| Dear Friends, In Washington, D.C., this week was one of progress, and let me tell you – it was a good one for the state of Nevada. From securing additional funding to fight wildfires to announcing federal investment in rural Nevada's broadband expansion efforts to making sure that nuclear waste isn’t forced on Nevada, I’m proud to give you an update on what I’ve been working on this week. Last year, Nevada experienced one of the worst fire seasons on record, and this year isn’t looking much better, so one of my top priorities is making sure that Nevada has the resources and tools it needs to prevent wildfires that threaten our communities and the Tahoe Basin that we love. This week, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that included $5 million in additional funding that I secured to help prevent wildfires that know no boundaries in the West, and $12 million to implement my bill – the Lake Tahoe Restoration and Reauthorization Act – to protect Lake Tahoe from wildfires and invasive species. I also made sure that funding is available for cutting-edge fire prevention technologies, like AlertTahoe, an innovative camera system that has already helped prevent more than 50 fires in the Tahoe Basin from reaching one acre in size, so I will continue to push my colleagues to support cutting-edge solutions that could help mitigate the damage from potentially devastating wildfires. 
At a meeting earlier this year with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue discussing wildfire prevention measures, including AlertTahoe, in Nevada and across the West.
I’d like to add that this legislation that the Senate passed also fully funded the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program – something that I pushed for because I know how important it is for Nevada’s local governments. I also authored several other provisions - ranging from preserving Nevada’s clean water supply to promoting smart city solutions and helping low-income families maximize their tax returns – in the Senate-passed bill. Learn more by clicking HERE.This week, the Senate also passed the reconciled defense bill…WITHOUT the $30 million that was included in the version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. I wasn’t going to let the U.S. House of Representatives use the defense bill as a vehicle to revive Yucca Mountain, so I worked with the Senate Armed Services Committee to keep Yucca Mountain out of the final product that we sent to the President’s desk. 
Meeting with Ed & Cindi Yenick of BubHugs in my Reno office to talk about their unique program to educate youth about opioid use disorder and addiction.
I also want you to know that I continue to closely monitor the situation at the border. Just this week, I – along with a bipartisan group of senators - pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Health and Human Service to give Congress regular updates on the status of the reunification of separated families at the border. Keeping families together should be the default position of this country, and that’s why back in June, I urged Attorney General Sessions to stop separating families at the border until Congress can pass legislation. To that end – I helped introduce a bill, the Keep Families Together and Enforce the Law Act, that will make the policy of keeping families together permanent.As always, it’s an honor to represent you in the U.S. Senate. I have offices in Reno, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C., and I encourage you to contact us – we’re here to help you.
Dean
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