{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://herrerabeutler.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=388097", "Jaime Herrera Beutler secures funding for dredging and harbor maintenance and Hanford cleanup", "2014-07-11", "2014", "2014-07", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Jaime Herrera Beutler", "H001056", "herrerabeutler.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Jaime voted with a bipartisan majority of her colleagues late Thursday night to advance a responsible spending bill that secures funding for waterway maintenance on the Pacific Coast and Columbia River, as well as Hanford cleanup.   \r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      Jaime voted with a bipartisan majority of her colleagues late Thursday night to advance a responsible spending bill that secures funding for waterway maintenance on the Pacific Coast and Columbia River, as well as Hanford cleanup.\u00a0\u00a0 \r\nThe U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, legislation that funds U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Hanford cleanup efforts under the Department of Energy.\u00a0 As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Jaime helped craft this bill that continues the trend of this year\u2019s appropriations packages to cut spending from previous years, reducing total discretionary funding by $50 million from Fiscal Year 2014 levels.\u00a0 \r\nSouthwest Washington priorities included in this bill:\r\nFunding for dredging and harbor maintenance: \r\n \r\n    $1.1 billion in harbor maintenance from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF). Background: The HMTF was created with the purpose of waterway and port maintenance and is funded by a tax importers pay when using U.S. ports. Historically the fund takes in millions of dollars more each year than is expended.\r\n    $42 million of the HMTF designated specifically for small ports like Ilwaco, Chinook and many other along the Columbian River. \r\n    Over $25 million for the mouth of the Columbia River, including critical jetty rehabilitation.\u00a0 \r\n \r\nFunding for Hanford clean-up: The bill restores $25 million not included in the President\u2019s budget toward cleanup projects at the Hanford nuclear site.  \r\n\u201cOur region is uniquely positioned on the Pacific Ocean and the Columbian River, and we need to maintain our waterways so that they remain an incredible asset to our economy. The funding in this bill for maintaining ports like Chinook and Ilwaco is essential to growing jobs in our economy, and I\u2019m pleased we\u2019re utilizing the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to keep our waterways operating at full capacity,\u201d said Jaime. \r\n\u201cAs we lower spending to meet budget realities, it\u2019s still critically important that we maintain nuclear waste cleanup efforts upriver from our communities,\u201d continued Jaime. \u201cThe commitment by our federal government to clean up Hanford should be a non-negotiable, but the president\u2019s budget fell far short of what was needed. I was able to help restore some of that funding, and I\u2019ll continue calling on the Department of Energy to ensure that efforts are efficient and timely.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://herrerabeutler.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=388097"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6668559983372688, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}