Press Releases

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) has secured federal dollars to help local law enforcement fight crime and combat the meth epidemic as part of a funding bill passed by the House Appropriations Committee.  The final bill must pass the House and Senate before it can be signed into law. “It is critical that local law enforcement gets the tools they need to protect our… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) has secured $6.18 million in a House funding bill for a new academic fire instructional facility at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The Military Construction appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2009 -- including the funding for NAS Whidbey – passed the Appropriations Committee this week and must pass the House and the Senate before it can… Read more »

In May, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) -- joined by twenty six of his colleagues in the House -- sent a letter to President Bush raising concerns that the Air Force’s selection of the Airbus/ EADS consortium for the $35 billion refueling tanker contract exposes a troubling rift in U.S. trade and defense procurement policy. This week, Larsen received a response to his… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement on the full text of the Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s report out today on the Air Force’s procurement process for the approximately $35 billion tanker program.  Larsen’s congressional district is home to Boeing’s Everett plant, production site for the 767 airframe… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today to prevent a pending 10.6 percent payment cut for physicians providing care to seniors on Medicare and military families on TRICARE. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) passed the House today by a large, bipartisan majority of 355 to 59. The payment cut is scheduled to go into effect on… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act of 2008.  Larsen released the following statement: “Americans who may have been the targets of illegal surveillance have the right to a fair hearing in a federal court. But as a result of this bill, the Bush Administration could be let off the hook for its… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) today voted for supplemental appropriations legislation -- passed as two amendments to the Senate version of H.R. 2642 -- which will strengthen education benefits for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, help unemployed workers in Washington state and across the country and provide funding for U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. … Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement on the Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s report out today on the Air Force’s procurement process for the approximately $35 billion tanker program.  Larsen’s congressional district is home to Boeing’s Everett plant, production site for the 767 airframe which Boeing would use to… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today to extend unemployment benefits to provide relief and help keep food on the table for 3.8 million Americans looking for work, 54,000 in Washington state.  Larsen joined his House colleagues to pass the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act (H.R. 5749) by a vote of 274 -137 to immediately provide up to 13 weeks of… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined a majority in the House today to pass legislation to invest in Amtrak and help provide affordable and accessible transportation for Americans struggling with high fuel costs. By a veto-proof majority of 311 to 104, the House passed the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (H.R. 6003), a bipartisan bill to expand Amtrak and construct… Read more »