Accomplishments
Working for Central Washington
Congressman Dan Newhouse knows how to deliver results, because as a third-generation farmer and businessman from Sunnyside, he faces the same issues Central Washington does every single day. As a conservative champion for rural communities at home and in Congress, Dan Newhouse has proven he has what it takes to get the job done right.
From hosting public forums, telephone town halls, and visits with constituents in Washington, D.C. and the district, Rep. Newhouse seeks vital input from those that sent him to D.C.
With over 6,000 solved cases from the VA to the IRS, his constituent services team has returned millions of dollars to constituents and connected Central Washingtonians with the resources they need.
DEFENDING LOCAL AGRICULTURE
Rep. Newhouse introduced the first agriculture labor reform bill to pass the House of Representatives in over 30 years. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act puts farmers first, boosts our local economies, and ensures a stable, reliable, and legal agriculture workforce while helping secure our border. It makes meaningful reforms to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program and creates a first-of-its-kind, merit-based visa program specifically designed for the nation's agricultural sector.
He is a champion of combatting the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to purchase farmland in the United States, and in his role as a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has introduced legislation to do so.
Rep. Newhouse is an advocate for modernizing standards and best practices in the organics industry and supports strengthening the Department of Agriculture’s ability to promote agritourism by conciliating federal resources for loans, grants, and broadband connectivity programs.
He has worked with colleagues in both parties and both chambers to increase global market access for domestic producers and growers in Central Washington.
PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES
Responding to weak southern border policies that allow deadly fentanyl to pour into our communities, Rep. Newhouse established the Central Washington Fentanyl Taskforce. With drug poisonings as the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-45, the taskforce aims to combat the escalating fentanyl crisis plaguing communities across Central Washington and the United States.
He has introduced legislation like the Stop Overdose in Schools Act and the Law Enforcement Officers Preventing Overdose Death Act aimed at opioid overdose prevention and reversal for communities in Central Washington and across the country.
Rep. Newhouse is a fighter for tribal law enforcement and leads the Parity for Tribal Law Enforcement Act to help hire and retain tribal law enforcement officers and address the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls crisis.
As a responsible gunowner, he is a staunch defender of the Second Amendment and led the charge against New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s attempt to ban conceal carry firearms under an “emergency public health order.”
REBUILDING OUR ECONOMY
Rep. Newhouse supports common-sense conservative solutions to the out-of-control D.C. spending that has driven inflation, and our national debt, to record highs. He fought for and supported the historic Fiscal Responsibility Act to restore fiscal sanity, hold Washington D.C. accountable, limit inflationary spending, and lift Americans out of poverty.
Newhouse is a staunch advocate for a balanced budget, and he champions that belief is his critical role on the House Appropriations Committee that controls all federal spending.
In supporting local businesses and the workforce, Rep. Newhouse hosts an annual jobs fair to help Central Washingtonians seeking employment connect with hiring businesses in the region.
He has worked to secure over $2 billion in annual funding for Hanford cleanup through his work on the Appropriations Committee, and he has supported funding for hundreds of grants and massive funding for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), which is one of our country's foremost national laboratories, as well as a major economic driver in the State of Washington and throughout the Pacific Northwest. PNNL is one of the largest employers in Central Washington, and Rep. Newhouse is committed to working with colleagues in Congress to provide the resources necessary for PNNL to continue innovating in fields such as science, cybersecurity, energy, environment, national security, grid reliability, and nuclear nonproliferation.
FIGHTING FOR ALL-OF-THE-ABOVE ENERGY POLICIES
Rep. Newhouse understands that Central Washington is home to reliable energy portfolio that helps power the Pacific Northwest. He knows that an all-of-the-above approach to energy security is the best way to guarantee the region, and the United States, does not rely on adversaries to supply energy.
He is a fighter for protecting the Lower Snake River Dams from dam breaching advocates and extreme environmentalists. He introduced the DAMN Act with stakeholder support to prohibit the use of federal funds from being used in breaching or altering the dams and reenforce that Congress alone has the authority to breach the dams.
Rep. Newhouse, with bicameral, bipartisan support, leads the Northwest Energy Security Act to ensure the Columbia River Power System operations are in line with federal scientific review and to ensure salmon recovery efforts continue in conjunction with dam operations.
