Press Releases

 U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today to pass the Homeland Security Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 2638) which includes a provision to delay the next round of Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) passport requirements until June 2009, seventeen months later than the Department of Homeland Security had planned. The bill, which passed the House by… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy (RI-01) and Jim Ramstad (MN-03), actor and drug treatment advocate Martin Sheen, former national drug czar General Barry McCaffrey, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Bowden and leaders of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) for a press conference today urging… Read more »

 The House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing today to receive a 120-day update from Commandant of the United States Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen on the steps he has taken to get the Coast Guard’s $24 billion Deepwater program back on course. Since Allen last testified before the Subcommittee in January,… Read more »

 U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today in favor of legislation to advance life-saving research by greatly expanding the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for use in federally-funded studies. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (S. 5) which passed the House today by a vote of 247 to 176, was approved by the Senate… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) spoke on the House floor last night in recognition of the sixth-annual national Hunger Awareness Day. Below are Larsen’s remarks as prepared for delivery: “I rise today in recognition of Hunger Awareness Day. Each day, millions of our fellow Americans will go to bed hungry. “In my home state of Washington, around 95,000… Read more »

  U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today in favor of H. Res. 451 which requires the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to initiate an investigation within 30 days if any Member of the House of Representatives in indicted. If the Committee does not empanel an investigative subcommittee, they are… Read more »

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement today on the Iraq supplemental funding bill: “The American people have been pushed to the brink of exhaustion by the war in Iraq. I hear from constituents every day who are fed up with President Bush’s policies.  I share their frustration. More than four years after the President declared… Read more »

House Armed Services Committee Member U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) applauded the passage of H.R. 1585, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which passed the House today by a vote of 397 to 27. The bill increases military pay, strengthens military readiness and supports our troops with needed training and equipment, among other provisions. In total, it… Read more »

In light of former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey’s testimony yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) today renewed his call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign. Larsen first called for the Attorney General’s resignation in March. Larsen released the following statement today: "Former Deputy Attorney General… Read more »

  On the House floor today, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) urged his colleagues to reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and provide resources to hire an additional 50,000 police officers across the country over the next six years. The COPS Reauthorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 1700) passed the… Read more »