Jim Costa represents California’s 16th Congressional District. He has served the San Joaquin Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives since January of 2005. Raised on a dairy farm in Fresno’s Kearney Park area, Congressman Costa is a third-generation family farmer. As a Member of Congress, Costa has applied his farming background to fighting for Valley water, agriculture, and the economy.
A lifelong resident of the Valley, Costa’s committee assignments allow him to effectively advocate for the district. Costa uses his position on the Natural Resources Committeeto fight for the Valley’s fair share of water. This includes securing funding for dams, working to overturn unfair federal water regulations, and increasing Valley water allocations.
One of my top duties in Congress is to keep our country safe. This means strengthening our national security, supporting our troops at home and abroad, and completing our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To increase our national security, I have supported legislation to give our men and women in uniform the resources they need to keep us safe while ensuring accountability and good stewardship of our taxpayer dollars. For instance, 2011’s National Defense Authorization provides our military with the additional tools they need to disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies. These tools include counter-proliferation programs to keep weapons out of the hands of our enemies and intelligence and cyber security efforts to deter threats as soon as we learn about them. Al Qaeda and our enemies are constantly adapting, and I am committed to supporting our military and defense community in evolving to meet new threats.
Over two million American service members have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. These brave men and women put their lives on the line to keep us safe and it is critical to our national honor and security to support members of our military when they are in the field and when they return home. To learn more about my work for veterans and their families, click here.
The Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno is vital for our national security and our Valley’s economic security. The location of the 144th Fighter Wing on the West Coast helps our nation maintain air superiority in the Southwest region of the United States and around the world, and with more than 1000 guardsmen and women stationed at the wing, the 144th is a central part of our local economy.
That’s why I fought so hard to stop proposals by other states to end the 144th fighter wing and halt the transfer of new F-15s to the wing. On a bipartisan basis, I rallied more than half the California Congressional delegation in support of the wing, and we were successful. The new F-15s are on track and the 144th is safe from any proposed elimination.