Suzan Delbene

Agriculture and our rural communities are critical for Washington state’s economy, culture, and identity. We must enact federal programs that are responsive to the needs of these communities and ensure programs meant to help them are accessible.  

With over 39,000 farms and ranches, Washington state’s agriculture industry produces over $10 billion in revenue and supports 160,000 jobs. Supporting our farms and ensuring communities have access to nutritious produce is critical to a healthy economy in the 1st District. 

I’ve remained a consistent advocate in Congress to ensure children and those in need have access to nutritious meals, and believe we must work to create more resilient supply chains in our food sector by supporting Washington’s producers, food banks, restaurants, and workers. 

I’ve gone to bat for farmers that have been devastated by natural disasters, including droughts and heat waves. Last year I helped secure $10 billion in emergency funding for farmers, ranchers, and other producers impacted by disasters following the historic heatwave in June 2021, ensuring those impacted by excessive heat could be covered for the first time ever. 

I’ve also consistently advocated for increased money for agriculture research. Last year, I helped secure $445 million for USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, as well as $37 million in research funding specifically for Washington state priorities to make our crops more resilient.  

Finally, as a member of the Ways & Means Committee, I have fought to ensure trade agreements benefit Washington’s rural economy and open new markets for our farmers so that they can compete globally.  

Our economy is facing real challenges. While wages are rising and unemployment is low, inflation is eroding the economic stability of families across our district. We all feel it at the gas pump. We’ve all seen empty shelves at the grocery store. I believe people who work hard should be compensated fairly so they can support themselves and their families.  

To strengthen the middle class and help our economy rebound from the COVID-19 recession we must create an economy that works for everyone. This means helping our small businesses and local industries rebuild so they can support good-paying jobs for years to come, including aerospace, manufacturing, high-tech, sustainable agriculture, clean energy, and health care. We must support businesses that are creating jobs and invest in the training, education, and skills of our workers to ensure they are prepared for success. This has been a long-term commitment of mine as I secured $200 million to expand job training opportunities in my first term in Congress. 

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed many vulnerabilities in our global supply chains. These supply chain flaws have led to backlogs at our ports and rising costs for families as the supply of goods has struggled to meet the surging demand of our economic recovery. This is a global issue but one we can start to address here at home by tackling the structural issues that got us here. We can do so by rapidly building more resilient and trusted supply chains, lowering food costs by investing in American agriculture, increasing affordable housing, and reducing costly international trade barriers. I support competition legislation that will do just that. My priority is to support a strong and inclusive economy and restore stability and prosperity.  

A well-educated workforce is vital to our economic success and our future. And a quality education system is the key to creating a workforce prepared for the 21st-century economy. 

I will fight for policies that strengthen our education system focused on closing the achievement gap, raising standards and giving our teachers the support they need to help ensure that every child gets the opportunity to reach their full potential. 

One of the key pieces of the American Rescue Plan was getting kids back in school. This was important to addressing learning loss, supporting our teachers, and taking the burden off parents.  

We also have to rein in the rising costs of college tuition and increase aid to ensure everyone gets a fair chance. The 1st Congressional District is fortunate to be the home of great community and technical colleges and extended campuses of some of our state’s best public universities. The increasing burden of student loans is holding many Americans back from a middle-class life. That’s why I supported the student loan repayment moratorium during the pandemic. 

Working closely with our local institutions, we can bolster the workforce that manufacturing, technology and agricultural employers in our economy need. It is essential we focus on increasing opportunities for current and future workers to get the skills needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow. This is why I fought for and secured $200 million in job-training funds to help low-income individuals on nutrition assistance get the support and training they need to become self-sufficient. 

What makes living in the Pacific Northwest so special is the natural environment that surrounds us. Washington state is home to some of our nation’s most beautiful forests, mountains, and waterways. We also have some of the most fertile agricultural land. Taking care of our natural resources and protecting our environment is critical to maintaining the quality of life we cherish. That’s why I’ve passed legislation to protect our public lands including designating Illabot Creek as wild and scenic and expanding the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I’ve also secured full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a critical tool that helps protect and preserve our national parks, including the North Cascades, and address the backlog in repairs and maintenance in parks and other public lands. 

