Today, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5) announced that a $7,620,894 federal grant has been awarded to the Delaware County Intermediate Unit (DCIU) in support of its critical Head Start program. “Every student should have access to quality public education and expanding access to early childhood education for students and families must become a national priority,” Congresswoman Scanlon said. “As a longtime education rights advocate, I know how important these services are to our children and...
Read more
Representatives Madeleine Dean (PA-4) and Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5) wrote a letter to Mr. Matthew T. Albence, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, inquiring about the pandemic response at the ICE family detention facility at Berks Family Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania. The letter follows news that there are currently zero confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Berks Family Center detainees. However, ICE reported testing only 5,096 of the 24,713 detainees it holds across the na...
Read more
Today, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon took action to protect Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Housing Counseling Assistance Program which has faced significant challenges due to COVID-19. In a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Representative Scanlon led members of Congress in requesting that HUD delay the housing counselor certification deadline for at least one year, in light of ongoing interruptions to test preparation and administration caused by COVID-19. The Housing Counseling Assis...
Read more
Today, Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced their resolution to protect journalists and reaffirm the centrality of press freedom in light of violations committed during recent protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. “A free press is the lifeblood of democracy and the media’s role in covering recent protests calling for racial justice has been critical to holding the government, at all levels, accountable,” said Rep. Scanlon. "Assaults on members o...
Read more
Today, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon cosponsored the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, transformative legislation introduced by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement and build trust between law enforcement and our communities. Chair Bass: "What we are witnessing is the birth of a new movement in our count...
Read more
We are a country in crisis — we have been for quite some time. For Ahmaud, Breonna, George, their families, and our communities all too familiar with their pain — we must demand justice. I wanted to share with you the legislative action I am working on as we fight to dismantle systems of hate, hold law enforcement officers accountable, and push for the adoption — and use — of unbiased policing practices. At this moment in time we are witnessing a moral reckoning in our community and across the c...
Read more
Today, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) on Friday led 97 of their colleagues in a letter to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew Albence demanding answers on the agencies’ involvement with the ongoing protests against police brutality in light of reports of law enforcement using force at protests and demonstrations. The lette...
Read more
Today, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue formal guidance regarding the implementation of public health measures and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by travelers and workers in airports across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter, signed by 32 members of Congress, Congresswoman Scanlon addressed the immediate danger a lack of guidance poses to the general public, Transportation Security Administration employees, air...
Read more
Today, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5) pressed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Peter Gaynor for answers following the announcement of disbursement of the clinical drug Remdesivir, one of the few promising treatments for COVID-19. Two weeks ago, Gilead Sciences, the maker of Remdesivir, announced that it was donating 607,000 doses (or enough to treat approximately 78,000 patients) of the life-sav...
Read more
Following a request from Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon and Joe Neguse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added the nation’s first responders to the list of those eligible for high priority COVID-19 testing. Earlier this month, Representative Scanlon joined a bipartisan letter, along with 33 other members of Congress, to Vice President Mike Pence and CDC Director Robert Redfield requesting first responder testing priority. First responders who show symptoms of COVID-19 ...
Read more
