced $5 billion in losses with additional losses expected in the coming...

Scranton, PA - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement to announce that 63 Pennsylvania airports will receive a combined total of more than $239 million in new funding from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a result of the CARES Act, the latest coronavirus relief legislation: “Pennsylvania’s airports provide an essential service to travelers and stimulate our local economies. With a steep decline in travel...

Washington, D.C. – To support the Americans on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is calling for a modern-day ‘GI Bill’ for health care workers who have made sacrifices to protect the Nation against the virus. As COVID-19 has placed our health care system under particular strain, health care workers across America have stepped into the breach, at extraordinary risk to themselves, to care for those sick with...

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is leading a bipartisan letter to Senate leadership and appropriators with Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), requesting that additional funding and critical provisions to support the victims of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence be included in the anticipated fourth coronavirus (COVID-19) legislative package. As the Nation engages in social distancing to combat the pandemic, the National...

Scranton, PA – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) led a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Representatives in a letter urging leadership in the Senate and the House of Representatives to address the growing food insecurity crisis in Pennsylvania, and throughout the country, by providing critical investments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). U.S. Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA-18), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), Susan Wild (D-PA-07), Matthew A. Cartwright...

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is joining a group of nineteen Senators calling for funding to support local journalism and media in any future COVID-19 relief package. In a letter to Senate leadership, the Senators warn that the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – including plummeting advertising revenue – could decimate local and regional news outlets even as communities have become increasingly reliant on their reporting amidst the public...

Scranton, PA – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Ranking Member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, is joining U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Udall (D-NM) and Gary Peters (D-MI) in unveiling the COVID-19 “Heroes Fund,” Senate Democrats’ proposal for the provision of pandemic premium pay to reward, retain and recruit essential workers. Senate Democrats’ proposed “Heroes Fund” consists of two...

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement to announce that Pennsylvania will receive $1.13 billion in new funding from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as a result of the CARES Act, the latest coronavirus relief legislation: “During this time of great uncertainty and difficulty, Pennsylvania’s rural and urban areas alike need support to respond to COVID-19. I am pleased that the transportation...

Washington, D.C. – In light of media reports detailing outbreaks of coronavirus at prisons in multiple states, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) pressing Attorney General William Barr to explain the agency’s preparedness and response plans to prevent further spread of COVID-19. This letter is a follow-up to a letter sent on March 20 to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regarding their inmate transfer policies amid COVID-19, significant lack...

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) voted for an emergency $2 trillion bipartisan stimulus deal to address the economic emergency caused by COVID-19. While Senator Casey is committed to passing additional funding bills to address the ongoing health and economic crises, he wants Pennsylvanians to know how they can benefit from that legislation during these uncertain times. In addition to economic stimulus, “this response legislation will make substantial investments in our...

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement to announce that Pennsylvania will receive $170.65 million in new funding from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and other U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs as a result of the latest coronavirus relief legislation: “I was proud to advocate for Pennsylvania to receive necessary funding to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it poses for our families...

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Casey’s (D-PA) bipartisan legislation, introduced with Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), has passed the Senate. S. 746, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Website Accessibility Act, will ensure that individuals with disabilities, including blindness, can access VA webpages in accordance with existing federal law. Under current law, the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to...

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced their approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) request to operate a Disaster Household Distribution program in each of the Commonwealth’s 67 counties, after Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) sent a letter to Secretary Perdue in support of PDA’s request, in coordination with the Wolf Administration. This program will allow food banks to provide vital food assistance to all...