Weekly Columns and Op-Eds
"Okanogan Strong" was the motto that aptly described the community's response during devastating wildfires that struck our region in 2014. That same saying applies again today as the Okanogan community grapples with a natural disaster – this time severe flooding that is potentially the worst since 1972. Emergency declarations have been issued by the state, county, and cities.
Last week, President Trump used his legal authority to withdraw the U.S. from President Obama's flawed 2015 deal with Iran, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA). I opposed Obama's Iran deal in 2015 because it did not do enough to keep Iran from a path to developing a nuclear weapon.
"My brother is an addict. I am raising his daughter." That is one of the many responses I received when I asked constituents of the 4th Congressional District how opioids and heroin abuse have affected people in our community.
For months, my Pacific Northwest congressional colleagues and I have been raising our voices and working on legislation to prevent increasing forced spill at the lower Snake and Columbia River dams from raising electricity rates in our region by $40 million. That forced spill order, the result of a ruling of a single federal judge in Portland, took effect at the beginning of April.
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate, the late Elie Wiesel, once said of that horrific state-sponsored genocide that, "to forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So I couldn't prevent the first death.
‘And don't let the door hit you on your way out,' one might say to the old tax code that allocated more of American families' earnings to the federal government. Tuesday, April 17 is the final filing day under the outdated federal tax system, thanks to successful tax reform efforts that have been signed into law.
I recently traveled across Washington's Fourth Congressional District to speak with farmers from each county to hear their concerns about an upcoming Farm Bill.
One of the most urgent issues we face right now in Central Washington is the ongoing threat to dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Just this week, a 9th Circuit Court panel rejected arguments for an injunction to pause a forced spill order by an Oregon federal judge.
Joining together to combat the crisis of drug and opioid abuse that is harming our communities is a major issue that should unite Americans in common cause. The impact of drug addiction and overdoses has touched too many lives in our country and in our state.
More than 36 years ago, three women in Central Washington pioneered their vision of serving their community through improving access to higher education opportunities for students who society may not have considered college-bound.