✷✟ ➋✠✡☛ ❖☞✌☛ ❱☛
❆■▲❨
▲❆◆◆❊❘
❳❩❬❭❪
❫♦❴❵❛ ❝❞ ❢r❝❴❵❛❣ ❤✐r❝❥ ❦❧❣ ♥♣q
ss❧♥♣ ❴❵❛ ♦t ❦✉s✈✇❫♣qrq ❵rq
❦①✈ ❴❵❛❞ ❥qt♥ ❝② ♥♣q ❛q❵r✇
❳❩❬❭❪③④ ⑤⑥⑦⑤⑧⑥⑦⑤❳
⑨②❤✐r❝❥ ❦❧❣ s⑩❧❶❣ ❷♦♣②❸❝❥❹q❞
❺♦♦♥♣❣ ♥♣q ❵❞❞❵❞❞❝② ♦t ❻rq❞❝❴q②♥
❤❼r❵♣❵❽ ❾❝②❿♦❥②❣ ➀❵❞ ❞➁r➂
r♦➁②❴q❴ ❼❛ tq❴qr❵❥ ♥r♦♦✐❞ ②q❵r
❻♦r♥ ➃♦❛❵❥❣➄❝r➅❝②❝❵❣ ❵②❴ ❹❝❥❥q❴✇
⑧❩❳❳➆➇❪
➈➉➊➌➍➎➏➐➑➒ ➓➔→➣ ↔↕➙➙↕➛➜
ss➂s①➂❦✉➂❦❧➂➝s➂➝❶
➈➉➊➌ ➈➞➟➟➞➠➡➑➒ ➓➔➢➔ ↔↕➙➙↕➛➜
➤➂❦①➂➝✉➂①⑩➂❧➤➂✈➂➥①
➦➠➧➉➨➍➌➟➟➒ ➓➢➩➩ ↔↕➙➙↕➛➜
❧➂➝❦➂➝❶➂➝❧➂❧❶➂❻❺ ①➂➥❶
➫➞➡ ➭➠➨ ➯➞➭➉➒ ➲➳➵↕➙ ➔➣
❦❧➂➝s➂①✈➂➤❧
➦➞➏➐ ➸➒ ➲➳➵↕➙ ➔➺
➻ ➼ ➽➾➚➾➪ ➶➹➘➹➴➹➶
➻ ➷ ➽➾➚➾➪ ➶➹➬➹➘➹➶
➻ ➬ ➽➾➚➾➪ ➘➹➘➹➴➹➶
➻ ➼➮ ➽➾➚➾➪ ➱➹✃➹❐➹➼
➦➞➏➐ ➸➒ ➲➳➵↕➙ ➔➣
➻ ➼ ➽➾➚➾➪ ➬➹➘➹❐➹➬
➻ ➷ ➽➾➚➾➪ ✃➹➴➹➷➹➮
➻ ➬ ➽➾➚➾➪ ✃➹➘➹❐➹➬
➻ ➼➮ ➽➾➚➾➪ ➱➹➷➹✃➹➼
➇❩❭❬ ➇➆❒❩➇❳
❮❰➚ÏÐÑÒ ÓÔ ÕÖ××➪
➻ ØÙÒÚÛÐ ÜÑÐÝÔÙ➪ ➱➮➮➹❐➬➬➹➶✃➶➱➾
➻Ü❰ÓÒÚÛÐ ÜÑÐÝÔÙ➪➴➮✃➹➴➱➱➹➘❐➷➼➾
Þ➆ß④❒❭❒➆➇ ⑧❭❳➆à
áâã➵ä ãåå➛➵æ ↕ç ↔èéã æ➛ éã➙↕âã➵
ä➛ê➵ ëìçã➵âã➵ ↕➜ è æ↕↔ã➙ä ↔è➜í
➜ã➵→ ëîîèç↕➛➜è➙➙ä î➛➜é↕æ↕➛➜ç ãï↕çæ
æðèæ ↔èñã éã➙↕âã➵ä ↔➛➵ã é↕åòîê➙æ→
ó➭ ô➠➎ ➌➨➉ ➡➠õ ➠➡ ➌ ö➠õ➠➨
➨➠➎õ➉÷ éã➙↕âã➵ä çð➛ê➙é ìã ìãå➛➵ã
➴➪✃➮➽➾➚➾ Øø ùÔ❰ ÛÔ ÙÔÓ ÑÐÕÐÚúÐ ùÔ❰Ñ
➳è➳ã➵ ➳➙ãèçã îè➙➙ ➺➣➢íû➩üíü➢➩➢→
ýþ❩❳➆ ❩ÿ❳⑤➆ ❬❭❪
➇ ❻qrtq❿♥ ♦r❴qr ❝❞ ♥♣q t♦rqr➁②➂
②qr ♦t ✐qrtq❿♥ ♣♦rr♦r✇ ➈
➋ ✁✂✄☎✆ ✝✉✞✟✠✞✆✡ ☛✞☞✌✍✁✟
✁✉✠❛☎✂ ✎✏✾✑✒✓✑✔✏✑✷
❋ ✁✂❆❨✱ ❆✄ ✁☎ ✆✝✱ ✆✞✶✾
LOCAL
▼❇❈❉❋❇●
Continued from Page 1A
of big money in politics, and
strengthen ethics rules for
public servants,” according
to the bill.
Later, during the Q&A
portion of the town hall,
a woman in the audience
asked the senator about vot-
ing right.
“I look at Oregon’s system,
and I don’t understand why
I’m not hearing more about
paper ballots and vote by
mail,” she said. “Am I miss-
ing something?”
Merkley explained the For
the People Act would require
states to follow Oregon’s
lead by only accepting paper
ballots, and the reason she’s
not hearing more about it is
because the bill is currently
stuck in the Senate.
