Friends,

It was another busy week in Washington! In addition to celebrating the protection of women and girls' sports, I introduced a new bill to support mental health for healthcare providers, chaired a hearing to hold the VA accountable, and worked with our Community Health Centers to ensure they can continue to provide top notch care for their patients. We also voted on legislation to save lives from fentanyl, unleash American energy, and support our veterans.

And now on to another edition of the Weekly Debrief!

Helping Make History for Female Sports

Last Wednesday was National Girls and Women in Sports Day – and there was definitely a BIG reason to celebrate...! As a mother of two active girls and a former athlete and coach, protecting women's sports is personal to me. Unfortunately, for years misguided policies resulted in biological men being allowed to compete in female sports and use the same locker rooms as female athletes.

But thankfully, common sense was restored last week! It was an honor to be at the White House with an incredible group of female athletes, including Riley Gaines, as President Trump signed an Executive Order to prohibit biological males from competing in girls' sports. This was a huge win for common sense, and an even bigger win for female athletes across the country!

As you might have seen, this order has already had an profound impact on girls' sports. On Thursday, the NCAA, the body which governs a large portion of college athletics, announced that they would abide by the order and moving forward only biological women would be allowed to compete in their events.

Unfortunately, the news wasn't so good closer to home. Mere hours after the NCAA's announcement, the Virginia High School Sports League (the body that governs high school athletics in the Commonwealth) announced that they would not change their policy. This meant that in Virginia, transgender athletes would still be allowed to compete in high school girls' sports.

I'm grateful that last night, on Monday, February 10th, the VHSL announced they would be reversing course and that biological males would no longer be permitted to compete in girls' sports... This was a commonsense win for girls across the Commonwealth. I am grateful that the Virginia High School Sports League did the right thing and is guaranteeing fair play for our female student athletes!

Combatting the Devastating Impacts of Fentanyl

Every year, nearly 100,000 Americans die of a fentanyl related overdose. Families across our nation have been devastated by this terrible drug for far too long and we must find bipartisan solutions to address it.

That's why on Thursday, the House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act. If signed, this bill will permanently classify illicit fentanyl and related substances as Schedule I drugs. This updated classification will further allow law enforcement agencies like border patrol to crack down on the trafficking and illegal sale of these substances.

I'm hopeful that this important bill will quickly pass the Senate and head to the President's desk to be signed into law!

A New Day at the Department of Veterans Affairs

It was good to be back at work on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which I have the honor of chairing. This subcommittee does extremely important work for our district, as it plays a key role in holding bureaucrats at the VA accountable, ensuring our veterans receive the healthcare and benefits they earned in service to our nation!

This was our first hearing of the 119th Congress. Our hearing focused on examining the failures of the Biden-Harris Administration at the VA and made clear what our expectations will be under the new Administration.

Specifically, we followed up on the numerous investigations which started during the last Congress into allegations of sexual harassment, misconduct, patient safety concerns, employee concerns, and other allegations that have directly impacted veterans’ care at the VA - including our local Hampton VA. In order for us to move forward and work with the VA to address these problems, we first have to identify them - and that was the goal of this hearing. We also heard from incoming officials in the new Administration to learn more about their priorities and how they plan on addressing Congress and veterans' concerns.

At it's core, our job on this committee is to ensure our veterans are receiving the highest standard of care and the benefits they are owed, regardless of who is in the White House. I was frankly disappointed that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle used this hearing as an opportunity to play partisan politics. I’ve said it before and I will say it again — partisan games have no place when veterans’ care is on the line.

Advocating for Community Health Centers

Community Health Centers, like our local Eastern Shore Rural Health System, make up the largest primary care network in the nation! These health systems provide essential healthcare to areas that desperately need it, like rural or remote regions of our country. The National Association of Community Health Centers recently held their annual conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways that Congress can further their support their role in providing top-notch care to their patients.

Like so many healthcare providers, our community health organizations face staffing shortages, high rates of burnout and are in need of our support in order to provide care to their millions of patients across the country. It was incredible to address their annual conference to talk about my work in Congress to support healthcare providers and thank them for all they do for our communities!

This conference brought visitors from back home to Washington...! It was an honor to host a group from the Eastern Shore Rural Health system in my office on Thursday. I've visited their state of the art facilities on the Shore several times, and it is always good to hear about their continued efforts to provide exceptional care. Thanks for visiting!

Caring for Those Who Care for Us

During the 118th Congress, I introduced the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act to reauthorize funding for the creation of grants that train healthcare students, residents, and professionals in evidence-informed strategies to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders. This program was initially passed in 2022, but expires this year.

Unfortunately, my bill in the 118th Congress was not acted upon by Congress and as a result this important program risks expiring this year. That's why I joined Congresswoman Debbie Dingell this week in reintroducing the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act in the 119th Congress.

