The letter, to U.S. Forest Service chief Tom Tidwell, was signed by U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon. DelBene and Larsen are cosponsoring the Green Mountain Heritage Act, along with Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, D-Wash.The legislation passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, and appears headed for full… Read more »
In a rare show of bipartisanship, House members from Washington are lining up behind legislation that would make permanent the ability of state residents to take a federal income tax deduction for the state sales taxes they pay.To read the full article, click HERE. Read more »
We know from Ecclesiastes, there is a time to break down and a time to build up. When it comes to America's wild places, an ambidextrous Congress manages to build up and break down simultaneously.On the prudent-conservation side, the news is promising. Tuesday marked the culmination of a bipartisan push to expand Alpine Lakes Wilderness and designate the Pratt and Middle Fork… Read more »
Less than an hour’s hop by car from Seattle lies a glacier-cut terrain dotted with 700 lakes, Sitka spruce forests and bull-trout runs.It’s taken much longer — six years and counting — for Congress to approve an expansion of Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the closest federally designated wild lands to the Puget Sound metropolis.It appears the legislation may finally pass… Read more »
A long-requested U.S. House hearing on Tuesday saw unusual bipartisan agreement that the closest Cascade mountain valley to Seattle deserves protection, and that 22,100 acres in the mountains of eastern King County should be added to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.The testimony should boost prospects that the legislation can be sprung from the House Natural Resources Committee. … Read more »
A House Natural Resources subcommittee will at long last hear testimony on legislation to expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and protect the Middle Fork-Snoqualmie River in eastern King County, after more than two years in which a Republican-run House has ignored legislation sponsored by a Republican congressman.The Public Lands Subcommittee will, on Tuesday, take up the Alpine Lakes bill… Read more »
Comprehensive (not just piecemeal) immigration reform will define the new American century.On June 27, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan immigration overhaul, 68-32. Now, the U.S. House must act.The reform components in the Senate bill dovetail with the public interest. This includes an incremental path to citizenship that takes up to 13 years. Farm workers and Dream Act students will… Read more »
Congresswoman Suzan DelBene represents what has been described as one of the most evenly divided districts in the country. The redrawn First Congressional District of Washington state also contains several geographical and economic elements—from agricultural and high-tech businesses to a lengthy stretch of Canadian border—that have a major stake in the outcome of the… Read more »
MOUNT VERNON — Skagit County business owners say they are seeing signs of recovery after experiencing up to 60 percent dips in sales during the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge closure.The bridge collapsed May 23, and the temporary span reopened June 19.U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene toured three downtown shops Tuesday before sitting with business owners to… Read more »
CONGRESS squandered a year of potential progress on student-loan interest rates. The result of its inaction was a sharp rise in rates on Monday.Rates on federally subsidized Stafford loans jumped from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, essentially slapping a $1,000 tax hike on students, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.The average student-loan debt is around $25,000, which can include… Read more »
