Congress

Every Fourth of July, the Carnegie Corporation of New York releases a list of "Great Immigrants," people the philanthropic organization says have made notable contributions to the "progress of American society." This year’s list includes singer Regina Spektor, actor Kumail Nanjiani, the CEO of Uber, a UC Santa Barbara Nobel Prize winner in physics, and U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal. 

Central Coast congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) held a town hall meeting in Arroyo Grande Wednesday evening, attracting hundreds of people. KCBX asked Carbajal his reaction to the meeting and the most prevalent concerns voiced there.

“The most pressing concerns I heard last night were the concerns of repealing the Affordable Care Act, especially the attempts to repeal it without replacing it,” Carbajal said.

Randol White: This is Issues and Ideas on KCBX Central Coast public radio. I'm Randol White. From the moment Central Coast Congresswoman Lois Capps announced her plans to retire at the end of this term, candidates looking to fill her spot began to announce intentions to run. KCBX is inviting each registered candidate onto Issues and Ideas in order to share their visions for the 24th Congressional District, which includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties, as well as a portion of Ventura County in the Los Padres National Forest.

From the moment Central Coast Congresswoman Lois Capps announced her plans to retire at the end of this term, candidates looking to fill her spot began to announce their intentions to run. 

From the moment Central Coast Congresswoman Lois Capps announced her plans to retire at the end of this term, candidates looking to fill her spot began to announce their intentions to run.

Another long-serving member of Congress from the Central Coast says this term will be his last. Representative Sam Farr announced Thursday he's stepping down after 23 years in Washington. 

From the moment Central Coast Congresswoman Lois Capps announced her plans to retire at the end of this term, candidates looking to fill her spot began to announce their intentions to run. 

Also an earlier 24th Congressional District candidate debate on February 4, 2016 at Cal Poly was moderated by KCBX News Director Randol White.

The debate begins at 18:14 in the video below, produced by Mustang News:

From the moment Central Coast Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) announced her plans to retire at the end of this term, candidates looking to fill her spot began to announce their intentions to run.

Central Coast Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) announced Wednesday that she will not run again for her seat in Nov. 2016. She made the announcement in a video saying, "it's been a hard decision to make."

There is an effort in Congress led by Central Coast representative Lois Capps to feature more locally grown flowers at the White House.  

In a letter to President Obama, members of the bi-partisan Cut Flower Caucus thanked him for showcasing American, cut flowers during the last State dinner with the president of France and encouraged him to continue doing so. Congresswoman Capps says the White House has had a long tradition of showcasing American products at events and says she and members of the caucus would like to see flowers as part of that. 

Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) addressed Congress on Wednesday evening, slowly announcing the names of each of the victims of Friday's murderous rampage in Isla Vista.

The Central Coast congresswoman pledged to do all she can to prevent this sort of tragedy in the future.

She then called on members of congress to join her in remembering all of those affected with a moment of silence.