“(Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell) has criti-
cized every aspect of For the
✕✖✗✘✙✖ ✚✖✛✜✢✣✖ ✤✖✥✣ ✚✖✦✖✧★ -
ting from the dark money,
✤✖✥✣ ✚✖✦✖✧★★✩✦✪ ✫✬✗✭ ★✤✖
gerrymandering, he’s ben-
✖✧★★✩✦✪ ✫✬✗✭ ★✤✖ ✮✗★✖✬ ✣✢✘ -
pression, and I just gotta say,
if you believe in the vision of
our Constitution, you believe
in voter empowerment, not
voter intimidation,” he said.
✯✰✖✥✮✖ ✪✗★ ★✗ ✱✩✦ ★✤✜★ ✧✪✤★✲✳
A man from Cove also had
a question about voting, but
his focused on the right to
vote.
“What are your thoughts
on allowing felons to vote?”
he asked.
Senator Merkley replied
with a short history lesson
✚✜✣✖✴ ✗✦ ✯✵✶★✤✸✳ ✜ ✹✖★✺✩✻
documentary he found in-
triguing.
“After the Civil War in the
South, people said, ‘Hey,
there’s a way to keep Afri-
can-American men from
voting’ — charge them with
a felony because the 13th
Amendment said you could
strip them of their voting
rights if they were convicted
of a felony,” he said. “So the
felony became a dramatic
instrument of mass incar-
ceration of black men after
the Civil War.”
“I think today, when peo-
ple have completed their
time in jail, for whatever
crime, they should be able
to vote again because they’ve
served their time and they’re
going to be more produc-
tive if they’re received as a
full member of society and
much less likely to commit
another crime.”
Investing in families
The second challenge the
senator said he is working
to solve has to do with hous-
ing, health care, education
and good paying jobs, which
he says are the four most
common issues that come
up when he speaks with his
constituents.
“These are things that
give families a lot more suc-
cess, make our children a lot
✚✖★★✖✬ ✗✼ ✜✦✴ ✙✜✢✦✛✤ ★✤✖✭
into a better future, and that
means a better America for
all of us,” he said.
