Progress here and there
Greetings,
I hope you had a terrific holiday weekend. I’m back in Washington state for the Spring District Work Period. That means I got to spend last week – and will spend this week – running around our region rather than being back in DC. It’s always good to be able to sit down with folks in our neck of the woods. And, after several weeks in DC, it’s a nice change of pace.
Speaking of which….You know, there’s an old saying that “Change is inevitable. But progress is optional.”
Prior to coming home, we actually saw something unusual happen in the House of Representatives: PROGRESS.
That’s right. Before we adjourned the House of Representatives did something you don’t often see. It passed a significant and – honest-to-goodness – bipartisan bill with more than 400 votes. If you look back at my last newsletter I took a deep dive through the merits of this ‘doc fix’ bill.
Here’s the biggest deal. Democratic and Republican leaders sat down and talked out how to get to an agreement. Then they brought to the floor a measure that could get the support of the many. This is the first time I can remember since coming to Congress that we did something this way.
The bill we passed will ensure access to physicians for Medicare patients by keeping doctors from facing payment cuts. The bill ensures our nation continues providing healthcare to low-income children. And furthermore, the bill reauthorizes the Secure Rural Schools Program, extending a program key to rural communities on the Olympic Peninsula.
Now I just hope that when the Senate gets back to D.C. they follow our example and we’ll have a bill for the President to sign.
Now on to other news…
Protect the Sound
Many folks from our neck of the woods made it out to the other Washington for Puget Sound Day, helping to raise awareness on Capitol Hill and at the federal agencies about the challenges facing the Sound. I kicked things off with Puget Sound Caucus co-founder Congressman Denny Heck and stakeholders who are working to keep the recovery of the Sound going.
Protecting the unique resources of the Puget Sound is both a moral and economic issue. As the second largest estuary in the United States and the home to 7,000 distinct species of plants and animals, the Sound is a valuable national treasure. It’s up to us to protect it for future generations so they can enjoy both the wonders of the Sound and the quality job opportunities it provides to folks in our region.
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Do something, eh?
With the health of our region’s environment in mind, I met with members of the Canadian parliament and asked them to find a solution to cease the dumping of raw sewage from Canada into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Victoria area has pumped effluent (or, to use a more technical term: poop) into the waters across from Washington state for years.
I grew up in Port Angeles, right across the water from Victoria. So it especially concerns me when after many years, Canada continues to send raw sewage right into our shared waters.
To me, it was important to take this opportunity to ask our neighbors to the north to do better. I’ll continue to call on our Canadian partners to work on a solution so we can ensure this does not impact our shared waters any longer. Now is the time for Canada to solve this problem.
We Will Remember, and Remain Vigilant
Here at home I was honored to attend a ceremony on Bainbridge Island commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the internment of Japanese Americans. While there I presented a copy to the community of the signed law that officially recognizes a new name for the memorial to Japanese Americans forced from their homes during World War II. Prior to the commemoration ceremony I even got my hands dirty joining guests in landscaping the memorial site.
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an Executive Order allowing Japanese Americans to be excluded from important military areas. Bainbridge Island became the first place to be deemed an “exclusion zone” by the United States government and 227 Bainbridge Island Japanese Americans were forced to leave, boarding a ferry at Eagledale to begin a journey that would end in internment camps.
We’ve come a long way since this happened. This memorial and the memories of the names it carries should be a reminder that we must be forever vigilant in fighting prejudice and discrimination.
The hard work of local leaders and the community on Bainbridge Island turned this push for an official name change into reality.
You can read more about why this memorial is so remarkable here in the Bainbridge Island Review.
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Door to Opportunity
I think we can all agree that it’s time we did something about student loan debt. It’s why last week I met with University of Puget Sound students to talk about what I’m doing to address it.
As some of you may know, both of my folks were school teachers (in fact, my dad is now in his 50th – and final – year of teaching). Growing up, I learned to look at education as the door to opportunity. For a lot of families, including mine, financial aid was the key to that door.
We need to continue a commitment to quality, affordable education. I don’t want to see graduates buried under mountains of debt. That makes it harder for them to do things like start a business or land on that job that will launch a career.
That’s why I am proud to be a cosponsor of a bill that would allow those with outstanding student loan debt to refinance at the same low rates as new borrowers. You can refinance your home loan, your car loan, and your small business loan. You should be able to do the same for your student loans.
I’m also working on legislation to improve the way we provide financial aid to those going into education as a profession. Our Title I schools, where 40 percent of children are from low-income families, need outstanding educators leading classes. We need to ensure we have an effective loan program that encourages teachers to sign up and stay in our school systems.
Stay tuned in the coming months for more updates on what I’ll be working on to try and lessen the student debt load and retaining great teachers in our classrooms.
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A Busy Day in Mason County
Last week, I got to spend a terrific day in Mason County, celebrating the past, present, and future.
I started off the morning checking out the Skokomish Watershed with the Skokomish Watershed Action Team (this SWAT is not your typical SWAT police team).
It’s a great example of people power. Folks from local, state, tribal, and federal government agencies, along with private businesses and non-profit advocacy groups have come together to propose innovative solutions to some problems we face. Those challenges include habitat restoration, timber policy, flooding, and salmon conservation. I got to see some of the projects they’ve completed to restore salmon-bearing streams and projects they’ve got planned to reduce the threats of floods and responsibly harvest timber.
Later that day, my colleague Denny Heck and I joined Colin Moseley, the Chairman of the Green Diamond Resource Company, for the planting of the family-owned forestry company’s 100 millionth tree.
At the event, I mentioned that there’s an old saying that “He who plants a tree plants a hope.” For 125 years, Green Diamond has planted hope for families throughout our region, providing family wage jobs. Through its focus on stewardship, it has planted hope to strengthen the health of our forests.
It was a special event for me to be a part of.
At the event, I also shared a story from my childhood. When I was growing up in Port Angeles, we had two trees outside our home – each named after one of my brothers. As it so happens, the trees were planted upon each of my brothers’ births and, as the trees grew, their growth was meant to symbolize the growth of my brothers.
One day I asked my folks, “What about the Derek tree? Where’s the Derek tree?”
Turns out, they hadn’t planted one.
So after much complaining, the family planted the Derek apple tree . . . which died a year later.
Next came the Derek blueberry bushes . . . also dead.
While I was excited to join Colin and the Green Diamond team for the planting of the 100 millionth tree, here’s hoping that they name the tree after someone else.
The last stop of the day was the re-dedication of the Mason Transit Authority’s Transit-Community Center. This innovative project brings transit services, human services, classrooms, event space, and other resources under one roof.
It’s a unique idea that came together because of the community’s support and great leadership from folks like Kathy Geist who will manage the center, Brad Patterson the General Manager of the Transit Authority, and former State Rep. Kathy Haigh, among others. Kudos to all who had their oars in the water.
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Linda Joyce Memorial
I’d like to end this week with a mention of a remarkable woman who did so much for us – Linda Joyce, former Executive Director of the YWCA of Kitsap County. Linda passed away on March 22 and will be missed by so many of us.
Linda really was a larger than life figure who had a powerful message of hope for those who felt down and out. Linda did extraordinary work – for domestic violence survivors, for the YWCA, and for the entire community. She was a true servant leader who dedicated her life to her community.
Read more about her remarkable life in the Kitsap Sun.
Thanks for reading. As always, I’m honored to work for you.
Sincerely,
Derek