 No one can deny the impact that climate change is having on our region. Sea levels are rising, our oceans are becoming more acidic, and we are seeing an increase in insect outbreaks and tree diseases. This endangers not only our local economy, potentially costing us thousands of jobs, but also the health of our families and communities. I support President Biden’s actions to combat climate change and renew American leadership on this issue globally.  

 In Washington, we have an educated workforce, advanced manufacturing, and growing technology industry, which make us poised to be a leader in the emerging green economy. 

 Energy policy is deeply tied to addressing climate change. To make America a green, energy-independent global leader, we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. This means investing in clean, renewable energy.  It’s urgent that we transform our economy into one based on clean and renewable energy sources for the security and health of future generations. 

 I worked with my colleagues to draft the GREEN Act which was included in the Build Back Better Act that passed the House of Representatives in November 2021. This bill is part of a comprehensive approach to combating climate change using the tax code to incentivize renewable energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

We cannot go back to the days when someone could be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or when you could be charged more for coverage for simply being a woman. That’s why I continue to vote to protect the Affordable Care Act and build on it. 

 I support getting America to universal quality coverage and the best way to incentivize competition is to give people a choice between public and private coverage options. We must make it easier and more affordable for small businesses to provide health coverage for their employees. That’s why I fought for increased health insurance subsidies in the American Rescue Plan and am pushing to extend them beyond 2020. These subsidies made coverage on the Washington Health Benefits Exchange more affordable, allowing a record 60,000 new Washingtonians to get coverage. Now, 73% of exchange customers receive monthly savings on their health plan with 42% pay less than $100 per month for their 2022 coverage. 

 The COVID-19 pandemic also shined a light on the ongoing inequalities in our communities and broadly exposed the health disparities that impact communities of color. We must address these disparities and reform our health care system so that every American has affordable, quality health care. 

Hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country lack access to safe, affordable housing. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 11 million households in America already paid more than half of their income in rent, while many others found housing completely out of reach—leaving them without a stable roof over their head, and often forcing them to sleep on the streets. This is unacceptable. To help lift families out of poverty and expand access to opportunity for all, we must take immediate action to address housing instability. 

Throughout my time in Congress, I have fought to protect and strengthen federal investments in homeless assistance and affordable housing programs. That’s why I introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which would help create approximately 550,000 new affordable housing units nationwide in the next decade. This bill would also boost affordable housing access for veterans, seniors, Native American communities, rural communities, survivors of domestic violence and stalking, and low-income students. Ensuring all families have access to safe, affordable housing remains one of my top priorities in Congress.  

I also fought to secure the $5 billion for homelessness assistance and supportive services in the American Rescue Plan. This funding was used for several different purposes to combat homelessness including tenant-based rental assistance, the development and support of affordable housing, and supportive services including housing counseling and homeless prevention services. 

We must fix our nation’s broken immigration system so it works for businesses, families, and our economy. 

Immigration reform is especially important for Washington state. We have a vibrant agricultural industry, world-leading technology, and advanced manufacturing businesses. Workers, families, students, and entrepreneurs are all hurting because our current system is so dysfunctional. 

From business, labor, farmers, workers, law enforcement, to faith leaders – they all agree, that it is past time for comprehensive immigration reform. 

To spur job growth and drive our economy forward, we must pass comprehensive immigration reform. I helped introduce legislation during my first term that would create an earned path to citizenship for those who are here and working. It would make our nation safer, while also eliminating backlogs, and reuniting families and would meet the demands of our nation’s economy today and into tomorrow.  I will continue to keep fighting for comprehensive immigration reform. 

Investing in our infrastructure is how we keep our economy moving. Billions of dollars of freight and goods move through our region, as do hundreds of thousands of workers. They all depend on safe roads, reliable bridges, and accessible public transit. Washington state currently has more than 400 bridges in poor condition, and the consequences of these under-investments have devastating effects on our economy.  We must invest in the next generation of infrastructure that will ensure everyone has access to affordable housing, reliable broadband, and enables our transition to a green economy.  

In November 2021, the House passed the historic, bipartisan infrastructure law that is investing more than $1.2 trillion in modern, sustainable infrastructure while creating millions of good-paying jobs, combating the climate crisis, and addressing disparities in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Through this law, I helped fund $65 billion in new spending to deliver affordable, high-speed broadband internet access to communities and tribes.  These resources are already flowing and this investment will allow us to build the infrastructure of the next 50 years to support our communities and economy.  

