Our veterans have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we as Americans enjoy every day, and it is our duty to make sure they receive what was promised to them. Ensuring Our Veterans Receive the Benefits Promised to Them This week, my colleagues and I on the House Appropriations Committee convened to markup the full Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies budget request for fiscal year 2025. This will fulfill our commitment to our veterans by ensuring VA healthcare is fully funded and benefits are paid out to those who have honorably served our nation. Our veterans have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we as Americans enjoy every day, and it is our duty to make sure they receive what was promised to them. This package will also provide the funding for military bases, improving living conditions for our troops and their families, and ensuring national defense priorities are met—both at home and abroad. Beginning markups for this package is the first step in the critically important appropriations process, and I am honored to represent Central Washington's priorities. Countering the CCP's Growing Sphere of Influence On Thursday, my colleagues on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and I held a roundtable to discuss the future of U.S. policy towards Hong Kong. We heard from expert witnesses, including Frances Hui, a Hong Kong activist and victim of transnational repression, Joey Siu, a Hong Kong-American human rights advocate, and Jonathan Price, the deputy head of an international legal team focusing on human rights and media law. Over the years, the CCP has taken an escalating series of steps to undermine human rights, the rule of law, and the autonomy of the Hong Kong Special Region—a separate region of the country that maintains a different legal, administrative, and judicial system from the rest of China. While the CCP is working around the clock to expand their sphere of influence, myself and my colleagues on the Select Committee are working hard to implement strong, common-sense policies to prevent their authority does not continue to spread. Read More About My Work to Counter the CCP Honoring Tiffany Ferdon, a First Responder from Okanogan This week, I led the House in honoring the memory of a devoted Central Washington public servant, Tiffany Ferdon. Tiffany was a volunteer firefighter/EMT for the Tonasket Fire Department and Aeneas Fire Department, and a dedicated member of our community. She was also a member of the Samaritan Riders—a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who serve the medically challenged and socially disadvantaged children throughout our region. She tragically passed away in April, but her memory and legacy will live on in the commitment she showed to the residents of North Central Washington. Discussing Pressing Issues for Our Agricultural Producers On Wednesday, I sat down with All Ag, All Day! to discuss issues related to our agricultural producers. We talked about my bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which makes common sense reforms to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program and creates a first-of-its-kind, merit-based visa program specifically designed for our agriculture sector. It would create a safe and manageable employment program for foreign workers to legally work in our agricultural industry. This not only eliminates incentives for illegal immigration, but it also strengthens our national security and food supply chain while providing some relief to our producers who have been struggling to build a reliable farm workforce. We also discussed my effort to overturn the Biden Administration's misguided plan to establish a non-essential population of grizzly bears in the North Cascades Ecosystem. Our growers and ranchers in the region have expressed time and time again during numerous public comment sessions that they were adamantly opposed to the introduction of the apex predator due to the threat they pose to livestock and crops in the North Cascades. While it is clear that the Biden Administrations is more intent on pushing policies about Central Washingtonians rather than for them, I do listen to my constituents and will continue to fight against this absurd mandate. Read More About My Work for Our Producers Meeting with the United Steelworkers of Washington This week, I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives from the United Steelworkers (USW). I had the opportunity to learn more about current issues facing our steelworkers in Central Washington and across the nation. We discussed key labor programs impacting our steelworkers, as well as how to solve for severe trade impacts. Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to our continued partnership! Honoring Staff Sergeant Jack J. Pendleton At Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima, one can find the final resting place of an American hero who was awarded our nation's highest decoration for valor amidst some of the fiercest fighting of the Second World War. Jack J. Pendleton enlisted in the U.S. Army at Yakima in July of 1942 and was assigned to Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant, in command of a twelve-man rifle squad. In the fall of 1944, the 30th Division was committed to a bloody campaign to seize the German border city of Aachen. On October 12, Pendleton's platoon was pinned down by a German machine gun in the village of Bardenberg, and he led his squad in an attack against it. Despite being seriously wounded, he continued forward alone, purposely drawing the machine gun's fire so that another squad could advance and destroy the enemy position. Killed by the intense fire from the machine gun, Pendleton was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor six months later, on April 6, 1945. Recognizing Master Sergeant Mark W. Coleman US Amy Master Sergeant Mark W. Coleman of Centerville, in Klickitat County, was killed on May 2, 2010 by a landmine while leading a patrol near Khakrez, Afghanistan. Mark was on his fifth combat deployment of the War On Terror, three of those being to Afghanistan and two to the Philippines. He attended elementary school in Centerville and graduated from Goldendale High School in 1988. After joining the Army, he volunteered for service as a paratrooper and a Special Forces soldier. He became fluent in Thai, and deployed on many training missions to Southeast Asia. Sergeant Coleman was chosen to serve in an exchange program to the Australian Special Air Service, their equivalent to the Green Berets. He performed two of his Afghan deployments with them. He lies at rest in Centerville Cemetery and there is a plaque honoring him at his alma mater which reads, “Mark believed in what he was doing, loved his job, and loved the brotherhood of the Special Forces.”   It is an honor and a privilege to serve you in Congress. To stay up to date on how I am working to represent Central Washington, I encourage you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also find regular updates on my website. Sincerely, Dan Newhouse Contact Me     Rep. Dan Newhouse | 504 Cannon House Office Bldg. | Washington, DC 20515 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice