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The responsibility “to provide for the common defense” is one of the fundamental roles of the federal government—the duty is explicitly mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution. With the importance of preserving national security in mind, few provisions are more critical than the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Last week in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court accepted the federal government’s argument in the case of King v. Burwell, and in the process effectively rewrote legislative text. I was deeply disappointed with the Court’s ruling. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissent that, “the Court forgets that ours is a government of laws and not of men.” The Court’s decision effectively rescued Obamacare from its own text, setting a worrisome precedent that ignores the legislative role our Constitution gives exclusively to the people’s elected representatives in Congress.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) issued the following statement on the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in King v. Burwell:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) welcomed Katie Patterson, winner of the 2015 Congressional Art Competition for high school students in the Fourth District, to the U.S. Capitol. Katie's winning entry titled, Liberty, will be hung in the U.S. Capitol for a year. Katie is a recent graduate of Ike Eisenhower High School in Yakima (Class of 2015) and will be a freshman at the University of Washington in the fall, where she plans to major in history.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) introduced an amendment to H.R. 2042, the Ratepayer Protection Act of 2015, which would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize hydropower as a renewable energy source under the EPA's carbon reduction regulations. The amendment was approved by a voice vote:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Secretary, Thomas Vilsack, announced the designation of select Central Washington counties as primary natural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought. The USDA designation allows farmers to be considered for eligibility for additional federal disaster assistance from the Farm Service Agency, including emergency loans.
YAKIMA – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement on the passing of Washington State University President Elson Floyd:
"As a forceful and passionate advocate on behalf of Washington State University, Elson Floyd had a tremendous ability to communicate the university's mission 'to advance knowledge, to extend knowledge, and to apply knowledge.' For his dedication and strong leadership in support of a great educational institution, Elson Floyd will be greatly missed."
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) led a bipartisan letter, signed by 34 House Members, to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald regarding recent incidents of mismanagement and the subsequent mistreatment of veterans, including the case of 64-year-old Army veteran Donald Siefken, who was recently refused assistance from his car to the emergency room at a Seattle Veterans Administration hospital.
The Members wrote in the letter:
President Obama confirmed the experience of many Americans with his signature health law last week when he noted that HealthCare.gov has been "a well-documented disaster." The President is correct, but he did not go far enough: Obamacare itself has been the disaster. I continue to hear personal stories from individuals in Central Washington about the uncertainty and dramatic cost increases for families and businesses due to the President's health law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after voting for House passage of Trade Promotion Authority language to strengthen Congress' oversight of trade deals introduced by the President: