It’s been a busy July in Congress, and I wanted to send a quick update about two important votes that took place last week.

These are big wins for Eastern Washington. 

To prevent catastrophic wildfire, effectively fight fires when they happen, improve the health of our forests, and bring jobs and opportunity to rural communities, on Thursday the House passed the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 (H.R. 2647).

It uses language from my bill the FORESTS Act of 2015 (H.R. 2178). Building on the proven success of the A-Z Mill Creek Pilot Project in the Colville National Forest, this legislation calls for the Forest Service, local leaders, and private companies to work together to expedite environmental review.

On Friday we passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6), which offers hope for the millions of Americans suffering from currently incurable and untreatable diseases. Innovation and discovery should be accelerated; treatments should be quickly available; and we should be curing diseases here in the United States. This legislation helps achieve that, and I’m proud to have authored six major provisions in the Cures package.

Click here to watch my remarks.

These bills are bipartisan, they are proactive, they provide solutions for the source of the problems we face—rather than just treating the symptoms, and they encourage collaboration.

This is the 21st Century approach we need in Congress—trusting and empowering people to solve problems in their communities and eliminating bureaucratic roadblocks from the Federal government. Legislating this way isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it.

If you have any questions about these bills, or if there is anything I can do to help—please don’t hesitate to call my office at 509-353-2374.