America’s healthcare providers work from sun-up to sundown to provide lifesaving care to patients. As a geriatric nurse practitioner, I know that burnout and mental health challenges are very real threats in our healthcare workforce, especially given the all-demanding nature of the job. I am proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to support workers’ mental health with suicide prevention resources and improve our healthcare systems, ultimately providing better care for patients across the country.

Honoring the Life and Service of Pastor William McCarty

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Isle of Wight County Supervisor, Pastor William McCarty in January... Known to his community as “Pastor MAC,” he was a friend and tireless servant to the Isle of Wight community as both a pastor at Healing Water Worship Center and a local elected official. 

I recently spoke on the House Floor to honor his legacy and mourn his loss. My thoughts are with his loving wife Amanda, their two children, and their granddaughter. May God uplift his family and loved ones in this time of sorrow and bless his memory. 

Meeting with Military Sealift Command at Naval Station Norfolk

Before I made the trip up to Washington for the week, I stopped at Naval Station Norfolk to talk with the leadership for Military Sealift Command (MSC) to learn more about their mission and some of the issues they currently face. MSC is a civilian crewed organization that operates U.S. Navy ships with the responsibility to refuel and resupply our fleet. Without them, so much of what the Navy does on a daily basis would not be possible.

We toured the USNS Medgar Evers and had the opportunity to meet their awesome crew. Recently, MSC ships have been asked to operate in the Red Sea, as our U.S. Navy ships protected our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel. This put these sailors in dangerous situations for the first time in decades. We thank them for their willingness to serve in such a hostile region.

While MSC sailors are civilians, they play an integral part to the strength of our Navy. Like our active-duty sailors, they share many of the same issues like extended deployments, emboldened allies attacking our ships, and recruitment and retention problems. There is a lot of work to do to ensure our MSC force is supported and able to fully perform their mission.

Thank you to MSC for hosting me and for all you do to keep our Navy fueled and supplied!

Weekly Poll

With over 1,300 responses last week, nearly 90% of you said that you would have voted in favor to the HALT Fentanyl Act. I agree, which is why I voted in favor of this legislation. You can read more about what this legislation does above.

And now, on to this week's poll question...!

Medal of Honor Recipient of the Week

This week, I would like to honor Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Staff Sergeant Stanley Bender of the U.S. Army (Medal of Honor action date: August 17, 1944). 

Stanley Bender was born on October 31 of 1909, in Carlisle, West Virginia. His parents spent a very short time in Carlisle before moving their family to Chicago. There, Bender grew up and worked his first jobs at slaughterhouses and as a taxi driver. In December 1939, he joined the Army at the age of 30

By 1944, Bender served as a Staff Sergeant in Company E, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division and was deployed to the European theater in WWII. On August 17, 1944, his company came under attack by German machine gunners and halted its advance near La Londe-les-Maures, France. After a tank was destroyed by the enemy, Bender climbed on top of a knocked out tank to locate the source of the fire. For over two minutes, he was in full view of the German guns, during which time he successfully found the enemy machine guns 200 yards away. He made it his mission to neutralize the enemy position and led his men down an irrigation ditch where he faced copious amounts of heavy enemy fire. 

He held his ground as Germans threw hand grenades into the ditch and eventually went on alone to walk 40 yards while under both enemy and friendly fire. He eventually knocked out the first enemy machine gun, then made his way through hand grenade fire towards the second machine gun at a distance of 25 yards. The Germans in the second position aimed their weapons and fired two bursts at him - but he pushed on. He reached the edge of the machine gun nest and signaled to his men to rush it before continuing on to walk 35 more yards to kill an enemy rifleman. He then returned to lead his men in killing the remaining Nazis.

His fearless attitude encouraged the rest of the assault company to come out of their positions and charge on the Germans. This resulted in knocking out two anti tank guns as they killed 37 enemy soldiers and captured 26 more. His demonstration of valor and courage ended in German defeat and with the seizure of the town and three of its bridges.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony six months later on February 1, 1945. He returned to Chicago before eventually moving to West Virginia. He died on June 22, 1994 at the age of 84. He is buried in High Lawn Memorial Park, Oak Hill, West Virginia. 

Constituent Corner

I know how difficult it can be to navigate the federal government. Recently, my office was able to assist Mariya from Virginia Beach resolve an issue she was having with the federal government. After reaching out to my office, we were able to assist her navigate the immigration process and solve her case.

If you need assistance with federal agency, my team is here to help. Contact my District Office at (757) 364-7650 or visit my website and my team will be in touch!

Don't forget - if you’d like to stay up to date with what I’m working on, check out my website and follow my Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages (linked below) to stay up to date!

If you or your family are visiting Washington, DC in the coming months, please stop by to say hello!

Take care,

Jen A. Kiggans

Congresswoman, Virginia's Second District

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