Today, Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) introduced legislation that would amend the Specialty Crop Research Initiative to provide $2.5 million annually to support research for berry and grape crops. “Agriculture is a vital, thriving part of Washington state’s economy. The First Congressional District has more than 4,000 farms that supply restaurants,… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s meeting with President Putin in Helsinki on July 16: “Last week I said that President Trump should cancel his summit with President Putin because no president should meet with a foreign leader unless they are capable of standing up… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement in advance of President Trump’s planned meeting with President Putin in Helsinki on July 16: “U.S. presidents have long met with their Russian counterparts to assert vital national interests and I support diplomatic engagement with Russia. The list of serious foreign… Read more »

On Tuesday, July 10, House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), and 42 other Democrats from the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees released the following statement on President Trump’s attendance at the NATO Summit and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The members of… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement on the meeting of heads of state and government at the 2018 NATO Summit: “At its heart, the NATO alliance is about nations of similar values working together to confront and deter shared threats. It is not a protection racket. While NATO members should fulfill their… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), the Co-Chair of the U.S.-China Working Group, issued the below statement regarding the tariffs against Chinese products which went into effect last night. “In a tit-for-tat trade agenda, it is the local hard-working folks who feel the brunt impacts on their lives. We will begin to see these effects due to retaliatory tariffs against U.S.… Read more »

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) issued the below statement on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Tariffs are the Wrong Approach” report: “Washington state is the most trade-dependent state in the country,” said Larsen. “I do not agree with the president’s approach to target China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union with additional tariffs and risk retaliation.… Read more »

Led by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a bipartisan group of Congressional members representing Western Washington wrote to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao this week to urge her to follow through on her repeated promises to follow Congressional direction and approve federal investments affecting projects like Sound Transit’s Lynnwood Link Extension. The 8.5… Read more »

Yesterday, a bipartisan, bicameral group of Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, urging the Energy Department to maintain the place of the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs), including the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), within the department’s reporting structure. The letter to Secretary Perry was signed by U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell… Read more »

Today, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA) sent a letter to Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Elaine Chao, slamming the Department for failing to finalize a rule requiring drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive workers at… Read more »