Congresswoman Suzan DelBene spoke about her efforts in office Thursday at the Northshore Rotary’s annual luncheon at The Inglewood Golf Club.
“It’s honor to be here today in this beautiful city,” DelBene said. “Kenmore is new, but growing at an exciting pace.”
Attendees included Greater Bothell Chamber members, Kenmore City Council members and Kenmore Air employees. Many thanked DelBene for her efforts in helping the city of Kenmore receive funding to conduct maintenance dredging of the city’s navigation channel.
Kenmore received $440,000 from the United States Army Corps of Engineers last month to start the project. DelBene consistently called on the Obama Administration to provide funding.
A significant amount of local commerce and business depend on the navigation channel to move goods and supplies by barge. Without regular maintenance to the channel, transportation networks relying on the channel are disrupted and the transportation costs go up, according to Nancy Ousley, assistant city manager for Kenmore.
DelBene discussed her progress for the House of Judiciary Committee she serves on. As part of the Judiciary Committee, DelBene is at the center of a number of issues important to the residents of Washington’s 1st District including protecting civil liberties, tackling immigration reform and intellectual property law. The committee also has oversight responsibilities for the Departments of Justice.
“I had two goals this year; passing a farm bill and an immigration reform,” DelBene said. “We succeeded in our farm bill and are still out there fighting for immigration reform.”
DelBene also talked about serving on the House Agriculture Committee, where she helps craft federal policy to support our nation’s agricultural production. DelBene said the committee works to ensure that consumers continue to have abundant access to the world’s safest food and agricultural products. The committee tackles a wide variety of issues ranging from agricultural research and development, rural economic development, crop insurance, food safety, international trade and commodities regulation.
DelBene also spoke about the Oso mudslide tragedy and ensured attendees that legislators are doing all they can for the people in the area and surrounding area.
“This is heartbreaking, devastating and bigger in scale than we can even imagine,” she said. “I am inspired by the stories of folks out there doing all they can to help each other out. We have a lot more work to do over there and it will be a long road back.”
