This week, I had the honor of joining Central Valley resident and World War II veteran Mr. Frank Bebereia to celebrate his 100th birthday. During the celebrations, I read a Congressional Resolution honoring Mr. Bebereia for his incredible life and service to our nation. On behalf of California's 22nd Congressional District, thank you for your service, Frank. Happy Birthday! 

This week, I had the chance to tour the Seaborn Reservoir Site with the Tulare Irrigation District. Once completed, this proactive flood mitigation project will divert flood water to protect downstream communities and provide 8,000-acre feet of surface water storage for dry years. Expanding California’s water storage capacity is one of the best ways to limit the impacts of droughts on our farmers and communities, and I look forward to assisting in any way I can to get this critical project completed.

This week, I joined Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) to introduce the Strengthening Election Cybersecurity to Uphold Respect for Elections through Independent Testing (SECURE IT) Act. People need to have confidence in their vote and our elections in order for democracy to succeed. The SECURE IT Act will help us find and fix the vulnerabilities in our voting systems that could be exploited by foreign or domestic adversaries and help ensure Americans that our elections are indeed secure.

You can read more about our bill here.

This week, we celebrated National Pistachio Day! California grows 99% of our nation’s pistachios – employing thousands of people across the state and adding over $6 billion in annual economic output. Pistachios also make up a huge part of our Central Valley agriculture community, helping to grow our local economy. Thank you to all those who power the California Pistachio industry.

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.

Trying to get an answer from a federal agency can often be a time-consuming and frustrating process. If you ever need help navigating a federal agency, you can visit my website here or call my Hanford office at (559) 460-6070. My team is ready to assist you!

Our question this week comes from Arlean in Tulare. They asked:

“What is the status of the construction of the High-Speed Rail Project? All we seem to have after all this time are overpasses and bridges leading to nowhere.” 

Thank you for your question, Arlean. It’s no secret I am not a fan of the California High-Speed Rail Project. In 2008, California voters approved $33 billion in funding through Proposition 1 to develop a bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Leaders in Sacramento told voters the project would be completed by 2020, but today in 2024, not a single proposed line is fully constructed, let alone operational. The costs of the project have also skyrocketed, as the High-Speed Rail Authority now estimates the full project will cost over $128 billion.

This project has wasted billions of taxpayers' dollars that could have gone to addressing our homeless crisis, building desperately needed water storage infrastructure, hiring more police officers, or fixing the many other challenges we face as a state.

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.  

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