In The News
Kilmer Recognizes Bremerton, Tacoma Students in Congressional Art Competition, Announces Contest Winner
On June 11, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) announced Bremerton High School student Sandra de Moura ("Sandie") as the first-place winner of the 2021 Congressional Art Competition for Washington's 6th Congressional District. The annual nationwide art competition allows high school students from across the United States to showcase their artistic ability. Sandie's work will now be displayed for eleven months in the tunnel leading to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, alongside winners f… Continue Reading
06.11.21
GOP Voting Restrictions Don’t Pass ‘My Grandma’ Test. Luckily, Washington State Does
One of the great honors I've had as a representative was getting to serve with one of my heroes, John Lewis. Prior to his passing, I joined Mr. Lewis in Selma, Alabama, for a Civil Rights Pilgrimage. We walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where, in 1965, he was beaten and tear gassed, along with other civil rights activists, as they advocated for an essential American right - the right to vote. Today, over 56 years later, the march for the right to vote isn't done. Unfortunately, it is unde… Continue Reading
06.09.21
Rep. Kilmer Virtually Visits GHC
Representative Derek Kilmer virtually visited Grays Harbor College this week to see how the local college has been handling remote learning and learn about challenges they are facing. In a statement from the college, they say that the Congressman had the virtual visit on Monday. As part of his visit, the Congressman was able to get a tour of the automotive shop and met with several students to see how the program has been operating in-person. The automotive and other industrial technology prog… Continue Reading
06.09.21
Lawmakers Seek Funds to Improve the Workings of Congress
by Jennifer Shutt and Katherine Tully-McManus
The leaders of a bipartisan panel tasked with modernizing Congress on Wednesday urged the House Appropriations Committee to fund several changes they say would improve the lives of members and staff as well as how the institution itself functions. Washington Democrat Derek Kilmer and South Carolina Republican William R. Timmons IV asked appropriators to help the House Modernization of Congress Committee implement several of the 97 recommendations it made during the last Congress. Kilmer, chair… Continue Reading
06.06.21
Monroe Fields To Be Added Athletic Venue in East Port Angeles
PORT ANGELES - A project to create a public and scholastic athletic venue received congressional attention when U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer visited the site with officials of the Port Angeles School District, which is behind the effort. Kilmer - who represents Washington's 6th Congressional District, which includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Grays Harbor counties, along with portions of Mason and Pierce counties - grew up in Port Angeles and was familiar with the site. "My grandparents are buri… Continue Reading
06.05.21
Kilmer Applauds Department of Commerce’s Announcement of Nearly $1 Billion in Funding to Expand Broadband on Tribal Land
On June 3, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) applauded the announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland that nearly $1 billion in U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grants will be made available to expand broadband access on Tribal lands through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). TBCP, which is administered by NTIA and created by the … Continue Reading
06.05.21
Experienced Staff Promote Effective Lawmaking
Members of Congress are wrestling with the 97 bipartisan recommendations put forward last year by the newly reestablished Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Among them are proposals to increase legislative staff pay. Supporters argue that salary increases are needed to recruit and retain the best legislative aides. Yet, the public is skeptical about spending more on Congress, which they judge as not doing a very good job. At the Center for Effective Lawmaking, we know that with … Continue Reading
06.05.21
Strickland, Kilmer Lead Bipartisan WA Congressional Delegation Letter Urging VA to Improve Veterans’ Access to Health Care
Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) and Congressman Derek Kilmer (WA-06) led the entire bipartisan Washington House delegation in sending a letter urging the US Department of Veterans Affairs to take immediate action to resolve the systemic issues plaguing the veterans' health care system, and in particular the Community Care program. Strickland and Kilmer were joined in sending the letter by: Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rick Larsen (WA-02)… Continue Reading
06.04.21
Kitsap Award-Winning Art Students Rise to Meet Challenges During Covid-19
by Jeff Graham
For Allison McMartin, the struggle was real. Sick of the COVID-19 pandemic, sick of being stuck inside her house while others ignored rules about social gatherings, the 11th-grade student at Bremerton High School allowed her emotions to stir. That's how McMartin's original piece of art "From the Inside Looking Out" came into existence. She used colored pencils and watercolor paint to tell her story: a blonde-haired girl, sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, the walls a… Continue Reading
06.02.21
Kilmer Grills Military Health Leader Over Naval Hospital Bremerton Staffing Cuts
by Josh Farley
BREMERTON - Around 100 positions at Naval Hospital Bremerton have gone unfilled in the past year as the military overhauls its healthcare system, prompting alarm from U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. The attrition at the hospital is part of a planned reduction of about 18,000 billets aimed at prioritizing military healthcare to those on the front lines of defense. But Kilmer argued at a House subcommittee on appropriations hearing May 25 that loss of staff at the Bremerton hospital will … Continue Reading
06.02.21
Staff Training Key to Shifting Attitudes on Accessibility for Disability Community