He understand that we cannot rid our grid of oil and natural gas, and that a strategic reserve is key not only to energy security, but national security. He led the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act to prohibit direct or indirect petroleum reserve sales to our adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.
PREVENTING GOVERNMENT OVERREACH
Rep. Newhouse has been a strong advocate for reining in government overreach and protecting Americans from unfair regulations.
He was a staunch supporter of the Parents Bill of Rights Act to ensure parents have a say in their child’s education and provide transparency into what is being taught in their schools.
As the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continue to go against the wishes of Central Washingtonians with their plan to reintroduce grizzly bears to the North Cascades, Newhouse is bringing the fight to the halls of Congress with legislation combatting the rules used to carry out this initiative.
Newhouse led the fight against the Department of Energy’s proposed rule limiting consumer access to gas-powered stoves and manipulating markets—an effort that forced the administration to scrap the proposal in its updated 2024 rules and regulations.
When the Department of Energy again tried to overstep by regulating washing machines and other home appliances, Newhouse introduced the WASHER Act to prohibit such unfair and out of touch rules.
When the Bureau of Land Management tried to implement a rule hindering access to public land for energy and resource development, Rep. Newhouse, in his role on the House Appropriations Committee, passed an amendment to prohibit federal funds from being used to certify that rule.
SUPPORTING OUR VETERANS
Central Washington is home to tens of thousands of our nation’s veterans that fought to protect that freedom for generations to come, and Rep. Newhouse is fighting to ensure they are represented in Congress.
He led the VA Electronic Health Record Modernization Improvement Act to fix VA’s handling of the Oracle Cerner electronic health record (EHR) system and ultimately ensure that VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) are well-equipped to implement and use the new system.
He has led numerous resolutions honoring Gold Star Families and remains committed to protecting VA benefits for veterans and their families.
Every year Rep. Newhouse hosts a Veterans Service Fair as an opportunity for veterans to explore the resources available to them throughout Central Washington. The fair features organizations offering help with VA and healthcare benefits, counseling, and employment opportunities, and is free and always open to the public.
COMBATING THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY
With the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempting to infiltrate our supply chains and infrastructure, in his capacity as a member of the House Select Committee on the CCP Rep. Newhouse has led numerous pieces of key legislation to protect our homeland.
He led his colleagues in introducing the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act to protect American farmland and joined the Select Committee on legislation to prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting U.S. land near national security sites.
In his role on the House Appropriations Committee he has introduced amendments to spending bills making Department heads also responsible for preventing these dangerous foreign land grabs.
While energy security remains a vulnerability for the United States, Newhouse led the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act to ensure none of our critical oil reserve is sent to our top adversary.
A VOICE FOR RURAL AMERICA
In 2021, Rep. Newhouse was elected Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, a group of 100+ Members of Congress from across the United States who advocate for sound, common sense policies that benefit rural America.
The Western Caucus works to encourage responsible resource development and energy independence, increase access to public lands and promote multiple use, protect communities from wildfires by advancing active management of forests, and support the agriculture industry with the water infrastructure needed throughout the West.
Under Chairman Newhouse’s leadership, Western Caucus Members act as advocates for rural Americans who are disadvantaged by the federal government by ensuring the voices of local communities are heard in the nation’s capital through legislation and policy initiatives, field tours, and programming.
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Rep. Newhouse is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, one of the oldest committees in the entire Congress tasked with directing federal spending.
In this role, he helps protect taxpayer funds from being spent wastefully and supports vital Central Washington priorities such agriculture, water storage, wildfire prevention, Hanford cleanup, and PNNL. He serves on the three following subcommittees:
The Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration that provides an avenue to continue addressing ways to improve USDA’s response to Central Washington’s farmers and ranchers by reducing regulatory burdens and expanding critical research for specialty crops.
The Subcommittee on Homeland Security that ensures that the American people are protected from terrorist attacks and is responsible for the funding of the Department of Homeland Security that manages the southern border.
The Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development which oversees spending for Hanford cleanup, PNNL and National Labs, federal water projects, the Army Corps, Interior, and Reclamation, which are critical for improving Central Washington water infrastructure and irrigation.