In the News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eighth DistrictCongresswoman Kim Schrier got a chance to question the nation's top infectious disease doctor yesterday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci sat for questions with the House Oversight and Investigations committee. Schrier, who's also a pediatrician, asked Fauci and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky about increasing the availability and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, and the need for more rapid testing to control the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON — Federal protocols and other regulatory hurdles are compromising a tool critical to containing the ever-evolving coronavirus: cheap, rapid antigen tests growing in use across Europe to safely reopen schools, public health officials and some members of Congress say.
The US needs to make greater use of coronavirus tests to help control the pandemic, two top health officials said Wednesday.
Cheaper home tests would help schools and workplaces more safely open, they told a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
KENT, WA — Rep. Kim Schrier (D-8th District) took on a familiar role Monday, donning a white coat and helping administer doses of coronavirus vaccine inside the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent. Before being elected to the House in 2018, Schrier worked as a pediatrician for nearly two decades at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Issaquah.
Congresswoman Kim Schrier, whose 8th District includes parts of Kent, Auburn and Renton, voted Wednesday, March 10 in support of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
The House passed the bill 220-211 without a Republican vote. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to oppose it. Senate Democrats approved the measure last weekend 50-49 without a Republican in favor of it. One Republican senator missed the vote due to a family emergency
President Joe Biden, who proposed the plan, is expected to sign the bill on Friday, March 12.
SEATTLE (AP) — Farm exporters in Washington state have been left with stockpiles of product and idle trucks as the pandemic has created a shortage of cargo containers.
Dave Martin, export sales manager for Stemilt Growers in Wenatchee, one of the state's biggest tree-fruit exporters, said the company would ship up to 15 containers of fruit a week to Taiwan before the pandemic. "This week, we will not have a ship," he said.
Dive Brief: - Lawmakers have written to the Federal Maritime Commission in recent days voicing concern about the current state of the ocean shipping market that has resulted in U.S. exporters having a difficult time obtaining containers.
- So far, three letters were sent to the FMC. One by Rep.
ISSAQUAH, WA — A new partnership between Seattle Children's and nine Washington school districts will provide 300,000 rapid coronavirus tests to screen thousands of staffers and students each week. Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Issaquah) announced the pilot program this week, slated to begin in the Auburn School District first, before expanding throughout March.
In a statement, Schrier said:
The $1.9 trillion relief package making its way through the House of Representatives has approximately $16.1 billion earmarked for agriculture and the two centerpieces of the bill include $12 billion for food-aid benefits and a landmark $4 billion program of debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers.