Updates on Building Safer Communities, Protecting Our Democracy, and Standing Up for Mental Health
Hello Folks –
Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful sunshine this weekend! Believe it or not, October has officially arrived and that means our days are numbered until the Pacific Northwest’s autumn weather returns in its usual rainy fashion. However, fall is also bringing something coveted back to our region – Mariners playoff baseball! Go M’s!!! (And if you haven’t seen the amazing call from Dave Sims, you should take a couple of minutes and check it out here!)
OK – on to the news.
Building Safer Communities and Supporting Local Law Enforcement
I have tremendous respect for the folks who work in law enforcement – men and women who workday and night to keep us safe. I’ve been consistently clear in recognizing that there are legitimate and serious public safety threats that reinforce the need for responsible and effective law enforcement – and have disagreed with those who want to disband or defund police departments. What’s more, to their credit, many law enforcement leaders throughout our region have spoken out about the need to address systemic injustice and to pursue common sense reforms.
If we want to ensure local law enforcement officers can do their jobs and build better relationships with the community, we need to ensure their departments are adequately funded. That’s why late last month I voted to support a package of four bills that aim to ensure that local law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to recruit and retain officers, improve training and accountability, and make our communities safer.
These four bills:
- Provide grants to help small, local law enforcement departments retain and recruit officers while investing in guardrails and accountability measures – including increased training for de-escalation, responding to substance use disorders, supporting survivors of domestic violence, and promoting a duty of care.
- Support local efforts to send unarmed mental health professionals to respond to mental health crises.
- Invest in effective, evidence-based community violence intervention initiatives.
- Bolster the ability of police forces to solve violent crimes and ensure victim services are funded, staffed, and trained to address the needs of survivors and family members.
This package will help build on action the House has already taken this Congress that aims to reduce crime, prevent gun violence, and improve gun safety. For example, in July, I helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, historic gun violence prevention legislation. This new law also makes investments to address mental health issues. In addition, I also helped pass the American Rescue Plan which has provided crucial funds to state and local law enforcement.
In our region, people understand that we can keep the public safe, address systemic injustices, ensure law enforcement officers stay safe, and protect the integrity of the law enforcement profession. These goals should not be mutually exclusive. And I’m pleased that Congress has passed these bills to make progress on those goals. I’ll keep pushing to reduce crime and keep our communities safe.
Protecting Our Democracy
As many readers of this newsletter know, I was on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol complex on January 6th of last year. What we saw that day was an assault on our democracy. The mob that stormed the United States Capitol at the incitement of former President Trump was not simply seeking to damage a building – it was seeking to upend our very republic. This is not how our system works.
With that in mind, the House established a bipartisan Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack – and to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. This bipartisan work is critically important for the health of our republic.
That’s why last month, I was proud to support legislation introduced by two bipartisan leaders from that Select Committee to help prevent the type of shenanigans we saw attempted last year. The bipartisan Presidential Election Reform Act, which passed the House, will reform the Electoral Count Act to ensure that Congress counts the votes as required by the Constitution. Among other things, the bill would make it harder for members of Congress to make objections to the election’s certification without legitimate concerns. It would also clarify that the Vice President’s role in the proceedings is strictly ministerial. It ensures that Congress receives a single, accurate certification from each state, and requires states to select electors pursuant to state law as they exist prior to election day, among other things.
These reforms, which are a bit technical and complex, are necessary if we want to make it harder to overthrow an election. Importantly, these reforms are supported by Democrats and Republicans. In fact, Judge Michael Luttig, who advised former Vice President Mike Pence prior to the joint session on January 6, called the proposal as “masterfully drafted” and noted that the Electoral Count Act is in desperate need of reform. I agree – and that’s why I supported the bill. In the coming weeks, I’ll keep working to get reforms to this critical election law across the finish line to protect our democracy.
Standing Up for Mental Health
Across our region and our nation, folks from all walks are life are impacted by mental health issues. The failure to adequately address mental health challenges in our country is evident in so many ways. It’s evident in rising rates of death by suicide. It’s evident in the fact that – in most of the counties in our region – the largest provider of mental health and substance abuse services is the county jail. Unfortunately, we know that the COVID-19 pandemic has only made a lot of mental health issues worse – particularly for students and educators. In fact, a CDC report found that in 2021, over 44 percent of students reported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, almost 20 percent seriously considered suicide, and 9 percent attempted suicide.
Simply put, we need to do better.
One area where we can have a big impact is helping our schools provide the resources they need to better support educators and their students.
That’s why, last week, I voted to support the Mental Health Matters Act - a package of bills that will help us address the on-going mental health crisis and lend a hand to students, families, and educators. It does this by taking wide-ranging steps to support the behavioral health of children and school staff, strengthening school-based behavioral health care, and ensuring access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits for workers and families.
I’ll keep working to ensure that as we emerge from this pandemic, our teachers, our kiddos, and our families have better access to mental health services.
Working for You
Supporting Seniors
It was great to be with community members at the Bainbridge Senior Living Madison Avenue House for a conversation on my work to strengthen our democracy, make Congress work better for folks, and protect Medicare & Social Security.
Restoring Our Region’s Past for the Future
After sitting empty for nearly a decade and spending 20 years in redevelopment limbo, seismic upgrade work has begun on the 128-year-old Old City Hall in Tacoma. It was awesome to take a tour of the work being done there. Thank you to Surge Tacoma, Eli Moreno, and the City of Tacoma for partnering together to restore this historic building for generations to come!
Celebrating Our Educators and Supporting Critical Programs for Students
At the end of September, I had the chance to visit Tacoma Public Schools Head Start Center at Franklin Elementary. Head Start is the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income kids and their families. This whole-child approach - a high quality classroom with individualized learning plans, attention to the health of the child, and fully engaging the family – ensures that kiddos are supported. There’s a saying that kids are 1/3 of our population and 100% of our future. With efforts like this, that future will be brighter!
OK – that’s it for now, folks. As always, I’m honored to represent you.
Sincerely,
Derek