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Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act of 2016. This major legislation would increase protections for servicemembers, who in recent years have been subjected to unfair treatment when serving on active duty. Specifically, by enhancing the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Murray’s bill would lower the cap on all loan interest rates to three percent when servicemembers are called to active duty, and zero percent if they are serving in areas where they are eligible for hostile fire or imminent danger pay.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement after President Barack Obama announced a Major Disaster Declaration for the record-breaking wildland fires that affected communities across Washington state.

US. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, applauded the U.S. Department of Transportation’s announcement that Felts Field in Spokane will receive a $3.6 million federal grant to construct and rehabilitate taxiways at the airport.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement after President Obama and EPA Administrator McCarthy released the final Clean Power Plan, which establishes the first-ever national standards to limit carbon pollution from power plants.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, recently unveiled bipartisan legislation with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that includes permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of the Tri-Cities Airport’s Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) grant application. The grant amount of $750,000 will be supplemented by $300,000 in matching funds from surrounding counties and local businesses, to support important economic development.

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell (WA) today applauded the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) announcement of an additional $7.6 million in grants for recovery efforts, including removal of debris deposited in the wake of flooding and mudslides that occurred in March and April last year

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, applauded the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement that seven airports across Washington state will receive over $3 million in federal grants via the Airport Improvement Program. The grants will be used to make critical improvements to the airports in order to support air traffic and to promote economic growth in rural areas

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, applauded an announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) that it has awarded more than $7 million in grants to two projects in Richland, Washington, to advance research into residential combined heat and power generation and bioenergy crop development.

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of both the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, applauded Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro’s announcement of new resources to help homeless veterans secure stable housing. Washington state will receive 240 housing vouchers that will be distributed among thirteen different housing authorities across the state.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD), made the following statement after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, released the 2012 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR). The report showed a 7.2 percent decline in veterans homelessness since 2011 and a 17.2 decline since 2009. However, the report also details a 1.4 percent increase among persons in families.

Washington, D.C. - July 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Senate Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that six state non-profit community agencies will receive homeless prevention grants in order to provide homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing assistance to veterans in Washington state. The grants are part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program.

Washington, D.C. - July 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Housing Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, announced that a total of 175 housing vouchers worth $1,072,950 will be allocated to public housing authorities in Washington state to help local veterans secure stable housing. The vouchers are part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH program)

Washington, D.C. - February 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sent a letter to Holly Petraeus, head of the Office of Servicemember Affairs in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the U.S. Treasury Department, in response to concerns that some financial institutions were not offering protections to servicemembers provided under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Among the safeguards in the SCRA, which is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, are a number intended to ease concerns over financial situations at home for servicemembers. Recently, however, it has come to light that some servicemembers have been improperly overcharged on their mortgages or even been foreclosed upon by lenders