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U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today sent a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough requesting information about the implementation of “produce prescription” initiatives at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In 2022, President Biden called on VHA to begin the implementation of “produce prescriptions,” which allo... Read More »

Maine First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is applauding efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to combat gun violence by announcing a new rule that will save lives by reducing the number of firearms sold without background checks. “More Americans die from misused firearms than car crashes every year, and yet America’s gun ownership laws are far more lax and allow weapons to get into t... Read More »

Amid concerning reports that potatoes could be reclassified as grains in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, and Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) are leading a bipartisan effort to express opposition to efforts to declassify potatoes as vegetables. In a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) S... Read More »

U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced $3 million in Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) funding for infrastructure improvements at DiMillo’s Marina in Portland and Peaks Island Marina. Funding for BIG is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was reauthorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law... Read More »

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, w... Read More »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced that Erskine Academy senior Giacomo Donato Smith of Whitefield has accepted an offer to attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. Pingree nominated Giacomo to the Academy in December. “Acceptance to a U.S. service academy is extremely competitive and reflects highly on a student’s scholarship, community service, an... Read More »

Maine First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, alongside U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and 37 of their colleagues sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking them to withhold pending offensive weapons transfers to Israel after seven humanitarian aid workers from World Central Kitchen, including ... Read More »

Maine First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today shared the following statement on the death of former Maine Governor and Congressman Joseph Brennan: “I’m saddened to hear of Joseph Brennan’s passing and offer my sincere condolences to his wife Connie, children Joseph (JB) and Tara, loved ones, and friends. Joe came from humble immigrant Irish beginnings and grew up in a large family of li... Read More »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced $15 million for the Efficiency Maine Green Bank to support energy loans through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), an initiative created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Efficiency Maine is a sub-awardee under an application submitte... Read More »

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Representative Chellie Pingree announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded the Penobscot Indian Nation $199,998 to increase the tribe’s involvement and support of energy, climate change and ocean-related issues. Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and dispersed via NOAA’s Regional Ocean Partnersh... Read More »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today led 35 bipartisan members of Congress in a letter to Agriculture Committee leaders of the House and Senate urging the establishment of a new Office of Seafood Policy and Program Integration at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); support for seafood procurement from small and midsize seafood businesses across USDA nutrition programs; an... Read More »

Today Maine’s First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced 16 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants and loans worth a total of $2.1 million for businesses in midcoast Maine. The infusion of rural development funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Congressional Democrats and signed by President Biden. “I was p... Read More »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) and five senior House Democrats with significant experience in foreign policy and human rights - Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02), Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12), and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) sent a letter urging President Biden to make clear that continued efforts by the Isr... Read More »

In a House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee hearing today with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) shed light on challenges Maine farmers are facing amid meat processing backlogs. Pingree, a longtime farmer and member of both the House Agriculture Committee and House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, asked Secretary Vil... Read More »

In light of a new Interim Commission Report on last October’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today pushed Sergeant Major of the Army Michael R. Weimer on what guardrails are in place to prevent Army reservists, like the shooter Robert Card, from possessing a firearm when experiencing a mental health crisis, and what protocols exist to ensure local law enforceme... Read More »