News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Last week, the House of Representatives voted on the Raise the Wage Act, which would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, despite warnings from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that this would result in the loss of nearly 4 million American jobs. In Washington state, we have already seen how mandating a higher minimum wage is negatively affecting our economy. With a state-wide minimum wage of $12 per hour, Washington mandates one of the highest rates in the country, and it will increase by another $1.50 in Janua...
One of Congress’ most important Constitutional responsibilities is providing for our military and national defense. For the past 58 years, this has been a bipartisan affair. Members of the House and Senate from both sides of the aisle have come together to pass a bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that provides for our military and troops who fight to protect and defend us. Last week, instead of voting on a bill that would ensure our troops have the resources they need and deserve, the House of Representatives voted on the D...
This Fourth of July, America will celebrate its 243rdbirthday. Our country has come a long way since 1776, and there is still more progress to be made. Our independence and our patriotism are what set the United States apart from the rest of the world, and we have a lot to be thankful for. As we gather with our family and friends to celebrate our freedom, we should also celebrate some of our nation’s finest treasures: our national parks and public lands. Washington state is fortunate to be home to 15 National Park Service (NPS) parks, which g...
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) motto is, “Caring for the land and serving people.” That is exactly what the students of USFS Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers do. With 25 locations across the country, these Civilian Conservation Centers (CCCs) provide skills and job training to “at-risk” young people who need a hand up to find gainful employment or receive their high school GED. Students are taught real skills they use to serve and bring economic prosperity to their local communities and our national forests. Central Washington is luck...
It is no secret that prescription drug costs are high. When we hear about medications being sold for outrageous prices, it is important to remember that they aren’t necessarily special drugs for specific treatments or rare diseases. These are medicines that treat high cholesterol and blood pressure, epi-pens that save the lives of children and adults exposed to an allergen, and insulin that patients with diabetes depend upon every day. In Central Washington, we already experience provider shortages, skyrocketing deductibles, and unaffordable p...
Last week, the House voted on legislation that would force the President to participate in the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce carbon emissions in the United States and the world. On the surface, this bill paints a pretty picture: reducing our carbon footprint. However, this federally-mandated top-down approach will not help advance that goal. I celebrate the fact that the United States is leading the global community in reducing carbon emissions, but President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement because other countries, like...
Easter Sunday is the holiest day for observant Christians worldwide. It is the day followers of Jesus Christ celebrate his resurrection, and many believers choose to be baptized or receive their first communion on the special day. It is the day on which Christians celebrate the central tenets of our faith, which is why the coordinated suicide bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka that targeted minority Christians at four churches as well as foreigners at four hotels shocked that island nation and the world. The terrorists targeted Christian pl...
According to the Yakima Herald Republic’s special series, “The Vanished:” A report from the National Institute of Justice found that more than four out of five Native American women have experienced violence in their lives. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control reported that homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native American women between the ages of 10 and 24. The Department of Justice has reported Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than other Americans. The murder and abduction of indig...
After nearly two years, 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search warrants, and 500 witness interviews, we now know that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” The Department of Justice made clear that the special counsel’s report includes no new indictments or sealed indictments. After this thorough investigation, President Trump has been cleared of a charge that has divided the nat...
Last Thursday, I took an oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution as the representative of the people of the Fourth Congressional District in the 116th Congress. It is an honor to be entrusted with this office to represent the people of Central Washington, our values, and our liberties. In this period of divided government with a Republican president, Republican Senate majority, and Democratic House majority, it is our responsibility to find common ground as representatives of the people. I am proud that my first votes this Congress...
As 2018 comes to a close, so does the 115th Congress. It is an honor to represent the diverse interests of the Fourth Congressional District, and I am especially proud of the accomplishments we achieved that will improve the quality of life in Central Washington. One year after Congress passed historic tax relief for American taxpayers, we are seeing results in the form of higher paychecks, improved employee benefits, and growing small businesses. We are making it easier for Americans to save for their futures and encouraging innovation. I...
Last week, Congress voted 369-47 to pass the 2018 Farm Bill, sending this critical legislation to President Trump for his signature into law. The agreement sets us on a better path for our country’s farmers and ranchers, for our rural communities, for small businesses, and for consumers across the country at the grocery store and at kitchen tables. In March, I traveled across Central Washington to speak with farmers from every county in the Fourth Congressional District about their goals for the Farm Bill. With passage of the bill, I am p...
The recovery of the gray wolf is a success story for the Endangered Species Act, and the best available science should determine whether species remain listed. I am proud that the House voted last week to approve of legislation I co-introduced with Rep. Sean Duffy: H.R. 6784, the Manage Our Wolves Act, which will return management of the gray wolf species to the states. The states are best equipped to provide more effective and accountable management that responds to the needs of the ecosystem, other species, and local communities. In 2013,...
