In the News

A new House bill would prevent the incoming government from forcing tech companies to build a so-called Muslim registry. The bill, dubbed the No Religious Registry Act, is set to be reintroduced by Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA, 1st) after it failed just days after now president-elect Donald Trump won the election. It comes after the Republican candidate made repeated calls for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the US during his campaign. But it's not a new idea. The Bush administrati... Read more

Specialization seasoned with seniority is the surest recipe for a meaningful legislative career in the House, which is more than big enough to swallow all the dilettantes and short-timers without a trace. It’s finding a substantive niche, then fitting in over the long haul, that proves perennially frustrating for many members. But the goal of becoming a successful and substantive lawmaker just got a whole lot easier for a score of them. Ten from each party, only one of them a freshman and only t... Read more

Representatives Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA), co-chairs of the Internet of Things Caucus, talked about technology and internet issues facing Congress and the incoming Trump administration. Topics included how technology devices were becoming needs instead of choices, and how the privacy, operations, and security aspects of devices and services were beginning to intersect with national security. Click here to read the whole story. Read more

Sultan and Monroe community members came together over the weekend to celebrate the “Wagner Swifts,” a new public art display featured in the heart of Monroe’s downtown core. Sultan artist Kevin Pettelle was commissioned for the work last year, selected from a pool of candidates after the city issued a call-for-sculptors. At the northwest corner of Main and Lewis streets, the piece honors the Vaux’s swifts, the petite and gentle birds that visit Monroe twice a year during their spring and winter... Read more

The Email Privacy Act, which would require law enforcement get a warrant before searching emails and online communications older than 180 days, was reintroduced Monday by a bipartisan group of House lawmakers. The bill is meant to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which considers communications older than 180 abandoned and therefore fair game to search without a warrant. “After spending two decades in the technology sector where things evolve at light speed, it is hard to ... Read more

Yep, this is what it's come to: Washington State's Senator Patty Murray and a coalition of other Senate Democrats have introduced a bill to block the creation of a federal registry based on religion, ethnicity, race, age, gender, national origin, nationality, or citizenship. The "Protect American Families Act" would block draconian actions from the president-elect should Trump's transition team make good on their proposal to register and monitor immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. Washing... Read more

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., has done time in a congressional purgatory -- a House panel set up by Republicans to torment Planned Parenthood -- and is now stepping into a heavenly committee assignment. DelBene, a former Microsoft executive, has been named to the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Ads by ZINC The panel will deal with the most controversial elements of Republicans' legislative agenda, from repeal of the Affordable Care Act to cuts in Medicare and "reforms" in Social ... Read more

OLYMPIA — A politically contentious investigation by Congressional Republicans into the practices of Planned Parenthood and procuring of fetal tissue for research quietly concluded this week. It’s almost certain the fight isn’t over. The House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives filed its final report Tuesday, ending a 15-month, $1.59 million undertaking that appears to have been a futile search for damning evidence to hamstring Planned Parenthood operations and halt scientists’ use of fe... Read more

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene spent an hour volunteering at the Sky Valley Food Bank in Monroe recently, passing out food during its Wednesday morning distribution service. DelBene has been an advocate for food insecurity programs during her time in Congress. Although committee appointments have not been finalized for the 2017 Congress, DelBene has served on the House Agriculture Committee for four years, including work on the nutrition subcommittee. Food assistance programs like the Supplemental ... Read more

The importance of data security and encryption — starting with our smartphones and our email and other online accounts on up to corporate and government data servers — should be more than clear now, following the revelations of Russian hackers attempting to mess with the U.S. presidential election, not to mention Yahoo’s repeated security breaches involving millions of email account passwords and other information. Click here for the full story Read more