Representatives Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Suzan DelBene (WA-01) are calling for answers about persistent mail delays reported to both offices in Northwest Washington, including in Whatcom County during the December holiday period. In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Larsen and DelBene called for the United States Postal Service (USPS) to expeditiously address delays and mail failures. The lawmakers had previously written to DeJoy in July about widespread mail delays in the region. Read more »
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) supported a bipartisan effort to enhance U.S. global leadership and foster better economic and strategic engagement with China. The House of Representatives passed legislation establishing the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by a final vote of 365 to 65. Read more »
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted for the Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus spending package, which included funding Larsen secured for fifteen projects in the Second District that local leaders and stakeholders identified as critical to their communities. The package now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Read more »
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) supported House passage of an omnibus spending package that funds the government through September 2023, invests in Northwest Washington communities and working families, and provides critical emergency aid to Ukraine. Read more »
Larsen becomes the first Member of Congress from Washington state to be elected as a party’s leader on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. Larsen has served on the Committee since arriving in the House in 2001 and as the top Democrat on the Aviation Subcommittee since 2013. In the 117th Congress, Larsen serves as Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee and as a senior member of the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Subcommittee. Read more »
Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Washington Senator Maria Cantwell issued the following statement in response to a Congressionally mandated Defense Department report that highlights the need to bolster domestic aluminum production as a matter of national security. The report concludes that high-purity aluminum is critical to our national defense and that, without federal action, U.S. industry will not be able to meet our national security needs. Read more »
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) applauded a total of $7,633,700 in grants awarded to three projects spearheaded by Snohomish County, the Whidbey Camano Land Trust and the Tulalip Tribes in Washington’s Second Congressional District. Read more »
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) introduced the Protecting America from Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Act (“The Influenza Act”) to bolster the federal response to seasonal and pandemic influenza as seasonal flu rates continue to rise in the Pacific Northwest and across the country. CDC estimates there have been at least 8.7 million illnesses, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from flu this season. Read more »
The Protecting Our Marine Mammals (POMM) Act expands federal protections for marine mammals to include near-real time monitoring of whales, monitoring of underwater soundscapes to reduce noise impacts on marine mammals and grants for seaports to make investments to reduce vessel collisions. The bill also invests in the study of vessel quieting measures and establishes a position within the Coast Guard Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Center to better coordinate protection efforts between the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the marine industry. Read more »
Reps. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Don Beyer (VA-08) and Judy Chu (CA-27) recently introduced the Restoring Fulbright Exchanges with China and Hong Kong Act. In 2020, President Trump signed an executive order to end Fulbright exchanges both to and from China and Hong Kong. Read more »