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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2018)
8 Wednesday, April 11, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Merkley talks ‘soul of nation’ at town hall meeting in Sisters By Sue Stafford Correspondent PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley presented J. W. Terry of Central Oregon Veterans Outreach with a flag flown over the U. S. Capitol in recognition of services provided by COVO to the veterans of Central Oregon at last week’s town hall. Merkley was one of the first Senators to call for a special investigation into pos- sible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.. “We need to shut down the Senate if Mueller is fired,” Merkley said when discuss- ing the Russia investigation. There is a bill being con- sidered that would take away the ability of the President to fire a special investigator. When asked, “How can we stop Trump from selling off our birth right (national monuments)?” Merkley pointed out that it isn’t clear if the President has the legal ability to shrink the size of national monuments. He reported that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke appears “to be looking for excuses to shrink the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.” In a memo to the President, Zinke recommended shrinking the monument to “reduce impact on private land and allow for more logging on Federal property.” BUY OR SELL YOUR CAR with locally owned ... (Low miles • newer than 2005) Best B Bes Be es s t P Price! ric ce! e N No Has Hassles! assle s s! CAR sle CARFAX FAX Certifi Ce erti rt fie fi ed! d! Sisters Car Connection 541-815-7397 102 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters See TOWN HALL on page 22 The Sweetest Gift of All…A Beautiful Smile! Call now to schedule your complimentary consultation 2015 AUDI Q5 QUATTRO AWD $ 33,400 30k, Premium Plus with warranty, panoramic roof, all-weather package, tech package. Super nice! Merkley sponsored the bill enlarging the Cascade- Siskiyou National Monument that protects 113,000 acres of forest and grasslands in southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. “We have to fight back,” he urged the audience. Merkley cited the Supreme Court’s Citizens U. S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) told a town hall meeting in Sisters last week, “We are in a battle for the soul of our nation. This coun- try was founded as a govern- ment that reflects the will of the people.” Merkley highlighted a number of issues that repre- sent the battleground as he answered audience questions. As a self-proclaimed advo- cate of working Americans, Merkley says his four core issues are creating living- wage jobs, housing, health- care, and education. A Sisters High School stu- dent asked Merkley, “What is your stance on gun con- trol and what will you do to change the system?” His response included some statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2016, which showed there were 37,461 traffic deaths, but even more gun-related deaths at 38,658. He polled the audience by a show of hands regarding: how many favored closing the loopholes on a national level in background checks at gun shows and on Craig’s List; how many favored removal of the block to con- ducting research into gun safety and gun violence; and how many support a ban on assault rifles and high-capac- ity magazines. A majority of the audience was in favor of all three. Merkley pointed out that those results were very different from his two town halls held the day before in Lakeview and Klamath Falls. According to the CDC, in mass shootings over the past 20 years where six or more have died, virtually every one involved large-capacity mag- azines. Merkley would like to see a national approach to providing guidance counsel- ors in all schools and a broad- ened ability of the mental- health system. Merkley views the current atmosphere of extreme parti- sanship in Washington D.C. as a huge hurdle to doing the work of the people. He lik- ened it to a “dysfunctional marriage where you continue to reach out” but nothing ever changes. He recalled that in 1976 when he was an intern for then-Senator Mark Hatfield, politicians on both sides of the aisle spent time together outside of chambers and were in Washington D.C. most weekends. Now, lunches and social events are all along par- tisan lines, everyone leaves town on the weekends, and the bases are farther apart. “On the small issues, it’s pretty easy to find part- ners for support of a bill, but on the bigger issues it’s lots harder. 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