Are you a Facebook friend yet?
Friend,
In the week leading up to Independence Day, I visited nearly every nook and cranny of our district, hitting all 6 counties that I represent. When you travel around our region as much as I do, one thing becomes very clear: We live in the most glorious place in the world.
That was really brought home over the last few weeks when we had our Facebook Cover Photo Contest. We invited folks to submit shots from all over our district, and many of them were absolutely outstanding.
If you don’t yet follow me on Facebook, I'd like to ask you to click on this link and do so. Our Facebook followers get more frequent updates on the good, the bad, and the ugly in our nation's capital.
In addition, following me on Facebook will let you check out the terrific photo by our contest winner, Roger Mosley of Joyce. It's an outstanding shot as were many of the entries. Thanks to all of the photographers who shared their photos.
I know some of these shots made me want to go explore our region some more. Fittingly, this month is the perfect time for exploration as July is Parks and Recreation Month. So, get out there and enjoy some of the amazing places near you!
We the People
I have some exciting news to report about my efforts to get our democracy back on track by enforcing campaign finance laws. A couple of newsletters back, I laid out the problems with the Federal Elections Commission (including the fact that they couldn't agree on bagels or donuts at a breakfast…..seriously) and how we need to get it back to its original mission of protecting the integrity of our electoral system to better ensure that your voice is heard.
In the weeks since, I introduced a bill, the Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections Act, to make modest, meaningful reforms to the FEC. Notably; this is the first truly bipartisan campaign finance bill in several years. Thankfully, I think we've seen Democrats and Republicans agree that it simply makes common sense to ensure that federal election laws are enforced and that everyone is playing by the rules.
Here's a quick breakdown of what the legislation would do:
-Reduce the number of commissioners from six to five to eliminate stalemate decisions.
-Increase the independence of the FEC as one of the members could not be affiliated with either party.
-The Chair would serve a ten-year term like the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Introducing this bill is a good start but we have more work to do. I'm going to focus on building bipartisan support for a truly independent commission that finally enforces clear rules of the road.
We've got plenty of work to do to put power back in the hands of citizens.
What do you think about this legislation? I invite you to continue the conversation and share your opinions with me here.
The Pay You Deserve
As I travel around our region, I hear from so many people who say they are working more and more but finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. So many working families are feeling squeezed.
Recently we built some momentum to help when the President announced a Department of Labor proposal to extend overtime pay to nearly 5 million workers.
By updating the rules on overtime, we can ensure that most salaried workers earning less than $50,400 in 2016 get the pay they deserve for the hard work they do. It's a rather simple proposition: folks who work overtime should get paid for working overtime.
Not to mention, this is also a win for businesses and companies that already pay their employees fairly for the extra hours they are on the clock.
It's time to embrace policies that ensure folks who work hard day in and day out have the opportunity to join a thriving American middle class.
I encourage you to share your comments, thoughts, or personal stories about the Department of Labor's proposal by visiting this link.
Protecting Personal Information
In our neck of the woods federal workers keep our economy moving whether they are at Olympic National Park or Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. That's why it was so troubling when revelations surfaced that the personal information of more than 21 million workers and those they are close to were stolen from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. That is on top of another 4 million records taken in a previous breach.
This is sensitive stuff that should not be falling into the hands of outside actors. Things like Social Security numbers, residency and educational history, and other information required by background checks. To make matters worse, it was recently announced that every sailor, Marine, and Navy Department civilian who completed the SF-86 security questionnaire from 2000 to now may have had personal information compromised.
It's unacceptable that outside hackers can so easily blow holes in America's cyber defenses and snatch the sensitive information of our federal workers and those they are close to.
It's time we get serious about these threats and made sure that secure files stay secure. To help those impacted in my region and across the country I will be working with my colleagues on a solution that protects our workforce and their families. Since this impacts so many of you, please contact my office if you have further questions or are concerned that you might be directly affected by this.
A Bipartisan Proposal to Combat Health Challenges
Last Friday we also saw some needed bipartisan action on a critical national priority. Too many Americans have watched loved ones struggle with diseases with no cures. So it’s good news that the House overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill designed to promote breakthroughs in in medical research. I hope it gets the same support in the Senate.
Among other things, this bill:
-Removes barriers to increased research collaboration, enabling better analysis of health data generated in research and clinical settings;
-Incorporates patient experiences into the drug development and regulatory review process;
-Makes sure patients can receive treatment based on their unique characteristics through personalized medicine;
-Modernizes clinical trials to produce results faster and cheaper;
-Removes regulatory uncertainty for the development of new medical apps;
-Provides new incentives for the development of rare diseases; and
-Enhances funding for the National Institute of Health to speed the discovery of new cures.
I was proud to join my colleagues in moving this bill forward.
Native American Leaders: Past, Present, and Future
Last week I spent some time with students from the Puyallup Tribe and was honored to speak at a welcome reception for Native American youth from across the country. The young people who attended the reception were in town for the White House Tribal Youth Gathering. It was the first gathering of Native youth the White House has ever held and it brought together more than 875 young people representing 230 Indian nations from 42 states.
They got a chance to speak to first lady Michelle Obama, Cabinet officials, and the White House Council on Native American Affairs. Not a bad trip if you ask me.
In our region we had a Native American leader who passed away a year ago – the legendary Billy Frank Jr.. When I met with both groups, I shared with them one of the main messages I learned from Billy. Billy’s advice to me and others was that – if you want to be a strong advocate on behalf of your community and make a difference – you need to embrace three simple words: tell your story.
Speaking of Billy...I want to commend my friend and colleague (and roommate in Washington DC) Denny Heck for introducing a bill to rename the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge in honor of this great leader who fought so hard for the land and waters of our region. I'm proud to be a cosponsor of Denny’s bill, The Billy Frank Jr. Tell Your Story Act, which will get a hearing on Tuesday in the House Natural Resources Committee. You can read about Rep. Heck’s bill here.
Working for You
This Fourth of July I hope you enjoyed your time celebrating America’s birthday with some of the best things about summer – parades, barbeques, and outdoor concerts! I had fun spending time with folks all over the region. I visited two pancake breakfasts (on Bainbridge Island and Kingston) and then used all of those carbs to walk in three parades (Kingston, Bainbridge, and Port Angeles).
Here are some of the other stops I made last week...
It was great to visit President Joe Scott and the North Mason Rotary to give a quick update on my work in our nation's capital. In my view, the problems we face as a nation would be much better solved if we used Rotary’s four way test as a guide for partnership in moving forward.
I also enjoyed visiting the Tacoma South Rotary Club for lunch and discussion where I gave a brief update from D.C. Thanks so much to everyone in Rotary and other services clubs who work so hard to strengthen our communities.
This weekend I visited the Pride Festival in Tacoma, where nearly ten thousand people showed up to celebrate equality. In the run up to the recent Supreme Court decision I joined some of my colleagues on the floor in support of marriage equality. You can watch my speech here.
While I understand that there are some disagreements on this issue, I believe that President Kennedy had it right when he said, "In giving rights to others which belong to them, we give rights to ourselves and to our country."
And finally, this weekend I got to participate in the McCleary Bear Festival. It was a lot of fun to serve bear stew to hundreds of people. Yup...bear stew.
And – yes – I ate an entire serving. And for those of you wondering...it tasted like...stew!
As always, it's an honor to serve as your representative. Please don’t hesitate to holler if I can lend a hand to you or someone you know.
Sincerely,
