Thursday, October 17, 2019

ICYMI: In Visits Across Clark, Kitsap, and King Counties, Senator Murray Highlights Her Work to Fight for Families, Veterans, and Patients

pm

Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following yesterday:


Oct 16 2019

Joined by Representative Kim Schrier, Senator Murray hosted a roundtable in Issaquah to highlight the threat of President Trump’s attack on SNAP eligibility for more than 175,000 Washingtonians
Then, Senator Murray met with veterans and veteran service providers in Renton and Vancouver to discuss veterans’ health care and the implementation of VA’s community care reforms
At Seattle Planned Parenthood, Senator Murray led providers, patients, and advocates in condemning the Trump-Pence Administration’s Title X gag rule, which jeopardizes family planning services for millions of patients across the country and in Washington state
ALSO: Senator Murray discussed new bill to block repurposing of military construction funds to border wall, the House’s impeachment inquiry, and more

(Washington, D.C.)  – Over the past two weeks, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) traveled throughout her home state of Washington to hear from veterans, patients, and health care providers and to discuss her efforts in Congress to fight back against the Administration’s harmful policies. Kicking off her travels on October 3rd, Senator Murray sat down with Representative Kim Schrier (D-WA 8th), local food assistance workers and advocates, and people who have received food assistance benefits to discuss the importance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for vulnerable families, and the threat of a proposed rule change by President Trump that would force more than 175,000 Washingtonians off of SNAP. On October 4th Senator Murray joined veterans and veteran service providers to discuss the state of health care for our veterans, and to gain insight on how the VA MISSION Act—a law rolled out earlier this summer meant to improve veterans’ access to private care—has been implemented by VA officials.

The next week, on October 8th, Senator Murray stood with providers, patients, and advocates to decry the Trump-Pence administration’s gag rule, which is a blatant and extreme attack on Title X and the bipartisan program’s health care services, including vital family planning services. The following day, Senator Murray visited Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School in Vancouver to talk with students and see the school’s occupational training programs, and met with local veterans to further discuss veteran’s health care and the VA MISSION Act. Finally, during a visit to the Kitsap Peninsula, Senator Murray discussed her plans to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to raid military construction funding to pay for his unnecessary border wall.

For coverage of Senator Murray’s visits throughout western Washington state, see below.

Seattle Weekly: Murray, Schrier vow to fight White House restrictions on food stamps // Aaron Kunkler
“In Washington state, Sen. Patty Murray’s office issued a statement saying if the rule changes are approved it would cut off benefits for more than 60,000 children and 15,000 of the elderly. It could ultimately force more than 175,000 state residents off the program. The White House estimated that more than 3 million people in the U.S. would lose SNAP benefits. ‘We have been fighting back against these changes,’ Murray said at a roundtable Oct. 3 at the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank, which provides food for hundreds of families.”

KOMO: SNAP Rule Change
“Democratic Representative Kim Schrier and U.S. Senator Patty Murray are worried [the rule] would leave tens of thousands of needy Washington families without assistance they rely on, including children and seniors.”

KING: Senator Murray Veterans Roundtable
“Today in Renton, a group of local veterans told Senator Patty Murray that they’ve had some challenges using a new Department of Veterans’ Affairs program, designed to give them more health care options outside of the VA.”

The Renton Reporter: Murray hosts roundtables in Renton // Haley Ausbun
“Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) took a trip through Renton Friday, Oct. 4 to talk about health care for veterans and child care for all. Murray met with local veterans and veteran medical service providers for a South King County veteran’s health care roundtable, at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1263 in downtown Renton. She heard from several veterans who discussed barriers to women’s health care and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) Community Care program created by the MISSION Act.”

KIRO: Title X Gag Rule Opposition
Washington’s Senior Senator helped highlight the fight today against a new gag rule targeting abortion care providers. Democrat Patty Murray joined with advocates at Planned Parenthood in Seattle to oppose the Trump-Pence administration’s recent policy switch. The change would block any health care facility that receives Title X funding from giving any information about abortions.”

Q13: Senator Murray Fights Back Against Threat to Title X
“Senator Patty Murray visited Seattle’s Planned Parenthood today, fighting back against the Trump administration’s threat to Title X funding. Now that funding provides nearly 100,000 patients health care in our state and gives them access to birth control and family planning services.”

KOMO: Patty Murray Says She’ll Fight // Ryan Harris
“Democratic Senator Parry Murray says [the gag rule] undermines access to health care and providers for millions of women. Senator Murray: ‘Health Care like birth control, or STD tests, life-saving cancer screenings and more.”

Evergreen Public Schools: Welcome to HeLa Senator Murray! // Craig Birnbach
“An amazing day at Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School, as United States Senator Patty Murray came for a visit. The students lead the Senator on a tour of the Nursing suite, Pharmacy and Biotechnology rooms. Senator Murray voiced how impressed she was with the students and the programs at HeLa High School. Senator Murray also took the time to answer student questions about her career path and role as a Senator.”

The Columbian: Local veterans discuss health care transition with Sen. Murray // Calley Hair
“At a roundtable conversation at Fort Vancouver National Site, the Democratic lawmaker heard from three local veterans who navigated the switch to the Veterans Affairs Community Care Program, part of 2018’s MISSION Act. Murray is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Murray said she has been hearing from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials that the transition to the new system is going off without a hitch. But conversations with veterans around the state who rely on VA health care, Murray said, paint a different picture.”

Q13: Senator Murray to Introduce Bill to Prevent Redirection of Military Funds to Border Wall // Simone del Rosario
“One of Washington’s Senators is trying to block the President from taking military money out of our state. So about a month ago we learned the President, trying to redirect nearly 90 million dollars meant for Bangor submarine base to pay for his border wall. Q13’s Simone del Rosario spoke with Senator Patty Murray about her plans to stop him.”

KIRO: Senator Murray on President Trump’s Attempts to Disrupt Impeachment Inquiry // Essex Porter
“Senator Murray: We need to know the truth, and we need to find the facts, and we cannot find the facts if [President Trump] is impeding people from coming forward.”
###