I support investing in proven community policing and crime diversion programs to keep our streets and homes safe. We can both invest in our local police forces and demand accountability from those we count on to protect our communities.  

 For far too long Black Americans have faced systemic racism and injustice. The murder of George Floyd and too many others at the hands of police, who we entrust to protect everyone in our communities, shed a painful light on the injustice, discrimination, and bias that marginalized groups face. These injustices brought new urgency to the need to reform policing in our country and address the ongoing culture that leads to racism in our communities. 

 I was an original cosponsor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which will hold police accountable by addressing qualified immunity, bar chokeholds, create national law enforcement standards and improve transparency into police misconduct and use-of-force. This is one important step, but more needs to be done to address inequalities in other areas such as health care, economic opportunity, education and voting rights. Addressing these issues will not be solved by legislation alone. It is up to all of us to do our part and stand up and speak out so that we see long-term change. 

 We must also address the endemic gun violence in America so our families and community are safe. As a mother, I am sickened and outraged by the seemingly never-ending incidents of gun violence. While there is no one law or set of laws that will prevent every senseless shooting, we must do more to address this tragic cycle of gun violence. I serve on the Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and remain committed to finding sensible solutions to this problem. I support expanding background checks, banning the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons, and implementing extreme risk protection orders also known as red flag laws as the foundation of commonsense gun reforms.  

Medicare is a cornerstone of our nation’s health care system. I am committed to protecting it and will fight against any efforts to privatize or dismantle Medicare. The focus instead should be on controlling the rising costs of care and improving the quality of care our seniors receive. That’s why I voted to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices to bring down the costs for seniors and fought to pass commonsense reforms to make it easier to get care, improve access to providers and new medical technology, and improve the quality of care for seniors. 

 During my time in Congress, I have focused on making health care simply work better for patients and providers. That is why I introduced legislation to streamline the health insurance prior authorization process which would give doctors and nurses more time to spend with their patients and prevent patients from waiting for the care they deserve.   

 Washington state has a robust medical technology sector which provides quality jobs to our region and delivers innovative new products for patients. Making sure patients have access to new technologies has been a priority of mine. That is why I have introduced legislation that would fast-track Medicare coverage for breakthrough medical products, getting cutting edge technology to our seniors faster. 

 The way we currently pay for health care isn’t sustainable. We pay doctors and hospitals for every service they provide regardless of whether it was necessary or even effective. This isn’t improving quality and is making health care more expensive. I am working to reform the way we pay for health care so that we reward providers for keeping their patients healthier. Healthier patients lower the costs for the healthcare system.  

Social Security has been a building block of our middle class and a secure retirement. It’s created a social safety net and basic financial security for seniors. It’s an investment we’ve all made and a promise I’m committed to protecting and strengthening for all of our seniors. 

Those who say Social Security is in immediate danger are using scare tactics to dismantle it. The truth is, it’s a good system. But we must protect it. Social Security funds have been used for other purposes, which needs to stop. There are also long-term financial concerns, which is why I support raising the income limits, or ‘scrapping the cap.’ I also oppose raising the retirement age and will fight any attempts to privatize Social Security. 

As a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, I have prioritized modernizing the tax code and creating policies that are fair for all Americans and give businesses the ability to plan for the future. I champion efforts that provide tax relief for the middle-class including the enhanced Child Tax Credit. The enhanced child tax credit was included in the American Rescue Plan, and provided families with monthly checks for 6 months and lifted 3.7 million kids out of poverty. I am also the lead sponsor of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which would create or preserve more than 2 million affordable housing units nationwide in the next decade and address the growing housing crisis. Further, I worked with my colleagues to draft the GREEN Act which l is part of a comprehensive approach to combat climate change using the tax code to incentivize renewable energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

 Comprehensive tax reform is about creating policies that are fair for all Americans and give businesses the ability to plan for the future. Tax policy should be about growing the middle class and providing economic opportunity. Through a modernized tax code, we can also invest resources here in America, encouraging job creation and innovation. Congress should focus on simplifying our tax code by eliminating inefficient and unfair tax breaks and subsidies that don’t make sense in today’s global economy. Any time our federal government offers a tax break or subsidy, we should consider it as an expense and evaluate whether we are getting an adequate return on investment. We must also stop governing retroactively and with short-term policies that Congress must extend each year. Families and businesses need predictability and stability.