Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.” Today in our nation, the notion of civility seems to have taken a back seat. It has been more than a year since the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise and Republican colleagues at their baseball practice, and more than a year since the murder of a counter-protester at the Charlottesville white supremacist rally. In light of such destructive political violence, as citizens, we must come together and commit to civ...
One of the biggest challenges facing healthcare consumers today is the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. President Trump acknowledged the problem in his Inauguration address, saying, “One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs.” Bringing down the price of prescription drugs will help reduce medical costs for families, and Congress is working with President Trump’s administration to make progress and increase access to affordable healthcare. In May, Congress approved legislation, and P...
Two of the most important trading relationships in terms of purchasing U.S. manufacturing and agriculture exports are Canada and Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994 to reduce trade barriers between our three countries. While NAFTA needed to be modernized, the agreement has been critical for our farmers and ranchers: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, since 1994, Canada and Mexico’s purchases of American agriculture goods has quadrupled to $39 billion. Trade a...
Last week, President Trump signed appropriations legislation approved by Congress, H.R. 5895, the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, to fund some of the highest priorities of the federal government, including health care for our veterans. In addition, the legislation provides resources for Hanford cleanup and research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Through their service, our veterans have earned the care promised to them, and the federal governme...
Once hunted to near-extinction in the lower 48 U.S. states and listed by the federal government as an endangered species in 1974, gray wolves (Canis lupus) are thriving in the U.S. and in Washington state, with more than 5,000 wolves now living in the contiguous U.S. According to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the state’s wolf population has grown over the past nine straight years to 22 packs that contain at least 120 individuals. In our state, the species’ recovery is bringing wolves into increasing contact wit... Full story
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 e...
What does opportunity mean in America? The American Dream means individuals and families are unconstrained from pursuing their own goals. It means that government policies will reduce burdens on citizens, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs, not step between you and your ability to work hard. Some numbers provide snapshots of Americans’ confidence and what economic opportunity looks like. In the second quarter of 2018 from April to June, the economy grew at a rate of 4.2 percent, the fastest growth in four years, keeping it on t...
The sight and smell of choking haze and dangerous levels of smoke from burning forests have become all too common during our Pacific Northwest summers. Major fires have struck Central Washington time and again, year after year, and nothing will change until we decide we have had enough. This year, Central Washington communities are grappling with the Boyds, Cougar Creek, Crescent Mountain, Grass Valley, McCleod, and Miriam fires, adding up to thousands of burned acres. Okanogan County Fire District 8 volunteer firefighter... Full story
John Adams once said, “National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman.” I am pleased that the recent agreement to provide for our national defense for the upcoming fiscal year was a moment of clear unity in Congress to fulfill our constitutional duty to “provide for the common defense.” In July, the House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 5515, the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (or NDAA) on a bipartisan vote of 359-54, and it had already passed the Senate. Preside...
Do you think hair-braiding professionals should be required to obtain a cosmetology license? In about a dozen states, hair braiding actually does require such a license, at the expense of hundreds of hours of training that can cost thousands of dollars. Hair braiding is one of many moderate-income jobs to which access has been limited to potential entrepreneurs by bureaucratic occupational licensing requirements. In Washington state, that list includes athletic trainers, massage therapists, taxidermists, and more. The... Full story
The issues of water reliability and water infrastructure are of such high importance, particularly in our region and across the West, that they are topics I constantly focus on in Congress. Whether the backlog of water projects waiting to be built right here in the Fourth Congressional District, or the difficulty and complexity of renegotiating the Columbia River Treaty with Canada, to the ongoing threat of the spill order mandated at our lower Snake and Columbia River dams, we face a lot of challenges in ensuring a stable...
Last week, I sat down with President Donald Trump and members of Congress at the White House to discuss the impact of trade on agriculture in Central Washington. China’s and other nations’ retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products are having a major impact on growers and producers in our state. In our meeting, I brought up the challenges of Central Washington cherry-growers as one example of export-reliant agriculture that have been paying the price for rising tension. China is the No. 1 customer for Washington state’s cherr...
