Records reflect industry responses to legislation including federal milk pricing, food contamination and labeling, and alien worker programs. In 1999, Metcalf co-sponsored the Genetically Engineered Right To Know Act (H.R. 3377) with Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and other members of Congress.

Copies of budget proposals, resolutions, notes, correspondence and reports pertaining to budget appropriations and related issues.

Aviation files reflect Metcalf’s interests as member of the House Aviation Subcommittee. Researchers should note that Defense and US Military files contain additional information regarding Boeing and McDonnell Douglas bids and contracts.

A member of the House Banking Committee, Metcalf supported and introduced legislation that would enable businesses to earn interest on demand deposit accounts.

An advocate of campaign finance reform and Congressional term limits, Metcalf supported the Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform bill, passed by the House of Representatives in 1998.

Defense and US military files reflect Metcalf’s active interest in local and national military affairs. Subject files document his opposition to Clinton’s use of executive authority to deploy troops in Kosovo (culminating in his introduction of a War Powers Bill in 1999), support for Boeing’s 1995 bid to supply a ‘mixed fleet’ of C-17 and Boeing 747 aircraft to the US Air Force, and a small amount of material regarding his investigations into causes of Gulf War Illnesses. In 1997, Metcalf introduced House Resolution 191, condemning European Union opposition to the merger of Boeing Co. and McDonnell Douglas. Files also include brochures and press kits from US Navy vessels and stations visited by Jeff Markey, Metcalf’s military liaison assistant.

Education files document Metcalf’s interest in securing federal and state funds for schools in naval home ports in Washington State, including Marysville and Everett. Correspondence and statements regarding Higher Education Amendments reflect conflict over attempts to limit affirmative action and equal opportunity programs in colleges and universities. A small amount of material pertains to the Lummi Indian Nation’s efforts to gain funding for a new tribal school.

Energy files document disputes between Puget Sound power providers Bonneville Power Administration and Puget Sound Energy, and local customers including ARCO. A small amount of material pertains to restoration projects and treatment of radioactive waste at Hanford in southeastern Washington.

Fishing and Salmon files document both the down-turn in the region’s fishing industry at the end of the twentieth century, and ongoing debates and conflicts regarding the conservation of salmon and other fish in the Pacific Northwest, notably in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Records reflect Metcalf’s support for fish and crab license buy-back programs, and his later attempts to secure federal emergency aid for Washington fishers adversely affected by the collapse of the sockeye fishing season in 1999.

Ground Transportation files include background information and funding proposals for a variety of transportation improvement and development projects in the Puget Sound region of Washington. As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Ground Transportation subcommittee, Metcalf was actively involved in securing funds to develop and improve regional roads, bridges, transportation centers, port access, border crossings, and rail and bus mass transit systems. The majority of these projects sought funding from grants available under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, renewed by Congress in 1998.

Records reflect legislative conflicts surrounding issues such as Medicare and access to prescription drugs, Drug Abuse Prevention Laws, and Patient Privacy.

Records document legislative responses to homelessness, and reflect Metcalf’s activities as a member and chair of the Republican Housing Opportunity Caucus (RHOC). In 1997, Metcalf introduced the Robert Stodola Homeless Veterans’ Assistance Act, requiring that McKinney Homeless Assistance Act programs devote 20% of funding to homeless veterans. He also sought to amendments to the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, and co-sponsored the Affordable Housing Barrier Removal bill of 1998. Metcalf’s activities as head of the RHOC included support of the low income housing tax credit to encourage private investment in affordable housing.

A founder of the Northern Border Caucus, Metcalf supported increased staffing along the northern US Border and attempts to restrict legal immigration. He meanwhile opposed automated border entry and exit systems and the proposed introduction of border fees that might threaten the influx of trade and tourism to Washington State. Immigration and Border files reflect the tension between interests seeking to reduce the number of immigrants entering the US, and the desire of agricultural lobbyists including Washington farmers to protect access to temporary and seasonal alien workers.

International Trade and Foreign Affairs records reflect Metcalf’s interests as a member of the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary policy. Materials reflect some significant developments in international relations during the late twentieth century, including the impact of U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization, and debates regarding establishment of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the Peoples’ Republic of China.

Records comprise press clippings, correspondence, statements, hearings transcripts and reports documenting the aftermath of the June 10, 1999 gas pipeline explosion at Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, Washington. Materials include testimony heard by the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, Hazardous Materials and Pipeline Transportation in October 1999, and by a Senate Field Hearing in March 2000. Files reflect subsequent attempts by community organizations such as SAFE Bellingham and Washington politicians including Metcalf to enact pipeline safety legislation.

Resources Files document ongoing conflicts regarding the management of national and regional resources including use of National Park and National Forest land, fish and water conservation, Army Corps of Engineers development projects, and the proposed environmental clean-up of “Superfund” sites. A significant amount of material pertains to the use of resources in Alaska and Washington State, with clean-up information pertaining to Washington locations including Bellingham Bay, the Tulalip Landfill in Marysville, and Hanford nuclear site. These records also contain general information regarding the provisions and implementation of Environmental Protection Agency programs, including allegations of the misuse of Superfund and proposals for the program’s reform. A member of the Committee on Science’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, Metcalf supported a ban on Alaska North Slope Oil, co-sponsored the Puget Sound Ecosystem Restoration Initiative to conserve regional salmon stocks, and introduced a National Organic Program Clarification bill in 1998.

Science and Telecommunications files include materials pertaining to the anti-trust case against Microsoft between 1997 and 1999.

Tribal Issues files document Metcalf’s role in legislative attempts to limit sovereign immunity for tribes receiving federal funds and also to restrict the process for tribal determination. Materials also include correspondence and funding proposals regarding the Lummi Tribal School and requests for assistance to displaced Lummi Fishers after cancellation of the 1999 sockeye fishing season. Correspondence and permit applications reflect disputes between the Lummi Indian Nation and Sandy Point Improvement Company regarding water and tidelands rights.

Water and Shipping files document Metcalf’s interest in proposals to restore and develop waterways and port access at regional sites (including Bellingham Bay, Stillaguamish River, the Columbia lower basin and the Port of Seattle), and his establishment with U.S. Senator Patty Murray of the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative (1998).

Records include research materials, reports, petitions, correspondence and statements documenting Metcalf’s opposition to the resumption of whaling by the Makah Tribe in Neah Bay, Washington. Researchers should note that Metcalf’s Press and Publicity Files also contain a file of newspaper clippings about the Makah whaling.