PHOTOS: Gluesenkamp Perez Spends Day in Cowlitz County, Meets with Aircraft Manufacturers, Attends Lions Club Meeting, Tours Longview Reservoir, and Hosts Roundtable with Mount St. Helens Communities

LONGVIEW, WA – Last Tuesday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) met with aircraft manufacturers at LifePort in Woodland, attended a weekly Longview Pioneer Lions Club meeting, saw how the funds she brought home to upgrade the City of Longview’s water treatment facility were being used, and held a roundtable with downstream communities to discuss the long-term impacts of the Mount St. Helens eruption and other unique challenges they face. 

“Whenever the House is out of session I go everywhere that I can in Southwest Washington to hear directly from people in our communities about what I should focus on in Congress,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Folks across Cowlitz County are committed to making life better for their families and neighbors, and I’m thankful to all of them for taking the time to share their concerns with me. I’m going to keep doing everything I can to strengthen our rural economies – whether it’s by supporting the skilled trades who make what our troops, police, and border patrol agents need to stay safe, getting more kids involved in trades education, strengthening water infrastructure in places like Longview, figuring out how to make government agencies more responsive and navigable, and beyond.”    

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez’s first stop on Tuesday was at LifePort, an aircraft manufacturer that has been headquartered in Woodland for the last three decades and primarily fabricates defensive plating for aircraft, interior paneling for private aircraft, and MEDEVAC systems used to transport wounded soldiers in the field. They employ more than 150 people. 

“The skill that I got to witness firsthand at LifePort makes me very excited for the future of craftsmanship in Southwest Washington, and I enjoyed learning more about what it takes to keep our troops, police officers, and border patrol agents safe and well equipped,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “The team at LifePort exemplifies what it means for a local manufacturer to celebrate and steward the talents of skilled craftsmen, and I’ll continue doing my part to support their mission – as well as the work of other manufacturers in our communities.” 

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has supported robust funding levels for the APEX Accelerator program at DOD, which makes it easier for businesses to identify and compete for defense and other government contracts. 

Next, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez joined the Longview Pioneer Lions Club for their weekly meeting. They discussed a wide range of topics, from her push to strengthen ethics guidelines related to the cognitive acuity of Members of Congress to what can be done to help those with substance use disorder.

“Volunteer groups like the Longview Pioneer Lions Club are part of the fabric that makes  Southwest Washington so special, and I’m grateful that they were willing to take the time and discuss the issues that matter to them, their families, and their neighbors with me,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Their willingness to dig into issues like the substance use crisis that’s hollowing out our communities will inform my work in Congress, and I’ll continue pushing to stop fentanyl from coming across our borders.”

In April, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez joined a bipartisan group of her colleagues to introduce the Fight Fentanyl Act to ensure local, state, and federal law enforcement officials across the country have the tools and equipment needed to get fentanyl and illicit substances off the streets.

She has also scored 100 percent on the National Association of Police Organizations’ Legislative Scorecard for her efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis and led a Blue Dog Coalition effort urging Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the HALT Fentanyl Act to the House floor for a vote. This important bill was enacted into law this summer. Additionally, the Congresswoman cosponsored the FEND Off Fentanyl and END FENTANYL Acts in the House, which are now law, to target fentanyl traffickers and fight fentanyl smuggling at ports of entry.

Resources for those struggling with substance use in Southwest Washington can be found here.

The Congresswoman also toured the City of Longview’s Water Treatment Facility, and saw firsthand how Community Project Funding (CPF) that she is fighting to secure as a member of the House Appropriations Committee will help to support upgrades to the site. 

“Local leaders in places across Southwest Washington like Longview know what their communities require, and they don’t need the federal government coming into town and making it harder to help their neighbors. But funding difficulties can make it unnecessarily challenging to get projects like this one to upgrade  Longview’s reservoir across the finish line,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Keeping drinking water clean and safe is as important an issue as they come, and the Community Project Funding process is an effective way for me to bring federal dollars home in support of the great work that the local Longview government is already leading.” 

In July, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez announced that she has requested Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) funding for more than a dozen vital community improvement projects in all seven counties across Washington’s Third District. Most of the projects have already passed the House Appropriations Committee – and all projects, including the pending requests, total $15,589,144 in potential federal funding coming back home to Southwest Washington. In the 118th Congress, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez secured more than $21 million in FY24 Community Project Funding for 15 projects across every county in Southwest Washington. 

An interactive map of community investments secured by the Congresswoman can be found here.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez’s final event of the day was a roundtable held with communities downstream of Mount St. Helens. During the discussion, she heard about the long-term impacts of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, like sedimentation and erosion issues in the Cowlitz River.  

“Downstream communities affected by Mount St. Helens are still recovering from the eruption and they’re exhausted by the run-around treatment they’ve gotten from government agencies,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “I’m filled with gratitude for the committed local leaders who have been working diligently for decades to build resilient communities, and I know they need to have the biggest possible seat at the table, because their voices need to be heard and we can’t afford to wait for the next catastrophe before we take action.”

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez’s provision to authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study related to impacts of sediment accumulation on navigation channels in the Cowlitz River was included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA) when it was signed into law this past January. Currently, the Mt. St. Helens Sediment Control Project only allows dredging for flood risk management.

Last year, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez testified in front of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to fight for the inclusion of these long-awaited priorities in the 2024 WRDA. Video of her testimony can be found here.

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