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ICYMI: Senator Murray Crisscrosses Western Washington, Highlighting Importance of Keeping Up Investments in WA Priorities and Pushing Back Against Republicans’ Debt Ceiling Hostage-Taking

***PHOTOS, B-ROLL of Murray’s visits in Western Washington HERE***

Seattle, WA – This past week, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, crisscrossed Western Washington, listening to constituents and discussing the federal investments she’s fighting for—and bringing back to Washington state—to maintain U.S. competitiveness, strengthen our economy, invest in cutting-edge science, tackle the maternal health crisis, support local small business, and much more.

At every single event, Murray emphasized how the draconian cuts House Republicans are pushing for while holding our economy hostage would harm every single community in Washington state and every single project she’s pushing for in the appropriations process—from funding she is working to secure for climate resilience to combat flooding in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood, to support for Tacoma Arts Live’s small business incubator, to investments at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that support the Allen Institute’s scientific breakthroughs.

As Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Murray is responsible for helping write the nation’s spending bills and is working hard to support key Washington state priorities in every part of the state.

On Tuesday, Murray visited the Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech) and hosted a roundtable discussion on the investments she is fighting for—in everything from education and workforce development to American manufacturing and clean energy technology—to ensure that the U.S. remains a leader in innovation and competitive in the global economy. Murray secured $1.1 million in Congressionally Directed Spending as part of last year’s spending bill for a solar installation program at LWTech. The work and programs offered at LWTech are an example, Murray said, of the investments we need to continue making through the regular appropriations process to ensure the U.S. remains competitive. More information, along with photos and b-roll from the event, is HERE.

  • KOMO News: Senator Murray will hold a roundtable discussion on more investments needed in chip manufacturing, and clean energy, and the role that college could play in the future.

Also on Tuesday, Murray toured Aerojet Rocketdyne and heard from local leaders in Bellevue and Redmond about their plan to electrify fire trucks:

  • TWEET from @PattyMurray: Washington state’s aerospace industry is unrivaled anywhere in the world! So great to visit

@AerojetRdyne’s Redmond facility to see some of the cutting-edge technology they’re developing for the next generation of space exploration.

  • TWEET from @PattyMurray: Today I joined local leaders & folks from @EcologyWA to hear about Bellevue and Redmond’s plans to electrify their fire trucks to lower emissions and improve service to the community. It’s great to see new clean technologies taking shape across Washington state!

On Wednesday morning, Murray hosted a roundtable at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center (APCC) in Tacoma to hear about the work APCC does and its plans for a new cultural center—which Murray secured $1.5 million in funding for as part of last year’s spending bill—as well as to underscore the importance of combatting anti-Asian hate. More information, along with photos and b-roll from the event, is HERE.

  • FOX 13 Seattle: Sen. Murray hosts roundtable on combatting anti-Asian hate: Combating anti-Asian hate, that was the focus of a roundtable hosted by Senator Patty Murray. It took place at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma yesterday. The senator helped secure $1.5 million for the construction of a new community center, and participants spoke about what the new center really means to them.

On Wednesday afternoon, Murray visited Tacoma Arts Live (TAL) in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood to meet with TAL’s leadership, tour TAL’s facilities in the historic Tacoma armory and see their immersive art exhibit, and meet with local small business leaders who are part of TAL’s Accelerating Creative Enterprise program. Murray is pushing to secure $2.12 million in this year’s funding bill to support TAL and its small business incubator program. More information, along with photos and b-roll from the event, is HERE.

  • TWEET from @PattyMurray: Thanks to the @TacomaArtsLive team for welcoming me into their beautiful space to see their immersive art exhibit & learn more about their small business incubator. Art & expression are woven into the fabric of WA state—it’s so important we keep supporting nonprofits like this.

On Thursday, Murray held a roundtable discussion in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood on the federal investments she is fighting for in climate readiness and resilience, after South Park experienced severe flooding last winter. Murray spoke with community members and local leaders about how she is working to secure $3 million in this year’s funding bill to support drainage improvements and storm water management to help South Park become more resilient. More information, along with photos and b-roll from the event, is HERE.

  • KING 5: Sen. Murray pledges work to invest in South Park flooding prevention, climate resilience: United States Sen. Patty Murray met with community members and local officials Thursday to discuss federal investments in climate resilience and progress on preventing flooding in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. Murray said she is working to direct $3 million in funding toward drainage improvements and storm water management. “What I’m focused on is helping the community get resiliency so when they get floods, when they get king tides, when we get those extreme storms, that there is drainage for the water to flow out,” Murray said.
  • KSTW Seattle News Now: Sen. Patty Murray visits South Park to tackle flood prevention: Help may be on the way for residents of the South Park neighborhood. Senator Patty Murray is working to secure $3 million to address flooding and drainage issues in the area. Many people are still without their home as clean up efforts continue after King Tide and storm floods this past winter.
  • Northwest NewsRadio: Sen. Murray says Republicans ‘holding the economy hostage’ over debt ceiling: …Seattle Public Utilities says it needs to add sewer pipes and a pump station, and Murray says she’ll work to secure $3 million from the feds to help. Northwest Newsradio asked Murray how that funding might be affected by a default or the spending cuts Republicans have called for to raise the debt ceiling.  “What the Republicans are doing right now is literally holding our economy hostage, and everything like this that we need to do to invest to make our communities strong hostage, and saying that they’re not going to raise the debt ceiling unless they get really conservative cuts,” Murray says, “That’s like saying ‘do you want door number one or door number two?’  They’re both really bad.”

Next, Murray toured the Rainier Valley Birth & Health Center’s newSeattle clinic—which Murray secured $225,000 in funding for as part of last year’s spending bill—and hosted a roundtable discussion with providers and staff about the importance of high-quality maternal care and continued investments in tackling the maternal mortality crisis that is particularly severe for women of color. More information, along with photos and b-roll from the event, is HERE.

  • KOMO News: Senator Murray will be in Seattle to tour the Rainier Valley Midwives clinic. There, she’ll discuss maternal care and her efforts to address the maternal mortality crisis in America.

Finally, on Thursday afternoon, Murray toured the Allen Institute, visiting the brain sciences, neural dynamics, cell sciences, and immunology labs and hearing from top scientists about the groundbreaking work the Institute is doing, including their work to cure Alzheimer’s disease. Murray is a longstanding champion of biomedical research in Congress and has worked in a bipartisan way time and again to significantly increase funding for the National Institutes of Health —funding that would be jeopardized by the draconian cuts House Republicans are pushing for. More information, along with photos and b-roll from the event, is HERE.

  • KOMO News: This afternoon, Washington Senator Patty Murray took a tour of the Allen Institute here in Seattle, she met with researchers who discussed their work to prevent and cure Alzheimer’s disease. [Murray:] ‘We should be investing in this kind of research, and we are, because it will lower health care costs in the long run, it’s better for people’s health, and what they learn here is going to change how we are able to take care of people far into the future.”

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