Kathy Castor is Tampa Bay’s voice in the U.S. Congress. She was elected in 2006 and represents Florida’s 14th Congressional district, which includes Tampa and parts of Hillsborough County. She is the first woman to represent Hillsborough and Pinellas counties in the U.S. Congress.
Castor focuses on issues vital to Tampa Bay area families and businesses, and is committed to building a stronger economy that works for everyone as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Chair of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. She works on initiatives to create jobs, protect the environment and consumers, improve schools, ensure veterans receive the benefits and care they have earned, provide access to affordable health care and defend protections for people with preexisting health conditions.
Throughout her time in Congress, U.S. Rep. Castor has worked to stem the gun violence epidemic in America. In the 116th Congress, she has helped lead her colleagues in passing H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Check Act, a commonsense bill that ensures all gun sales and transfers are subject to a background check that should help stop senseless violence by individuals who should not have a firearm. House Democrats have also passed H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, to close the “Charleston loophole” after the South Carolina gunman in 2015 was able to purchase weapons after a 3-day federal background check ran out of time to turn up a prior conviction. The bill would extend the time to complete a background check. She also is cosponsoring bills to reinstate the ban on military-style assault weapons.
Also in the 116th Congress, U.S. Rep. Castor joined her colleague U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, Chairman of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and other members in urging Senate Leader McConnell to call the Senate into session and take immediate action to pass H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112. She participated in a sit-in with Civil Rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis (GA5) in the 114th Congress and continues to advocate for funding of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research on gun violence.