Congresswoman: Citizens come first

Jamie Herrera Beutler, southwest Washington’s member of the US House of Representatives, plans to continue, if reelected, with the philosophy that has guided her since she was elected in 2010.

That philosophy, the Republican resident of Camas said in an interview earlier this month, is to keep the interests of the people of her district and state first and foremost even if that means joining forces with Democrats to do so.

Herrera Beutler was raised in Southwest Washington, and in her early childhood years she was home-schooled by her mother. She said this is where her political interests took root.

According to Herrera Beutler, her mother took her and her siblings on annual trips to the nation’s capitol and always made sure that local political issues were a topic of discussion in their home.

She graduated from Prairie High School and went on to graduate with a B.A. in Liberal Arts focusing on Communication from the University of Washington. From then on her political ambitions and interests grew and she became a Senior Legislative Aide for Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers a Republican representative for southeastern Washington.

With her experience she was appointed then reelected by voters to serve as a Washington State Representative for the 18th District. She was elected into Congress in 2010 and is the youngest woman presently serving in U.S. Congress.

Herrera Beutler said that having worked her way through college holding down two or three jobs at a time helped her gain experience and skills that she takes to work with her every day as a state representative.

She enjoys being able to work here around her fellow residents and not having to be in Washington, D.C. full time where she may not be as in touch with the local political issues.

When asked why she wants to be reelected as Southwest Washington’s representative she said, “It all comes back to economic opportunity and this region’s representative being focused on growing jobs.”

She also added that she believes that, “government has a role to help the private sector grow.”

One of her biggest concerns for this region is the high unemployment rate.

When asked what she hoped to accomplish if reelected she said, “More.”

The congresswoman said she is not afraid to cross party lines if it is best for the citizens of the region. She has worked with Kurt Schrader the democratic Congressman from Oregon in dealing with regulations that affect the timber industry. If these regulations were set they could affect up to 120,000-130,000 Washington state residents' livelihood and cause the already high unemployment rate to rise.

As a result, the Congresswoman helped a memorandum pass that was signed and supported by President Obama in regards to the timber industry regulations.

These regulations were put on hold for a year but Herrera Beutler hopes that with her bipartisan counterparts she can get these regulations terminated permanently. These regulations were designed to protect the environment, but Herrera Beutler said, “small forest land owners will face the regulatory burdens with no positive environmental impact.”

She also stated that this area has amazing timber resources, and that should help financially promote this area’s schools, police and fire departments, as well as other public resources within the communities.

Herrera Beutler said she has worked hard to help other political issues including protecting local wildlife. She is a big advocate and supporter of women’s rights, education, employment and health care.

Most recently, she received the “Guardian of Small Business” awards presented by the National Federation of Independent Business.