This week, I questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about why he wasn’t using his full authority to help Central Valley dairy farmers impacted by flooding. The Secretary can use Commodity Credit Corporation funds to help dairy producers impacted by natural disasters – it’s been done before for Puerto Rico after they were impacted by hurricanes. Unfortunately, the same assistance has not been provided for California dairy farmers after last year’s flooding who have borne the cost of property damage, feed losses, and transportation costs from moving livestock.

You can watch my full questioning of Secretary Vilsack here. 

California farmers are the ones who feed the world. But we can’t do that without a reliable water supply. Despite California being in our second consecutive wet year, South-of-Delta water contractors are still not being allotted 100% of the water they contract and pay for.

This week, I went to the house floor to urge the Bureau of Reclamation to increase their allocations and give our Valley farmers the water they need. You can watch my full speech here. 

Following multiple requests, Reclamation announced on Friday afternoon a 20% increase for South-of-Delta water contractors. This is welcome news, but it doesn’t go far enough to help our CVP contractors who have received well below their contracted supply for years. Read more. 

Today, the House passed the remaining six appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2024. While this is by no means a perfect bill, it is the result of bipartisan cooperation to reduce wasteful spending, keep our government open, and provide robust support for our national defense. I'm proud that this bill funds a 5.2% pay raise for our troops and 22,000 new Border Patrol agents to secure our border. 

Read more here. 

I was honored to receive the Better Breathing Champion Award from the American Lung Association earlier this week. Millions of Americans have a personal experience with lung disease or cancer – including myself. I’m proud to stand with those working to combat lung cancer and will continue working with my colleagues to improve air quality, advance research, and improve the lives of all Americans with lung conditions

On Tuesday, we celebrated National Agriculture Day. Agriculture is the backbone of the Central Valley, and I’m incredibly proud to represent the farmers, producers, and farm workers who feed the world in Congress.

This week, leaders from the U.S. Military came before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veteran Affairs to participate in a hearing on the quality of life for servicemembers. Some military bases rely on local communities to provide access to healthcare for their servicemembers, especially in areas where there is limited on-base care. But when these hospitals don’t have the resources they need, our rural communities and servicemembers in the area suffer. This issue not only harms the well-being of our servicemembers but is a threat to our national security and military readiness.

You can watch me ask the military representatives what they’re doing to ensure service members and their families have access to the care they need here.

This week, I got to welcome students from Rockford Elementary School District in Porterville to the U.S. Capitol. Welcoming Valley residents to Washington is one of the best parts of my job, and I had a great time showing these students the history of the House. 

If you or your school are planning a trip to D.C. and are interested in scheduling a tour of the Capitol, visit my website here. 

One of my highest honors as a member of Congress is nominating Central Valley students to attend a United States Service Academy. I’m excited to announce that my office will be hosting a Service Academy Night on April 3, 2024 at Hanford West High School.

This informational event will help students learn about attending U.S. service academies and applying for a congressional nomination. Students will also be able to meet with representatives from the Naval Academy, West Point, Air Force Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, Coast Guard Academy, and other local ROTC programs.

To RSVP for Service Academy Night, click here. For more information, you can visit valadao.house.gov or call (559) 460-6070.

The Fresno Small Business Administration (SBA) is hosting a free webinar both in English and Spanish for those who still need help requesting PPP forgiveness or may be having challenges with making payments on their EIDL. 

The event will include a discussion on how to request PPP forgiveness, as well as other related topics, and will include a Q&A session to help attendees get specific questions answered. 

You can register for SBA's free webinar below: 

ENGLISH Webinar- Friday, March 29^th @11 am Pacific REGISTER HERE

SPANISH Webinar – Thursday, April 4^th @ 11am Pacific REGISTER HERE

Do you have a question about my position on an issue? How the Congress operates? My thoughts on the news of the day?

Send your first name, town, and question to AskDavid@mail.house.gov and I might answer yours right here in one of my weekly newsletters. Make sure to subscribe to my weekly email updates to see if your question was answered!

If you want to share your opinion with me on issues of importance, you can always contact me on my website.

Did you know you can now sign up for texts from my office to stay up to date on my work in Washington D.C.? To sign up to receive updates from me directly to your phone, just text VALADAO to (559) 387-4346 and you will be automatically subscribed. You can also sign up for text alerts using this form here.  

I'll be using this newsletter as a way to keep you updated on my work in Congress. Make sure to sign up for regular updates and follow my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with my work.