Congressman Dave Reichert

Washington, D.C., Dec 17, 2007 -

Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08) voted today in favor of comprehensive federal spending legislation that secured over $58 million in federal funding to benefit the constituents of his congressional district and the state. The bill authorizes funds for 11 of 12 federal spending bills for Fiscal Year 2008.

“This bill is one of the most important pieces of legislation passed by the House this year,” said Reichert. “It is about more than money and funding levels – this is about families and children, keeping communities safe, critical medical research and important projects maintaining our region’s fragile ecosystem, natural resources and national parks. There are critical increases in education programs and veterans’ funding.  And there is needed intelligence funding for homeland security, which I fought for in June through my successful amendment to the original Homeland Security spending bill.

“I am glad to see that after a lot of politics, a bipartisan agreement was reached between Congressional leadership and the President. The President was successful in advocating lower spending levels and I support him in that. The Democratic leadership was successful in funding their priorities, many of which I agree with.”

Reichert fought for and successfully obtained funding in multiple areas, including:

Labor, Health and Human Services ($3,603,968):

·         $143,843 for the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Kent

·         $479,807 for the College Success Foundation in Issaquah

·         $316,258 for Bellevue Community College

·         $479,807 for Bellevue Arts Museum

·         $178,326 for Pierce College Homeland Security Workshop

·         $277,834 for Northwest Kidney Centers Surge Capacity Initiative

·         $1,440,406 for Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Beam Therapy

·         $287,687 for University of Washington-Bothell Nursing

Homeland Security ($500,000):

·         $500,000 for Pierce County Community-Base Sheltering Program

Interior ($21,963,932):

·         $492,200 for Mercer Island Sewer Line Replacement

·         $1,783,732 for Mt. Rainier National Park

·         $19.688 million for Olympic National Park

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development ($1,519,000):

·         $294,000 for King County Hybrid Bus Program

·         $735,000 for Enumclaw Mt. Rainier Welcome Center

·         $490,000 for FAST (Freight Action Strategy) Corridor Grade Separations (Kent, Auburn, Puyallup and Renton)

Energy and Water ($24,599,016):

·         $43,296 for Lower Puyallup River Alternatives Study

·         $1.2792 million for Puget Sound Nearshore Marine Habitat Restoration

·         $1,625,568 for Duwamish – Green River Basin

·         $2,339,952 for Mud Mountain Dam fish passage

·         $2.952 million for Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters Restoration

·         $492,000 for King County Biogas and Nutrient Reduction Project

·         $369,000 for Lake Washington Ship Canal

·         $14.76 million for Columbia River Channel Improvements

·         $738,000 for Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Beam Therapy

Commerce Justice and Science ($5,186,300):

·         $329,000 for King County Sheriff’s Office for School Resource Officers

·         $470,000 for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) DNA Initiative

·         $491,000 for WASPC, Lacey, WA, for DNA testing for stranger rapes

·         $1,410,000 for the City of Bellevue

·         $446,500 for the City of Puyallup, for Tacoma/Puyallup law enforcement interoperability

·         $235,000 for Rainier Communications Commission

·         $394,800 for Pierce County Alliance, Tacoma, WA, for statewide meth initiative

·         $1,410,000 for the WA State Meth Initiative

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