MOSES LAKE — Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., was in town Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting at Willamette Egg Farms’ expanding Moses Lake facility and to chat with community members about what’s happening in Congress.

“I so hate to put a pall on a happy day, but I’ve got to be in Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning,” Newhouse said.

The reason, he explained, is that the battle over the federal budget in the House Appropriations Committee, on which Newhouse serves, is threatening to lead to a government shutdown. If a compromise isn’t reached by Saturday, Newhouse said, a partial government shutdown will occur, and a week later, the whole government could close.

“I've been through several government shutdowns, and it ends up costing us money,” he said. “It’s very hard on a lot of people that depend on the government to come through with veterans or Social Security benefits – a lot of different things. People like to curse the government, but it does perform some functions.”

Besides partisan wrangling over how much money to spend, this year’s budget is affected by foreign events, including military actions in Ukraine and Israel.

“Russia invading Ukraine is a direct threat to not only European countries and members of NATO, but to the United States, and democracy in the world,” he said. “So it's absolutely imperative that we do all we can.”

China’s threats against Taiwan are very real as well, he added.

Matthew Dean, chief financial officer of Versova, Willamette Farms’ parent company, asked Newhouse for his thoughts on the farm bill.

“We're asking, over on the Republican side, to try to utilize some of the money that was invested through COVID spending packages and repurpose that for farm bill purposes,” Newhouse responded. “As you can imagine, the other side doesn’t like that much.”

Jim Dean, founder and CEO of Versova, said research into avian flu should be a priority in agricultural legislation. 

“Losing birds to avian influenza is no benefit for anybody,” Jim Dean said. “It's bad all around. It’s bad for the consumer, paying higher prices; it’s bad for the producer it’s bad for the corn farmer that’s selling that corn to (feed) that chicken … We don't want to have to euthanize those birds. It's psychologically hard on people to have to euthanize those birds and dispose of the animals that they're taking care of. They spend their lives making sure those birds are taken care of properly, and then they have to euthanize, it makes a psychological impact.”

Newhouse is currently running for reelection against fellow Republican Jerrod Sessler. Voters are encouraged to review both candidates' platforms and positions on important issues before casting their ballots.

    U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse talks with Versoval Chief Financial Officer Matthew Dean, left, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dean at Willamette Egg Farms’ Moses Lake facility Tuesday.