|
Pacific County News
Protecting
Jobs and Increasing Job Opportunities:
Small Port Dredging:
Access to our ports and harbors is critical to our fishermen and
seafood processors. The Ilwaco Channel and the marina of the Port
of Ilwaco were formerly dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(the Corps) on a regular basis. When the Administration eliminated
dredging of small ports from the budget of the Corps, Congressman
Baird fought and secured more than $2,000,000 over several years
to fund Corps dredging of the Ilwaco Channel.
The Port of Chinook faces similar siltation problems, which limit
the navigation to and from the Port to high tide only. This presents
a navigational hazard and economic hardship to fishermen and companies
located at the Port of Chinook. Without dredging, the channel to
the Port of Chinook, a local crab fish processor and several other
fishing companies would have been forced to close and relocate, causing
the loss of over 60 jobs. Congressman Baird was successful in securing
more than $1,000,000 for dredging at the Port of Chinook and will continue to
fight to secure funding for small port dredging.
Sardine
Fishery:
Congressman Baird, along with Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell,
protected sardine fishery jobs in Pacific and Cowlitz Counties by
urging the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) to increase
the allowable allocation of the sardine fishery to Washington, Oregon,
and Northern California. As a result, the PFMC increased the allocation
of the sardine fishery to our region, preventing the loss of seasonal
workers, creating new jobs, and encouraging business expansion and
development in Southwest Washington.
Crab Fishery:
As annual maintenance dredging at the Mouth of the Columbia River
continues, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uses sites along the
shoreline and in the ocean to dispose of dredged material. The crab
fishing industry is very concerned about navigational safety, the
environmental impact to crabs and crab habitat, and the economic
impact to the crab fishery of this practice. Congressman Baird has
brought the crab fishing industry, the Corps, ports, local government
officials, and others together to find commonsense solutions to address
the safety and environmental concerns and to use the dredge material
for productive purposes.
Cranberries:
Having visited with many cranberry farmers in Southwest Washington,
Congressman Baird understands firsthand the economic damages when
prices fall due to surpluses of berries. The huge surplus that accumulated
in 2000 and 2001 caused dramatic decreases in producer prices, threatening
the viability of our domestic cranberry industry. To combat declining
prices, Baird successfully passed an amendment in Congress to direct
the USDA to purchase additional cranberries and to provide $20 million
in market loss payments to growers.
Congressman Baird also worked to find funding to develop new cranberry
varieties, which would allow Southwest Washington growers to produce
berries of superior quality to foreign imports. In 2004 he secured
$425,000 for the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research, which
conducts research on innovative genetic and environmental technologies,
intended to increase grower returns and improve product taste and
quality. This research will help keep the area's growers
competitive in the global marketplace.
Additionally, cranberry farmers have successfully used federal
EQUIP funding to help deal with environmental concerns regarding
herbicides and pesticides. Brian has advocated sustained funding
for EQUIP and the adaptation of regulations to meet the unique
demands of cranberry farming.
Finally, a recent paperwork delay at the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) threatened to disrupt growers' ability to harvest
their berries in a timely manner. Congressman Baird personally
intervened and convinced the EPA to expedite their procedures to
allow the harvest to begin on schedule. Fortunately, the cranberry
market has begun to improve and growers are beginning to once again
make ends meet, but they face ongoing challenges and Congressman
Baird is committed to helping meet those challenges.
Protecting the Environment and the Economy:
Fighting Invasive Species:
Invasive species are plant or animal species that are introduced
to local environments with no natural enemies, quickly spreading
and in many cases overtaking other organisms in the area. While
invasives can be found across the nation, areas of Willapa Bay
are struggling to control an invasive weed, Spartina
Alterniflora,
which is taking over the regional mudflats and wetlands. Spartina's
invasion of Willapa Bay not only threatens the region's multi-million
dollar oyster industry and the jobs that rely on it, but also thousands
of acres of pristine wetland habitat for migratory birds and other
protected wildlife. In response to this threat to our regional
economy and environment, Congressman Baird is leading the fight
in Congress to wipe out invasive species, and repair the damage
they have done.
In October 2003, Congressman Baird hosted a summit on the health
and future of the Willapa Bay, bringing community leaders together
with federal, state and local officials to develop a plan to protect
the bay's resources, culture, and local economy. Additionally,
working closely with Congressman Norm Dicks and Senators Maria
Cantwell and Patty Murray, Congressman Baird secured $1,050,000
in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2004 and $1,400,000 for FY 2005
to help the US Fish and Wildlife Service eradicate Spartina in
Willapa Bay.
