{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221124605/http://kilmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/end-of-year-report", "End of Year Report", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Derek Kilmer", "K000381", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Since taking office in January, Representative Derek Kilmer has been active both at home and in Washington, DC to work for his constituents. The following report presents Representative Kilmer\u2019s accessibility in the region, a snapshot of benefits secured for his constituents, and a summary of his legislative efforts and accomplishments in his first year in office.\n\u201cWhile Congress itself continues to be something of a \u2018fixer-upper,\u2019 I\u2019m proud of the work we\u2019ve accomplished for the people of the 6th District this year and I\u2019m excited about how much more we can do in the coming year,\u201d said Representative Derek Kilmer. \u201cI\u2019ll continue to work in a bipartisan way to get Congress back to work, to build on the recent budget agreement and move toward a long-term fiscal plan, to help our neighbors cut through red tape, and to continue producing results on the issues that matter the most to our region.\u201d\n\u00a0\nAccessible to His Constituents\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer has made it a priority to be accessible to his constituents so he can hear what\u2019s on their minds and help them with their problems.\u00a0 To that end, he has held or been accessible at the following events:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 First and foremost, as a former economic developer, Rep. Kilmer has held 53 \u201cKilmer at Your Company\u201d visits. During these events, he typically receives a tour or speaks briefly with the heads of businesses, and is accessible to employees so he can hear what\u2019s on their minds.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 10 Public Town Halls \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 4 Telephone Town Halls\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 3 Open Office Hours\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 2 Derek on Your Docks where he visited with commuters at the Kingston and Bainbridge island ferry docks\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 4 Farmers Markets visits\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 15 Rotary Meetings\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 15 Chamber Meetings\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Over 60 festivals, county fairs, and annual community events\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Reached out to every mayor in the 6th District\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Visited with leaders of all nine tribes located in the 6th District\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Visited every major military command and facility\n\u00a0\nHelping Constituents Cut Through Red Tape\n\u00b7\u00a0Representative Kilmer\u2019s office has been active in helping over 500 constituents cut through red tape and resolve problems. To date, the total casework savings returned to constituents by Rep. Kilmer\u2019s office is over half a million dollars. \n\u00b7\u00a0Total Casework Savings for Constituents: $615,440.00\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Medicare \u00e0 $166,252\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Department of Veterans Affairs/Defense Finance Accounting Service \u00e0 $161,387\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Social Security Administration \u00e0 $105,928\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 Office of Personnel Management \u00e0 $21,373\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 IRS \u00e0 $160,500\n\u00a0\nWorking in a Bipartisan Manner\n\u00b7\u00a0In his first year in office, Rep. Kilmer has established himself as a Member of Congress who will work across the aisle to solve problems for Washington\u2019s families. Rep. Kilmer is a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus and a part of the \u201cBipartisan Working Group\u201d which meets every week to discuss how to move past partisanship to create progress.\n\u00b7 Rep. Kilmer is a cosponsor of the Problems Solvers Government Reform Agenda which includes provisions such as No Budget No Pay, procurement reform, and other ideas to save taxpayers money.\n\u00a0\nFighting Against Sequestration and Shutdown\n\u00b7\u00a0On March 1, when the across-the-board cuts caused by sequestration went into place, Rep. Kilmer stood outside the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard gate to greet workers as they arrived.\n\u00b7\u00a0When sequestration led to Department of Defense (DoD) furloughs, the Department wrongly furloughed employees at Working Capital Fund sites. Those workers are legally protected from furloughs and aren\u2019t directly funded by taxpayer dollars. In response, Rep. Kilmer led a bipartisan letter and passed an amendment on the floor of the House to exempt those employees from future sequestration-related furloughs. \n\u00b7\u00a0In response to concerns he heard from shipyard workers, Rep. Kilmer passed another amendment to ensure that civilian workers wouldn\u2019t lose their security clearances just because they\u2019ve been furloughed as a result of sequestration. Rep. Kilmer also introduced legislation to ease the financial hardship on those civilian employees who needed to make emergency withdrawals from their retirement accounts.\n\u00b7\u00a0Thousands of civilian workers were furloughed because Congress failed to do its job and replace sequestration. Just as Congress came together to provide backpay to federal workers who lost pay as a result of the government shutdown, Rep. Kilmer introduced the bipartisan Federal Employee Pay Restoration Act to ensure that we continue to support our federal workforce.\n\u00b7\u00a0When Congress could not reach a compromise to keep federal agencies funded Rep. Kilmer voluntarily gave up his own pay for the duration of the government shutdown.