Tag Archives: Congresswoman Veronica Escobar

On Monday, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) made a surprise visit to Bel Air High School to announce the winner of the 2019 Congressional Art Competition.

The winning painting was Mi Abuelita by Sarah Murillo, a Senior at Bel Air High School. Sarah will receive a round trip flight to Washington, D.C., where she will join hundreds of high school artists nationwide to see their artwork displayed in the U.S Capitol for one year.

“Congratulations to Sarah Murillo and all the young El Paso artists who submitted their artwork for this competition,” said Congresswoman Veronica Escobar. “The talent and creativity of all their pieces is a reflection of what our wonderful city has to offer. I look forward to welcoming Sarah to our nation’s capitol building, where her artwork will be displayed for thousands of visitors to see.”

“The Congressional Art Competition provides El Paso students a great opportunity on a local and a national level,” said Art Teacher Mr. Ramiro Ordoñez. “I would like to thank Congresswoman Escobar for continuing this tradition and for providing our young artists with this venue that allows them to showcase their talents.”

Students from 17 high schools within Texas’ 16th Congressional District submitted 110 pieces of art for this year’s competition.

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district.

Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated.

Congresswoman Escobar’s visit to Bel Air High School follows her first annual Congressional Art Competition Showcase, which took place this past Saturday and included the performance of El Paso High School Band students lead by Mr. Ricky Vilardell, the Sprezzatura Early Music Ensemble, and the Ricky Vilardell and Michael Guzman Jazz Duo.

Below are the results of the 2019 Congressional Art Competition:

1st Place: Sarah Murillo, Mi Abuelita | Bel Air High School
2nd Place: Matthew Acosta, Miel Noir | Parkland High School
3rd Place: Anthony Williams, Boy in the Yellow | Parkland High School

Honorable Mentions:

Melinna Andrade, Torta de Beans | Valle Verde Early College High School
Tyler Anne Ramirez, Anaiz and Amy | Parkland High School
Paola Del Valle, Taste of Home | Hanks High School
Mireya Dominguez, Nana | Eastwood High School
Frank N. Coronado, El Paso | Bel Air High School
Romelo Rosario, As We Pass | Chapin High School
Danielle Waters, Emergence | Bel Air High School

WASHINGTON –  Late Thursday afternoon, the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC), formerly the Democratic Women’s Working Group, announced the results of their leadership elections for the 116^th Congress.

Congresswomen Lois Frankel (FL-21), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Jackie Speier (CA-14) will serve as Co-Chairs and Congresswomen Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Deb Haaland (NM-01) will serve as Vice Chairs.

The newly-appointed members released the following statement:

“With more women in Congress than ever before, the Democratic caucus has never been stronger. The new leadership of the Democratic Women’s Caucus stands united in the common purpose of improving the lives of all families by advocating for equal pay for equal work, access to health care, paid family and medical leave, affordable, quality child care, retirement security, combating workplace harassment, and much more. Despite every effort by this administration to take us backwards, our voices remain loud as we keep fighting to push forward on women’s hard-earned rights.”

– Democratic Women’s Caucus Leadership Reps. Frankel, Lawrence, Speier, Escobar, and Haaland

The Democratic Women’s Caucus is comprised of all the Democratic women in the U.S. House of Representatives and currently has 91 members.

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) will host her monthly March town hall meeting and first veterans town hall meeting on Saturday, March 23, at Project Amistad.

During the March town hall meeting, Congresswoman Escobar will provide residents of Texas’ 16th Congressional District with updates on her work in Washington D.C. and El Paso, and her constituent services staff will be on hand to assist with any questions or concerns El Pasoans might have or need help with.

Following the event, Congresswoman Escobar will host her first veterans town hall meeting to update El Paso veterans on the work she has been doing to improve the services and care they receive, and discuss other issues facing our nation’s veterans.

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Texas Veterans Leadership Program, Emergence Health Network, and constituent services staff will be joining the Congresswoman.

WHAT – March Town Hall Meeting
WHEN – Saturday, March 23, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
WHERE – Project Amistad. 3210 Dyer Street

WHAT – Veterans Town Hall Meeting
WHEN – Saturday, March 23, 2019 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE – Project Amistad. 3210 Dyer Street

On Friday, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) announced her appointment on two House Judiciary subcommittees for the 116th Congress: the Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

“I’m honored to join the House Judiciary Committee, and proud to serve on these subcommittees,” said Congresswoman Escobar. “These subcommittee assignments will allow me to defend our nation’s fundamental values and work on critical priorities for El Pasoans, the greater border region, and the American people.”

The Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties considers legislation on Constitutional rights, constitutional amendments, Federal civil rights, claims against the United States, non-immigration private claims bills, ethics in government, tort liability, and legal reform generally.

The Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship considers legislation on immigration and naturalization, border security, admission of refugees, treaties, conventions and international agreements, Federal charters of incorporation, private immigration bills, and non-border immigration enforcement.

Congresswoman Escobar’s subcommittee assignments were approved during the first full Judiciary Committee meeting of the 116th Congress.

Via a tweet late Tuesday afternoon, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar shared a page with resources for El Paso-area Federal Employees who have been furloughed as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.

The list, compiled and cross-linked on a page at Congresswoman Escobar’s website is reposted below.

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211 is a clearinghouse of information about available resources for federal employees impacted by the shutdown. If additional resources not listed below are needed, call 2-1-1 for more information. You can also reach out to our office at 915-541-1400.

ACCESS TO CAPITAL

Credit unions and banks are providing a variety of support depending on the institution to include no or low interest, short term loans, loan extension options and the ability to cash out CDs with no penalty. Some credit unions are also providing low interest loans to people who are not members of the credit union.

Financial institutions that are offering support include:

• GECU, www.gecu.com, 915-778-9221
• TFCU, www.tfcu.coop, 915-843-8328
• First Light Federal Credit Union, www.firstlightfcu.org, 915-562-1172
• Navy Federal Credit Union, 888-842-6328
• USAA, www.usaa.com, 800-531-USAA (8722)
• Bank of America, 844-219-0690
• Chase: www.chase.com, 888-356-0023
• Wells Fargo, www.wellsfargo.com, 800-TO-WELLS
• BBVA, www.bbva.com, 877-218-7254

DEFERRING PAYMENTS OR PAYMENT PLANS

Utilities to include El Paso Water Utility (915-594-5500), El Paso Electric (915-543-5970) and Texas Gas Service (800-700-2443) will work with customers to defer payments or create flexible payment plans.

Cell phone carriers, depending on the carrier, will work with customers to create flexible payment plans and to waive late fees. Carriers include AT&T (800-331-0500), Sprint (888-211-4727), T-Mobile (877-746-0909) and Verizon (866-266-1445)

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

The Texas Workforce Commission considers federal workers affected by the shutdown to be “laid off” from their jobs. You can apply for benefits at ui.texasworkforce.org 24 hours a day or by calling 800-939-6631 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, go to https://twc.texas.gov/files/jobseekers/federal-shutdown-2018-twc.pdf.

TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT

Workforce Solutions Borderplex (915-887-2600, www.borderplexjobs.com) has created a list of employers willing to hire federal employees on a temporary basis.

FOOD

El Pasoans Fighting Hunger and their 125 non-profit partners (915-298-0353, www.elpasoansfightinghunger.org) has emergency food baskets for impacted employees available throughout the community at food pantries.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND STRESS RELIEF

Emergence Health Network (www.emergencehealthnetwork.org) has a crisis hotline (915-779-1800 manned by qualified mental health professional and backed up by on-call professionals who are available 24/7. You can also visit one of their mental health clinics.

YMCA of El Paso (www.elpasoymca.org) is offering free family memberships to furloughed employees.

On Wednesday, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar  issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed an amendment to H.R. 268, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019, to prevent funding in the bill from being used to build President Trump’s border wall.

“I’m proud that Congress took a significant step forward to stop the Trump administration from diverting critical disaster relief funds meant for other projects towards an expensive and ineffective border wall.”

“Our country needs help recovering from some of the greatest natural disasters we have seen in our lifetime. Let’s ensure that our nation has the necessary tools to recover, rebuild, and mitigate future disasters, and protect Americans that have suffered enormous catastrophes against President Trump’s bait and switch tactics.”

H.R. 268, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019, provides relief and recovery assistance for Americans affected by recent hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

Congresswoman Escobar cosponsored Amendment Number 2, introduced by Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (MA-02), along with Reps. Alcee Hastings (FL-20), Nydia Velazquez (NY-07), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Norma Torres (CA-35), and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07).

The amendment passed by a vote of 230 to 197.