Furthermore, Congressman Baird worked with regulatory agencies
to expedite approval of an herbicide that is both more effective
against Spartina and more environmentally friendly. Spartina eradication
efforts in the Willapa Bay region are beginning to show success - 2003
marked the first year since treatment began that more Spartina
was destroyed than emerged or spread.
Supporting the Shellfish Industry:
The West Coast shellfish industry produces approximately $85 million
worth of oysters, clams, and mussels annually. The shellfish products
produced on these farms bring new dollars and valuable jobs to rural
West Coast communities, including many in Southwest Washington. In
early 2004, Congressman Baird hosted a summit with local shellfish
growers, USDA, NOAA, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss
grower's concerns and find solutions to benefit our region.
To help meet the threats of Spartina grass, Congressman Baird has
worked closely with Congressman Norm Dicks to bring millions of dollars
to eradicate Spartina from the Willapa Bay and other estuaries. He
has also worked with regulatory agencies to help expedite the availability
of more effective and environmentally sensitive herbicides, both
for Spartina and to combat Ghost Shrimp. Most recently, Congressman
Baird secured almost $400,000 in the fiscal year 2005 Agricultural
Appropriations bill for shellfish growers to fight such threats.
Currently, the Congressman is working with growers and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help resolve disputes
regarding the traditional aquaculture practices that have existed
for generations in our area.
Increasing Public Safety and Combating
Crime:
Methamphetamine:
As a founding member of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control
Methamphetamine, Congressman Baird has diligently worked to provide
Washington communities with funding to fight this menace. Baird's
efforts have helped to bring in more than $11 million to combat methamphetamine
use and clean meth contaminated sites in Washington state.
Preserving Our History:
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park:
Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific
Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River in November 1805. In anticipation
of the 200 year commemoration of that historic event, Congressman
Baird has co-chaired the Congressional Lewis and Clark Caucus and
has led efforts to recognize Southwest Washington's many historical
treasures.
In order to ensure that sites on both sides of the Columbia River
were recognized for their role in Lewis and Clark's journey,
Congressman Baird introduced legislation to authorize and create
the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. The bill received broad
support from local communities, state and federal government representatives
and the U.S. Department of the Interior. On July 19, 2004 it passed
the U.S. House of Representatives with unanimous support. Similar
legislation passed in the Senate and was signed into law on October
30, 2004.
The new park incorporates an existing Park Service site at Fort Clatsop
in Oregon and three Washington state sites - Cape Disappointment
State Park (formerly Fort Canby), Megler's Rest Area and Station
Camp near McGowan, Washington. With the bicentennial of the Lewis
and Clark Corps of Discovery and preparations for the Destination
Pacific Signature Events already underway, the creation of a national
historic park incorporating Southwest Washington and Oregon's
Lewis and Clark sites is timely and crucial to provide visitors with
the full story of this historic journey in the Pacific Northwest.
Making Government More Effective and Efficient:
Streamlining the environmental permitting process:
Protecting the environment is always a priority, but regulatory
processing and permitting have become unnecessarily costly and time
consuming. In recent years, Congressman Baird has organized a series of
meetings throughout Southwest Washington to bring local business
leaders, farmers, builders, ports and others together with federal,
state and local officials to improve the permitting process. As a
direct result, several federal and state agencies have made significant
progress in streamlining permits, reducing application backlogs and
complexity, and improving coordination to expedite the process. There
is still work to be done, and much room for improvement, but
Congressman Baird will continue to work with the consumers of permits
and agency representatives to push for further improvements in
efficiency and savings in time and money.
Ensuring Equal Access to Mental Health Services
As a mental health professional, and one of only two clinical
psychologists serving in Congress, Congressman Baird has firsthand
knowledge of the impact and importance of mental health treatment and
the inequities that often exist in funding and consideration for mental
health treatments. In order to correct this imbalance Congressman Baird
was a leading advocate of the bipartisan Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act which became law on October 3, 2008. The law prohibits health plans from imposing time limits and
similar restrictions on the treatment of mental health disorders, if
similar restrictions are not imposed on medical and surgical benefits.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that this will lead to
less than a two percent increase in premiums, and it will remove one
of the barriers that keep millions of Americans from receiving the
mental health care they need.
|
