Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, issued the following statement today following the appearance of Kenneth Bae, the Lynnwood man who has been detained in North Korea for more than a year, on CNN. “I remain deeply disappointed that North Korea continues to detain Kenneth after nearly two years. While it is positive to hear Kenneth say he is being treated ‘as humanely as possible,’… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today called on Congress to reauthorize and update the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as nearly all Washington state schools send letters to parents required by the law indicating that the schools are failing. The U.S. Department of Education revoked Washington state’s waiver from the law, also known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), meaning schools… Read more »

WHIDBEY ISLAND—Today Rep. Rick Larsen,WA-02, Mayor Nancy Conard and Commissioner Helen Price Johnson issued the following statement calling on the Navy to allow for more public input in light of the potential for additional EA-18G Growlers to be stationed at NAS Whidbey Island.  On July 25, the Navy announced it would expand the scope of the Environmental Impact Study to… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, released the following statement regarding President Obama’s announcement that he had authorized the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes against forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This State Department-designated terrorist group has moved towards the city of Erbil, where the U.S. has a consulate, and has threatened to massacre the… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today called on the U.S. Postal Service to designate the Shaw Island Post Office in Washington state a Part-Time Post Office. In a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Larsen called the USPS proposed plan to reduce operating hours at the Shaw Island Post Office to four hours a day shortsighted and inappropriate for a post office located on an island that… Read more »

To help the U.S. better prioritize its interests in the Arctic, Reps. Rick Larsen, WA-02, and Don Young, AK, announced today they are creating the Congressional Arctic Working Group. The bipartisan group will bring together stakeholders from across the native, environmental, oil and gas, mining, national security, and navigation communities to advise Congress about the opportunities and… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today voted for and the House of Representatives passed a measure to provide $225 million for Iron Dome, the Israeli missile defense system. Since the start of the current conflict, Hamas has fired more than 2,000 rockets at Israel. The Iron Dome system has proven successful at destroying many of these incoming rockets, according to Israeli… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, voted against a bill (H.R. 5272) today that would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects DREAMers—young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and have lived by the law while here—from deportation. “My vote against this bill is a vote in favor of the real solution: comprehensive… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today voted against a bill that provides insufficient funding to care for thousands of children crossing the southern U.S. border and creates arbitrary and unworkable timelines for processing these children’s cases. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 5230, a piecemeal and counterproductive response to this border crisis. “The situation at the… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, sent a letter to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx today asking for better investments in rail crossings to mitigate the impacts of increased rail traffic in the Pacific Northwest. Larsen’s letter follows a report released last week by the Puget Sound Regional Council that analyzed potential safety and traffic impacts of increased… Read more »