Senator Maria Cantwell's Weekly Update for Washington State: Monday, July 10, 2006

Senator Maria Cantwell's Weekly Update for Washington State: Monday, July 10, 2006

Helping Children Harmed by Meth Use

Last week I visited a center for abused and neglected children in Spokane to call for desperately-needed resources to help the many children caught up in the meth epidemic. Everyday, at childcare facilities, hospitals, homes, and raided labs all across our state, healthcare workers and first responders see firsthand the harm meth inflicts on our state's families and children. We need to do more to give these kids a fighting chance and get them the support they need to excel. That's why I'm pushing the Senate to pass bipartisan legislation immediately to provide $40 million in new annual funding for drug prevention, treatment, training, and counseling to help curb the effects of meth on children. We've already done a great deal to confront the raging meth crisis, but we're still not doing enough to protect the drug's most vulnerable victims. Between 2000 and 2005, meth arrests and seizures affected approximately 15,000 children in our country. Over the past decade, there has been a 62 percent increase in children entering foster care because of an increase in meth-using parents. In Spokane last year, law enforcement officials made approximately 75 arrests involving drug-endangered children, and referred approximately 125 children to Child Protective Services. In Benton and Franklin Counties, 160 of the 250 kids in foster care are there because of parental meth use. It's strikingly clear that we need to do more to keep meth from tearing families apart. Congress needs to provide these children with help as soon as possible to help keep parental meth use from holding kids back for the rest of their lives.
Remembering the Thirtymile Fire

Five years ago, four firefighters died in the Thirtymile Fire north of Winthrop. An investigation later revealed that Forest Service safety rules were violated and that the deaths could have been prevented. We must remember these four victims, and do all we can to learn from this tremendous tragedy and prevent these mistakes from happening again. Since the Thirtymile Fire, I've worked with Representative Doc Hastings to pass a new law that injects independence into investigations of forest firefighter fatalities. Specifically, this law requires that the USDA Inspector General, not just the Forest Service, conduct investigations. However, we still need to do more. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report released earlier this year found that the Forest Service did not have a procedure to verify the qualifications of some contract firefighters. The report found that roughly one in three firefighters sampled either did not meet national qualifications or that training records were inadequate. It is critical to ensure that all wildland firefighters get the training they need. To help make sure this happens, I introduced legislation last year to require a system to track the money spent on training, create a federal program to monitor and enforce compliance with training requirements, and mandate that federally contracted firefighters receive the same training as federal firefighters.
Strengthening Our Economy Through Positive Engagement with China

During a speech at the Washington Council on International Trade's annual conference last Thursday, I outlined several steps our country can take to build a better relationship with China. Improving relations through positive engagement will help us boost trade and achieve a more secure energy future. We can reinforce our energy cooperation with China through just a few key steps, including a presidential energy summit between our two countries, the creation of a U.S.-China Energy Working Group, and multilateral engagement with China through international organizations like the International Energy Agency. By helping China modernize its energy industry, we can also give a boost to our domestic economy by creating new markets for our state's cutting-edge technologies and products. China's imports have tripled from $225 billion in 2000 to $660 billion in 2005, and Washington plays a large role in this still-expanding market. By exporting innovative American ideas and products—products ranging from coffee and airplanes to biofuels and software—we can improve relations and open a tremendous market for growing industries like alternative energies, and we can improve our global environment at the same time.
Important Notice

According to Senate rules, no senator may out send electronic newsletters during the 60-day period immediately preceding any primary or general election in which the senator is a candidate. With Washington's 2006 primary set for September 19, we hit the 60-day mark on July 21. This means that next Monday's Weekly Update will be the last newsletter I send you until after November 7. Throughout the rest of this summer and the upcoming fall, I'll continue posting press releases online, so please visit my website for the latest information on my work in the Senate and please do not hesitate to contact me by phone, postal mail, or email during the coming months with any comments or questions you have.

http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/weekly_update.cfm