\n\u00b7\u00a0When Congress finally passed a bipartisan budget, Rep. Kilmer voted to help avert a government shutdown, and halt most of the damaging across-the-board cuts that have hurt our region. Rep. Kilmer continues to call on Congress to put together a plan to deal with our long-term fiscal health and get folks back to work.\n\u00a0\nSupporting Economic Growth, Financial Stability and Investments in our Future\n\u00b7\u00a0Given the strong role of the military in our region, Rep. Kilmer passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to reauthorize a program known as the IT Exchange Program to provide for workforce exchanges between the DoD and private employers.\n\u00b7\u00a0As a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Rep. Kilmer has been active in the effort to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, a bill focused on strengthening national research policy and STEM education efforts to improve American competitiveness. \u00a0Specifically, he led an effort of the New Democratic Coalition to develop a list of strong legislative principles for the reauthorization effort.\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer introduced the bipartisan Transfer Act to support early commercialization of research efforts and expand economic development from early research. The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee voted in December to move the legislation forward.\n\u00b7\u00a0Recognizing the need to invest in our workforce, Rep. Kilmer introduced the Skills Investment Act, which would help workers save for education and job training through the establishment of worker-owned, employer-matched savings plans called Lifelong Learning Accounts.\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer introduced the bipartisan American Savings Promotion Act, a bill to make it easier for financial institutions to offer products that incentivize individuals to build their savings. This bill was recently featured on PBS Newshour.\n\u00b7 As our military installations face encroachment challenges, Rep. Kilmer led a delegation letter to Gov. Inslee and successfully pushed for funding key investments to ensure the long-term viability of these national assets.\n\u00b7\u00a0As Congress considers final passage of the Farm Bill, Rep. Kilmer is pushing for strong funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.\n\u00b7\u00a0Our communities are made stronger when loving families open their hearts and homes to needy children and become adoptive parents. Rep. Kilmer introduced the Adoption Tax Credit Tribal Parity Act, which would ensure that parents who adopt Native American children with special needs get the tax relief that Congress intended for them to have.\n\u00a0\nPreserving Natural Resources\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer worked closely with Rep. Heck to create the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus devoted exclusively to promoting Puget Sound cleanup efforts.\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer is working on legislation to help strengthen our ability to monitor ocean acidification to protect our natural resources and local economic engines.\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer established a collaborative that will bring together a wide range of stakeholders looking to move past the timber wars of the past and instead focus on what steps we can take to promote forest health and support economic growth in our region.\n\u00a0\nSupporting Servicemembers, Veterans, and their Families\n\u00b7\u00a0After hearing from servicemembers and veterans who have experienced discrimination, Rep. Kilmer introduced legislation that would prohibit discrimination against veterans and servicemembers seeking employment or housing opportunities.\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer\u2019s Veterans Advisory Group has kicked off several initiatives to ensure that those who have served get the resources they need.\n\u00b7\u00a0Native American veterans face obstacles in receiving federal assistance to help fight homelessness. Rep. Kilmer introduced the Housing Native Heroes Act to ensure that the successful HUD-VASH voucher program can help reduce homelessness among our Native American veterans.\n\u00a0\nProtecting National Security\n\u00b7\u00a0The threat of cyber attacks represents one of our nation\u2019s largest national security challenges, but cybersecurity technologies are also an emerging industry within our region.\u00a0 Rep. Kilmer is pursuing ways to connect local institutions of higher learning with federal agencies and the private sector to provide valuable on-the-job training in the cyber field.\u00a0\n\u00b7\u00a0Our intelligence and law enforcement officials must have the resources they need to keep us safe but there must also be clear and firm rules to guide their work so Americans\u2019 civil liberties are protected.\u00a0 Rep. Kilmer was active in the effort to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing & Protection Act.\n\u00b7\u00a0Rep. Kilmer is working with his colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee to refine the way that the government spends taxpayer money, pursuing opportunities for procurement reform.\n\u00a0\nInvesting in Local Infrastructure\n\u00b7\u00a0Ports are essential engines of economic growth throughout our region. As the House considers final passage of the Water Resources Development Act, Rep. Kilmer is pushing to maintain provisions that support our small ports and harbors and help address the \u201cdonor port\u201d status that creates competitiveness issues for the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle.\n\u00b7\u00a0After reaching out to a number of stakeholders, Rep. Kilmer helped stand up an infrastructure working group focused on addressing the needs of the South Kitsap Industrial Area.\n\u00b7\u00a0Communities throughout our region are today vulnerable due to the threat posed by a tsunami. Rep. Kilmer is working at both the state and federal level to enhance coastal resiliency.", 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://web.archive.org/web/20140221124605/http://kilmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/end-of-year-report"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7376130670309067, "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"}