November 11 of this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. Over the course of that conflict, 116,516 American military personnel lost their lives. The deadliest battle in U.S. history was at Argonne Forest, from September 26, 1918, lasting more than a month, until the Armistice. The battle involved more than one million American soldiers and resulted in more than 26,000 American military deaths. The toll was unimaginable, but the U.S. contribution and heavy sacrifice on behalf of the Allied cause turned the...
As the nation’s students head back to classes after the summer break, choosing whether and where to attend college is a major focus for many high schoolers. In 2017, 44 million Americans had student-loan debt, and with rising tuition costs, it is more important than ever to empower families with the facts so that financial literacy keeps them from pitfalls of a cycle of education-related debt. Knowing which questions to ask can be as important as finding the answers. Just ask any student or parent if they feel well equipped to make informed dec...
“My brother is an addict. I am raising his daughter.” That is one of the many responses I received when I asked constituents of the 4th Congressional District how opioids and heroin abuse have affected people in our community. The responses are eye-opening to the heartbreaking cost of the opioid crisis in Central Washington: “The opioid crisis is destroying my family’s life,” and “my adult child has battled addiction for 20 years after taking post-surgery opioids at 18” are two more responses that are truly a call to action. Families are strugg...
For months, my Pacific Northwest congressional colleagues and I have been raising our voices and working on legislation to prevent increasing forced spill at the lower Snake and Columbia River dams from raising electricity rates in our region by $40 million. That forced spill order, the result of a ruling of a single federal judge in Portland, took effect at the beginning of April. Last week, our work resulted in passing bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3144, introduced by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, myself, and members of Congress from the...
Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, the late Elie Wiesel, once said of that horrific state-sponsored genocide that, “to forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So I couldn’t prevent the first death. I surely must be capable of saving them from a second death.” The world-renowned author sought to prevent victims from being forgotten through writing many books on the persecution through his experience and by helping establish the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Wiesel’s words underscore the gravity of the dut...
I recently traveled across Washington’s Fourth Congressional District to speak with farmers from each county and to hear their concerns about an upcoming Farm Bill. One of the largest concerns expressed by farmers had little to do with congressional action, however: Central Washington farmers expressed their anxiety about the impact of a potentially escalating trade war with global trading partners. President Trump recently announced new tariffs worth billions of dollars on products manufactured by China. The reasons he cited for tariffs are c...
One of the most urgent issues we face right now in Central Washington is the ongoing threat to dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Just this week, a 9th Circuit Court panel rejected arguments for an injunction to pause a forced spill order by an Oregon federal judge. The Oregon judge’s order requires an increase in spill for the eight lower Columbia and Snake River dams and now goes into effect as of April 3. Increasing spill comes with a $40 million price tag for ratepayers this year alone. That price is too high, and it is only a f...
Something that has been lacking in the current national debate on firearms is trust and good faith. Responsible gun owners mourn the innocent victims of mass shootings. Responsible gun owners want to keep our communities safe. Parents on both sides of this debate worry about our children’s safety. All of us agree that mentally unstable or dangerous individuals should not have access to firearms. We must ensure that laws are effectively enforced – especially considering that there were clear signs that the Parkland, Florida shooter had men...
What would life in the Mid-Columbia be like if dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers were removed? What would then be used to control flooding that devastated communities before the dams were put in place? How would we provide clean, reliable hydropower for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses? How would our region’s farmers and agriculture industry replace lost access to water that is currently stored behind the dams? This worst-case scenario is not as far-fetched as we would hope, unfortunately. For some interests—many from out...
Last week, the Trump administration released its proposal to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, a blueprint that gives hope for federal support and a positive path forward on projects across the country that are stalled due to bureaucratic red tape. America must address its aging infrastructure and streamline the process for projects that are needed to meet growing demand for water, especially in the West. President Trump’s infrastructure blueprint included a U.S. Department of Interior proposal to expedite the Bureau of Reclamation (BO...
The right to an individual’s life, liberty, and private property underpins any free society. It is a well-established principle enshrined in the Constitution’s 5th Amendment that under a limited government, no individual can be deprived of private property without just compensation. Back-door methods of federal regulation, without titles or deeds ever changing hands, effectively result in the seizure or “taking” of private lands and violate of the spirit of law protecting private property. President Obama’s 2015 Clean Water Rule, also called “W...
On Friday, January 19, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined together and walked along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the 45th annual March for Life. In full view of the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol, and in the shadow of the Washington Monument, marchers raised their voices to show support for the cause of human life and dignity for every person, born or unborn. While marchers gathered outdoors, inside the House of Representatives work was being accomplished on pro-life legislation. The House was debating H.R....