National Security

Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Washington Senator Maria Cantwell issued the following statement in response to a Congressionally mandated Defense Department report that highlights the need to bolster domestic aluminum production as a matter of national security. The report concludes that high-purity aluminum is critical to our national defense and… Read more

Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Michael Cloud (TX-27), and Jason Crow (CO-06) demanded answers from the federal government on recent media investigations revealing how hundreds of retired military officers were permitted to take lucrative jobs advising foreign governments, some with known human rights abuses and histories of political oppression. In a bipartisan letter to… Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) was joined by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to underscore the importance of addressing the nationwide semiconductor chip shortage and its impact on the Washington state economy. On a call with reporters, DelBene and Raimondo discussed how the current chip shortage is affecting prices and product supply in Washington and the urgent… Read more

Today, President Biden signed the fiscal year 2022 appropriations package into law, which included a number of Congresswoman Suzan DelBene’s (WA-01) priorities. DelBene helped secure: $5 million for KidneyX, a program aimed at accelerating innovation, research, treatment, and preventative care for kidney disease. A requirement that the Defense Department only buy American-made… Read more

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521) with the support of Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01). This bold legislation will strengthen U.S. domestic manufacturing and supply chains, accelerate research and innovation, invest in American workers, and prepare our country to compete in the 21st century. DelBene secured a number of provisions in… Read more

The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R. 6395) yesterday, a bicameral compromise of Congress’ annual defense authorization bill. This bill includes a key amendment sponsored by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) to strengthen the domestic aluminum industry. The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a… Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01), joined by 116 members of Congress, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Attorney General William Barr, calling on the agencies to eliminate the ban on open transgender military service. This follows the June 15, 2020 Supreme Court ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ people from workplace… Read more

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement after the introduction of the Justice in Policing Act, which will eliminate qualified immunity, call for independent investigations into police brutality, and make lynching a federal crime, among other changes. The bill was developed by the Congressional Black Caucus in light of the murders of George Floyd and other… Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement in response to recent comments by President Trump about voting by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic: “The president should be embarrassed by his recent comments about voting by mail. Forcing people to go to a polling location during a public health crisis is shameful. People should never have to… Read more

Today, Congresswoman DelBene and Congresswoman Jayapal met with officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to discuss the multiple cases of Iranian Americans being detained and questioned at length while entering the US from Canada at the Blaine Peace Arch crossing in January and the recently leaked CBP memo directing CBP agents to discriminate specifically against individuals of… Read more