U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) helped secure funding to continue the Skagit River General Investigation (GI), bring advanced cancer treatment closer to home for Skagit Valley patients and families and support Skagit County transportation and law enforcement as part of an end-of-the-year appropriations bill passed by Congress. The House and Senate passed the bill this week and have sent it to the President to be signed into law. Larsen released the following statement:
“This legislation will bring us closer to completing the GI study and protecting Skagit County families, farms and businesses from future floods.
“These resources will help bring advanced technology to treat cancer closer to home for Skagit Valley patients and families.
“For families in Skagit County and across the country, this legislation makes critical investments in veterans’ services, health care, education and other priorities here at home.
“I appreciate Senator Murray’s leadership in helping deliver these critical resources for Northwest Washington. Time and again, she has been a champion for local priorities.
“This omnibus bill is not perfect. It does not make the full investments I would have hoped in many of our nation’s priorities because of the President’s failure to compromise. But it does represent an important step forward and delivers needed resources for Northwest Washington.”
“This Congress has made significant progress. We have invested in our economy, national security, veterans’ health care, education and energy independence, making substantial improvements in the lives of Americans.
“There is more work to be done, and we will work to accomplish it with the best interests of the American people in mind.”
Larsen helped secure the following resources in the bill for Skagit County and Northwest Washington:
$547,000 to help the Army Corps of Engineers continue the Skagit River General Investigation, which will identify Skagit River flood problems and opportunities to relieve flooding, reduce flood damage, and develop a flood damage reduction plan;
$406,767 to help Skagit Valley Hospital purchase cutting-edge equipment to perform stereotactic radiosurgery, a highly precise form of radiation therapy used primarily to treat brain cancer;
$196,000 to help Skagit Transit help purchase replacement buses;
$47,000 to provide the Skagit County Drug Enforcement unit with needed tools to bust meth labs and drug trafficking rings;
$400,000 to help the Northwest Agriculture Business Center create a technological network connecting producers, retailers and distributors so local farmers can get their products to market more efficiently;
$1.8 million to help the Washington State Meth Initiative fight meth and keep our communities safe; and
$714,400 to create a National Meth Center to help local leaders across the country use the most effective strategies to fight the meth epidemic.
