Media

Fresno, CA – Rep. Jim Costa announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded $3.6 million to Fresno Yosemite International Airport and more than $660,000 to Merced's Castle Airport. The grant to Fresno will fund completion of the final phase of runway safety improvements and extension at the airport. Merced County will use the funds for construction of a new taxiway that will enable aircraft to exit the runway more efficiently and improve safety at Castle.

FRESNO, CA – At the invitation of Congressman Jim Costa, India's Ambassador Nirupama Rao visited Fresno from August 29-30 and met with a wide cross-section of the Indian-American community, academia and civil society in the San Joaquin Valley.

Fresno, CA – Rep. Jim Costa released the following statement in honor of the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his historic "I Have a Dream Speech".

Fresno, CA – Rep. Jim Costa pointed to a California Natural Resources Agency report released today as another sign that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is the best path forward to meet the needs of California's growing population. The report stated that completion of the BDCP would lead to net benefits of between $4.8 billion to $5.4 billion statewide and more than 500,000 jobs due to enhanced water reliability.

Washington, DC-Rep. Jim Costa applauded the U.S. Department of Justice's decision to add Sikh to the categories they track for hate crime offenses in the United States. For more than a year, Costa has been calling for the Department to include these crimes in their annual Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. The announcement coincides with the one year anniversary of the tragedy at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on Monday, August 5^th.

Washington, DC- Last night the Senate approved legislation to put the nation's waterways to work producing clean, affordable energy at no cost to taxpayers. Costa joined Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) in sponsoring H.R. 678, the Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act. Specifically, the bill streamlines the path for development of small hydropower projects on existing Bureau of Reclamation projects creating rural jobs and modernizing the nation's water infrastructure. It is now headed to the President's desk to be signed into law.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Steve Womack (R-AR), and Peter Welch (D-VT) sent a letter today to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Ranking Member Henry Waxman urging the Committee to consider H.R. 1462, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Reform Act, as a vehicle to achieve meaningful reform to the RFS. They released the following statement:

Washington, DC-Rep. Jim Costa supported legislation that won overwhelming bipartisan support in the House would reduce the interest rate for federal student loans before the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. The Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 will reduce student loan interest rates and save students up to $1,500 over the life of the loan. The bill is now headed to the President who has signaled he will quickly sign the legislation.