Press Releases

Today, the House unanimously adopted an amendment to H.R. 1540, the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), offered by Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) to establish a Global Contingency Security Fund.“I am very pleased that this amendment will be a part of the Defense Authorization bill. It will give the Departments of State and Defense the flexibility… Read more »

Today, Rep. Larsen (WA-02), Rep. Brady (TX-08), Rep. Crowley (NY-07), Rep. Herger (CA-02) and Rep. Lungren (CA-03) introduced the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) bill to help level the playing field for American business leaders traveling overseas. The ABTC is an initiative in support of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, designed to facilitate commerce by promoting fast… Read more »

Votes for Amendment to Force the President to Give Congress a Plan and Timeframe for Accelerated TransitionRep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement after voting for an amendment to force the President to give Congress a plan and a timeframe for redeploying troops from Afghanistan. This amendment would require the President to provide a plan and timeframe for an… Read more »

Rep. Larsen released the following statement after receiving reports that the county and tribe negotiated a solution to keep the ferry running."I am pleased with reports that I am hearing that the hard work of Executive Kremen and the Whatcom County Council along with Chairman Cultee and the Lummi Tribe has paid off. Reports indicate that the county and the tribe were able negotiate… Read more »

Arlington--At a local AARP event featuring Representative Rick Larsen, local seniors expressed strong opposition to the recently passed Republican budget that makes Medicare a voucher system in the future and applauded Rep. Larsen when he reminded them he voted against it."Any concern seniors had about Democrats after last year seems to have disappeared with the Republican effort to… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) today congratulated Orcas Island and Arlington airports for receiving grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According the FAA, the Port of Orcas will receive over $260,000 to increase safety and improve operations at the Orcas Island Airport by rehabilitating the existing apron pavement. The City of Arlington will receive over… Read more »

Today, local leaders expressed their support for a piece of bipartisan legislation that Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA 2nd) introduced with U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mark Begich (D-AK), to dramatically strengthen our federal investment in ferry systems nationwide, including Washington State Ferries. More than 100 million passengers… Read more »

Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement after voting against two pieces of legislation that will expand offshore drilling in way that abandons environmental and safety precautions.“While we should continue to allow offshore drilling in locations where it is already occurring, we need to ensure that we are strictly enforcing safety protocol and… Read more »

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) introduced legislation to designate Illabot Creek in Skagit County as a Wild and Scenic River. The legislation will protect the free-flowing character of Illabot Creek, an important habitat for threatened wild Chinook salmon, steelhead, bull trout and other wildlife, while maintaining recreational… Read more »

A delegation of five Members of the US House of Representatives, in partnership with the National Committee on US-China Relations, returned to Washington DC from China after achieving a series of first time visits with Chinese military leaders and activities in support of furthering the US-China military to military relationship. The delegation visited Beijing, Qingdao, Chengdu, and… Read more »