Congressional Mailbag

As my time representing you in Congress winds down, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide answer to some questions that I have been hearing from my constituents.

What issue important to Central Washington has evolved during your years in Congress?

When I was first elected in 1994, the listing of the Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the resulting adoption of the Northwest Forest Plan decimated the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest.

This cost thousands of jobs in small communities throughout the region. Environmental activists were also using ESA and the courts to try to force the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams to supposedly save endangered salmon. This would have been devastating to our entire economy.

I knew then that the ESA needed to be reformed to base federal action on the best available science and refocus the law on species recovery, instead of being a tool for extremists to achieve their political agendas.

And I have been proven right.

Federal agencies have recently admitted that it’s the Barred Owl, and not responsible logging practices in historic habitats, that is largely responsible for the Spotted Owl’s threatened status. And for several consecutive years, we are seeing record and near-record salmon runs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers – with the dams still in place.

While I was a member of the ESA Task Force during my first term and sponsored legislation to reform the law, there was little appetite within Congress to act because only those in the Pacific Northwest were feeling the effects of its abuses. This has changed.

This term, I led a new ESA working group – with members from around the country whose districts have now felt the unintended impacts of this law – and shepherded through legislation to make ESA decisions more transparent, involve state and local governments, and focus on recovery over litigation. This passed the House by a strong bipartisan vote. While the Senate is not expected to take this bill up before the end of the year, I am hopeful it will strengthen chances for future ESA reform.

What is the toughest vote you have ever taken?

Without question, the most difficult votes I’ve cast are those that put our troops in harm’s way. While I believed it was necessary for the United States to enter certain conflicts, it is not easy to cast votes to send our brave men and women into danger. I had the opportunity to visit troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo and I am grateful for their service to our nation. Every American owes our veterans and active duty military a debt that can never truly be repaid.

will be able to accomplish in the next two years?

With Republicans now in control of both the House and Senate, I believe Congress will send policy solutions to President Obama on many of the serious issues facing our country, ranging from job creation to reining in our national debt, and reforming the tax code so that it is fairer for American families and small businesses.

The President will have the choice of signing these bills into law – which I believe would be good for our country – or issuing a veto and showing the American people the true contrast between his ideas and what a Republican President could accomplish.