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  For Immediate Release Contact: Kimberly Johnston  
  August 31, 2006 202-225-2605  
     
 
August E-Newsletter
 
     
 

The end of August is near, and I am preparing to return to Washington, DC after spending nearly a month in the 2nd Congressional District for the recent Work Period.  Before the congressional session resumes, I want to give you an update on the five Veterans Roundtable Discussions I held in the district this month and tell you about two activities local law enforcement organized to help me better understand our communities’ struggles with methamphetamine.

Veterans Roundtable Discussions

This month I held Veterans Roundtable Discussions in Skagit County, Whatcom County, Snohomish County, San Juan County and Island County to discuss the local and national issues that are affecting veterans in the 2nd Congressional District. 

The 2nd Congressional district is home to over 75,000 veterans, many of which are forced to travel long distances to receive basic healthcare services from VA Medical facilities.  During these discussions many of the veterans in our community, particularly those who live in rural and remote areas, expressed the limitations they face in their ability to travel to a VA health care facility. 
I am working in Congress to bring a VA operated Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) to the North Puget Sound to provide basic outpatient health care for our veterans.  In April, the Seattle VA Puget Sound Healthcare System submitted an application for a CBOC in our area.  The application is currently under evaluation by VA headquarters in Washington, D.C. and a decision on the application is expected in the fall of 2006. 
In addition, when Congress resumes session in September, I will be introducing new transportation legislation for rural veterans.  This legislation would raise the mileage reimbursement that Veterans receive when traveling in their own vehicle to VA Health Care facilities and create a $5 million competitive transportation grants program for rural Veterans service organizations. 

Keeping Meth Out of our Community

This week the Snohomish County Regional Drug Task Force and the Washington State Patrol gave me the unique opportunity to experience first hand the making of methamphetamine.  In a highly controlled setting, we were able to transform basic household ingredients into meth.  This experience will help me educate my colleagues on the threat this drug poses to our communities.

I also met with the Sheriff of Whatcom County to discuss methamphetamine use in rural Whatcom County.  We traveled through the Kendall area examining the fallout of several methamphetamine lab sites.  We spoke with families in the area that have watched the devastating effects of methamphetamine on their community.  And we met with a homebuilder who is constructing new single-family homes on property that was once a poisoned methamphetamine lab.

The safety and security of our communities is of the utmost importance, and methamphetamine poses a real threat to this safety.  I will continue my efforts in Congress to provide local law enforcement, treatment professionals, and prevention experts with the tools they need to combat this drug.
 

 
 


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