by Katherine Tully-McManus
Many staffers are heading back to Capitol Hill, and official visitors aren't far behind, but the return to offices is prompting questions about gaps in physical and digital accessibility in Congress for staff, lobbyists, constituents and lawmakers with disabilities. ADVERTISEMENT With historic buildings and slow adoption of technology, Congress still has a long way to go to make itself accessible not just in the physical space but also online, where so much business… Continue Reading
05.31.21
Congressman Requests Funds for Aberdeen, Hoquiam Flood Prevention Projects, Others
by Dan Hammock
Congressman Derek Kilmer has requested funds for several local projects - including Aberdeen and Hoquiam flood protection and east Aberdeen rail separation - as Congress puts together national infrastructure legislation. Kilmer visited, virtually, four Grays Harbor County city councils last week, starting with Westport and Hoquiam on May 24, winding up with Aberdeen and McCleary on May 26, saying the Biden administration has given him and other representatives the chance to request funding for … Continue Reading
05.25.21
Billet Cuts Affecting Military Medical Facilities and Patients, Lawmaker Says
by Karen Jowers
Military beneficiaries are beginning to feel the effects of the personnel cuts in military medical facilities, a lawmaker told a panel of witnesses who are the top military medical officials. And defense medical officials said they are "revalidating" their assumptions made before the pandemic for medical personnel requirements at each location, as well as the capacity of local civilian networks to take care of additional patients. "I know the realignment is not only affecting the military hos… Continue Reading
05.17.21
Is 2021 the YIMBY Movement's Time to Shine on Capitol Hill?
by Christian Britschgi
The YIMBY movement isn't quite a high-density household name yet. But its focus on peeling back government regulations on new development is starting to make a bipartisan splash on Capitol Hill. Last week, Sens. Todd Young (R-Indiana) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) reintroduced the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act, a law aimed at pruning back red tape in states and localities that receive certain federal housing grants. "Discriminatory local zoning and land use policies drive up housing costs in com… Continue Reading
05.17.21
Kilmer Highlights How Washington Will Soon Receive State and Local Recovery Funds from the American Rescue Plan
On May 14, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) highlighted the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds that the U.S. Department of Treasury is releasing to Washington as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. These funds will provide vital resources for Washington families and communities. "Our state, local, and tribal governments have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. That's why the American Rescue Plan provides dedicated relief to ensure our local… Continue Reading
05.16.21
COVID Aid for Peninsula Education
PORT ANGELES - The federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is lending a helping hand to higher education on the North Olympic Peninsula. Peninsula College - based in Port Angeles with branches in Port Townsend and Forks -will be allotted $4.02 million and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock $166,635 as part of $36 billion in emergency grants allocated by the federal Department of Education, the agency announced this week. Half will pay for student aid and half will add… Continue Reading
05.14.21
Kilmer Introduces Bipartisan "Yes In My Backyard Bill to Increase Affordable Housing Production
On May 13, U.S. Representatives Derek Kilmer (WA-06) and Trey Hollingsworth (IN-09) introduced the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act, bipartisan legislation to identify obstacles to, and opportunities for, increasing home construction through better zoning, by-right development, and faster permitting. The legislation aims to encourage localities to eliminate discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers that prevent needed housing from being built around the country. "Our nation had challen… Continue Reading
05.09.21
Talk grows of billions for revamp of Puget Sound, nation's shipyards
by Josh Farley
BREMERTON - On a recent tour of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, and Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker stopped to chat at the concrete edge of one of its six dry docks. In around a decade, the bathtub-shaped dock, closest to the downtown Bremerton waterfront, could become useless to the Navy. Or, if a push for billions of dollars to overhaul the shipyard is successful, the aging structure could become the Navy's most advanced and versatile dry dock… Continue Reading
05.06.21
Granholm backs wind and solar in Biden bid to decarbonize electricity
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm backed wind and solar energy as likely to give the biggest "bang for your buck" as part of the Biden administration's bid to decarbonize the electric sector during a House hearing Thursday. During an Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, which was slated to examine the Biden administration's proposal for the Energy Department's budget, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) asked what would be the most cost-effective clean energy technology and if the department… Continue Reading
05.04.21
American Rescue Plan Relief Starts This Week For Restaurants, Related Businesses
Restaurants in the Pacific Northwest can apply for direct relief through the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, May 3. Registration on the U.S. Small Business Administration application portal started Friday, April 30. Congressman Derek Kilmer is encouraging restaurant owners in Washington's 6th District to get RFF assistance. The $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund was created by the American Rescue Plan that was passed last month, and the law… Continue Reading