The federal government plays an important role in Central Washington and across the West when it comes to a host of issues that impact rural communities. The federal government must manage vast tracks of federal lands including managing wild species, and preventing forest fires among other services. Residents of Central Washington expect the federal government to fulfill its responsibilities to the public and to respect local wishes, hearing us out about policies that affect our daily lives. Last week, I was pleased that the...
Last week, President Trump pardoned 76-year old Oregon rancher Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., and his 49-year old son, Steven Hammond. I strongly believe that the pardon was justified after the vindictive prosecution and excessive sentencing of the Hammonds. In 2001, the Hammonds were conducting controlled burns, a common land management technique, on their land to burn invasive weeds on their property. The fire spread unintentionally to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, burning about 140 acres. In 2006, the Hammonds...
I was delighted and honored that the 31st U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, accepted my invitation to travel to Central Washington last week to hear questions and concerns from farmers and ranchers. Secretary Perdue showed himself to be very knowledgeable while answering questions from myself and area farmers on how the Administration’s policies are impacting them, and I appreciated him taking the time to engage with the agriculture community in the Pacific Northwest. According to the Tri-City Herald, it was the f...
I can share from firsthand experience that farmers typically have a lot to worry about in the best of times. I recently traveled across Central Washington to hear from farmers and ranchers from each county express their concerns. I heard about the importance of opening new markets, increased public education about farming and the source of our food, and the extent to which farmers facing uncertain times rely on reliable crop insurance. Today, many farmers in Central Washington and across the nation certainly are struggling... Full story
In the U.S., 91 people die every day from an opioid overdose. Due to the rise in fatal overdoses, life expectancy in the U.S. has recently fallen. The problem affects our communities in Central Washington. According to the Washington Department of Health, from 2012 to 2016, opioid overdoses contributed to the deaths of 300 people in the Fourth Congressional District. I recently hosted a public Opioid Summit in Moses Lake and heard from law enforcement on the scope of the problem and from families whose lives have been...
You have heard the saying, “a penny saved is a penny earned.” It is certainly true, and all the more so when the sum is $15 billion. On June 7, the House or Representatives approved, and I supported, passage of H.R. 3, the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act. H.R. 3 “rescinded” $15 billion in federal spending that is no longer needed for its intended purposes, or that has been sitting unused within agencies for years. The legislation also rescinds funding that agencies cannot spend, or have no plans to spen...
What does “right to try” mean? It refers to the ability of terminally ill patients, who after having exhausted all other options and who are unable to participate in a clinical trial involving certain drugs, to access experimental drugs or therapy. The Right to Try offers the freedom to access medicine that is still in the investigational phase. Right to Try is very important to families when a relative is struggling with life-threatening illness. While the medicine, technology, and research available today is far and abo...
“Okanogan Strong” was the motto that aptly described the community’s response during devastating wildfires that struck our region in 2014. That same saying applies again today as the Okanogan community grapples with a natural disaster, this time severe flooding that is potentially the worst since 1972. Emergency declarations have been issued by the state, county, and cities. With warmer weather bringing spring runoff, we have also been seeing floods in Grant County and the Tri-Cities area as well. I have been closely monit...
Last week, President Donald Trump used his legal authority to withdraw the U.S. from President Barack Obama’s flawed 2015 deal with Iran, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA). I opposed Obama’s Iran deal in 2015 because it did not do enough to keep Iran from a path to developing a nuclear weapon. One of my main concerns was that in exchange for economic sanctions relief for Iran, the JCPA failed to require that nation to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure, leaving it a dangerous state on the threshold of acq... Full story
“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 Fourth 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 act...
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...
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 undersc... Full story
“And don’t let the door hit you on your way out,” one might say to the old tax code that allocated more of American families’ earnings to the federal government. Tuesday, April 17, was the final filing day under the outdated federal tax system, thanks to successful tax reform efforts that have been signed into law. Next tax season, 80 percent of Central Washington families who claim the standard deduction will be able to take advantage of raising it from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and $12,000 to $24,000 for married...