MONROE – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today visited a local elementary school classroom, as part of the Choose My Plate program to teach students about the variety of healthy foods grown nearby. DelBene spoke with two fourth grade classrooms about the importance of eating local, healthy foods. “We are fortunate in the First District to have farmers who grow some of the best food in the world. If kids know where their food comes from, they are more likely to be passionate and connected to ...
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MOUNT VERNON – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today praised the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement to award the Northwest Agriculture Business Center a $200,000 Rural Cooperative Development Grant. “I’m pleased to see the Northwest Agriculture Business Center receive this vital funding to help grow the rural economy of Skagit Valley. Our rural communities help create jobs, especially when provided with innovative tools like cooperative development grants,” DelBene said. “C...
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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today highlighted the importance of targeted education for those on nutrition assistance during a House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition hearing examining the success of employment and job-training programs. “Helping people find good-paying, long-term employment in a high-demand industry is the best way to ensure everyone has access to economic opportunities,” DelBene said. “I’m so pleased the pilot programs I authored in the Farm Bill are testing innova...
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KIRKLAND – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today volunteered with Food Lifeline’s Kids Cafe program to ensure First District children receive nutritious meals even when school breaks for summer. “No child should be forced to skip a meal or go to bed hungry simply because it’s summer,” DelBene said. “While school breaks for the summer, a child’s need for nutritional food does not. Our children are the future of our country and we should work to provide them with all the possible tools for suc...
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Reps. Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (PA-05) and Derek Kilmer (WA-06) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would open up new markets and create jobs for rural economies by providing research, assistance and incentives for the construction of tall wood buildings throughout the United States. The Timber Innovation Act (H.R. 5628) would spur the use of tall wood building construction – those above 85 feet or seven stories – through the use of les...
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More than 100 members of the U.S. House have written to the Obama administration in an effort to speed up the processing of foreign guestworker visas. Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.; Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; Sanford Bishop Jr., D-Ga.; and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., led 98 other House members in a bipartisan letter to administration officials urging them to adhere to regulations requiring them to process H-2A-visa foreign guestworker applications in a timely manner. Administrative breakdowns in processi...
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Today, Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) led 98 other Members in a letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services León Rodriguez regarding the administrative breakdown in the timely processing of H-2A agricultural worker program applications and visa petitions. The administrative breakdown is impacting the ability of American ranchers and growers to hire legal seasonal work...
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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today joined a letter to House Education and the Workforce Committee leaders expressing concern over a number of harmful provisions included in the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016. “We write today to express our concerns with the recently introduced Child Nutrition and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Reauthorization legislation,” the letter states. “Given that 31 million students depend on these programs for nutritious and accessible mea...
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Today, Pacific Northwest Members of Congress urged the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to take proactive measures to prevent the heavy losses to agriculture businesses caused in 2014 and 2015 due to technical problems with the H-2A visa system. In their letter to Secretary John Kerry of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, nine Members of Congress, including U.S. Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA...
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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today introduced bipartisan legislation to require fish products purchased for federally subsidized school lunches be domestically harvested. “The Pacific Northwest produces some of the world’s best and healthiest seafood. We should be supporting our local industries, especially when they are producing a superior product for our nation’s children,” DelBene said. “I want to ensure school district funds stretch as far as possible, but not at the expense of chil...
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