Today, Representative Suzan DelBene joined Members of the House Judiciary Committee in a letter to Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL), raising questions related to the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident. “As an NFL fan, I am greatly disappointed in the way the organization has handled this serious and disturbing incident,” said Rep. DelBene. “It is critical that, going forward, the NFL ensures their policies relating to domestic violence are...
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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene announced the start of a new risk management program for dairy farmers, known as the dairy Margin Protection Program, that she worked to include in the 5-year Farm Bill extension that passed earlier this year. This voluntary program allows dairy farmers to take steps to protect their business from economic risks beyond their control. “I worked hard to ensure the Farm Bill we passed eliminated ineffective dairy programs and offered dairy producers this new voluntary, ...
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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene welcomed an announcement from U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today that the USDA will begin taking applications from states for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) pilot program, which was included by Rep. DelBene in the Farm Bill reauthorization enacted earlier this year. The provision is based on a bill Rep. DelBene introduced called the Enhancing Employment and Training Through Education Act of 201...
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This week, many Washington parents are receiving letters from school districts about their schools’ failure to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Under NCLB, schools’ AYP status this year is based on whether 100 percent of students pass the state reading and math assessments—a goal that is simply unattainable. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene released the following statement today about these letters and the flawed federal policy that categorizes...
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“The influx of unaccompanied children across the southern border is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis that requires immediate action. We desperately need members of Congress to work together in a bipartisan way to develop an effective and humane course of action to address this problem, and I am frustrated that House Republicans are playing politics with this crisis instead of creating a serious proposal to solve it. “Disappointingly, House Republicans have put forward an unworkable appropr...
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Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Washington state will be the recipient of $35 million in federal funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief (ER) program. The funding may be awarded to repair or reconstruct Federal-aid highways and roads that have suffered serious damage as a result of natural disasters or catastrophic failures. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene issued the following statement: “I have driven across State Route 530 many times in recen...
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Today, a markup was held by the Natural Resources Committee on legislation from Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA) and cosponsored by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA): the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers Protection Act (H.R. 361); it was passed favorably out of committee. This legislation would expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and designate both the Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers as Wild and Scenic. “Protecting this area for recreation an...
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House Judiciary Committee Member Suzan DelBene issued the following statement today after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy introduced a new version of the USA Freedom Act: “I am pleased that the version of the USA Freedom Act introduced today includes important improvements to the House-passed USA Freedom Act, and I commend Senator Leahy’s efforts to continue the fight for stronger legislation to restore Americans’ privacy rights and end the bulk collection of Americans’ phone ...
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Reps. Suzan DelBene, WA-01, and Rick Larsen, WA-02, praised the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) announcement today that it will use its authority under the Clean Water Act to protect one of the world’s largest salmon fisheries in Bristol Bay, Alaska from the proposed Pebble Mine. The Bristol Bay salmon fishery supports thousands of jobs for Washington state fishers and processors. After three years of scientific study, the EPA announced in February that it would start a process to protec...
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Responding to a call from Congresswoman Suzan DelBene and local residents to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to take actions to reduce wait times and increase border crossing capacity at all five ports of entry in Whatcom County, CBP announced that it will begin extending the Point Roberts border crossing NEXUS lane hours during the peak summer travel season. This increase in border crossing capacity will benefit residents of Point Rob...
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