In an interview with The
Observer before the town
hall, Merkley explained
these two challenges are
“tied together because if the
✧✬✣★ ✽✛✗✬✬✢✘★✩✗✦✿ ✱✜✣ ✧✻✖✴✸
we’d be doing the second
(investing in families), but
we’re not.”
To highlight the connec-
★✩✗✦ ✚✖★✱✖✖✦ ✤✩✣ ✧✬✣★ ✜✦✴
second challenges, Merkley
called out prescription drug
companies.
“We have got to take on
the huge amount of money
drug companies put into
campaigns, and that goes
right back to some of what I
was saying about the corrup-
tion of our democracy,” he
said. “Everybody in America
wants us to take on the high
drug prices. The only people
who don’t are people who
✘✬✗✧★ ✗✼ ✩★✸ ✜✦✴ ★✤✖❀✥✬✖ ✬✢✦ -
ning the government.”
Merkley introduced a low-
cost drug act to the House in
November 2018, but because
it has not moved out of com-
mittee to the Senate since
then, he said he plans to rein-
troduce it soon and hopes the
president will show interest
in working with him.
“We’re paying more than
people in any other devel-
oped country even though
we pay for the basic research
that goes into the drug en-
terprise. My bill says we
can’t be charged more than
the meeting price of what’s
charged in Canada, the 11
largest European countries
and Japan,” Merkley said.
“It’s a reference pricing bill.
The president said he wants
to do a reference pricing bill,
so here’s a great opportunity
for collaboration.
“I’m not sure the presi-
dent will follow through
because he’s so susceptible
to pressure from the drug
companies, but I’ve got the
bill ready, I’m waiting for
him, and I’m going to invite
him to join me.”
In continuing with the
theme of investing in fami-
lies, Merkley said address-
ing, amending and solving
the student debt crisis is
paramount to the future
of America’s middle class
economy.
Zach Cahill, a sophomore
at EOU studying business
and economics, said he was
concerned about access to
grants and loan cost as a col-
lege student.
“Can you tell me how
you’re advocating for stu-
dent support and help to
✭✜❁✖ ✛✗✙✙✖✪✖ ✭✗✬✖ ✜✼✗✬✴ -
able?” asked Cahill, who
also plays football for the
university.
Merkley then asked the
people in the room to raise
their hands if they were con-
cerned about the high cost
of higher education. Nearly
everyone did.
“When I was out of high
school, you could come
home and work a minimum
wage job and save enough to
pay your college tuition. Is
that possible now? No way,
which is why I supported
the debt-free college act,”
he said. “It doesn’t mean
you don’t pay anything, but
it does means families pay
more according to their abil-
ity so students can go for-
ward out of college and live
their lives free of the mill-
stone of massive debt.”
Climate change
While the senator’s third
area of concern didn’t draw
as many questions from the
crowd at Zabel Hall as eco-
nomic, social or immigra-
tion issues, the topic was not
ignored.
Merkley said America
must team up with the rest
of the world in order to truly
reduce the acceleration of
carbon pollution — other-
wise, it is all for naught.
“I think there’s kind of a
comfort that folks have be-
cause we’re doing a little bit
✭✗✬✖ ✫✢✖✙ ✖❂✛✩✖✦✛❀ ✩✦ ✗✢✬
vehicles or a few more so-
lar panels, but the fact is, so
far, it’s not making a dent in
the acceleration of carbon
pollution,” he said. “We not
only have to accelerate our
✖✼✗✬★✣✸ ✚✢★ ✱✖ ✤✜✮✖ ★✗ ✱✗✬❁
in partnership with the
world because if we don’t
get cooperation with other
countries, our act alone
won’t solve the problem.”
Hot-button issues
Although
Thursday’s
town hall featured commu-
nity member questions that
✛✗✢✙✴ ✦✖✜★✙❀ ✧★ ✩✦★✗ ✗✦✖ ✗✫
the senator’s three catego-
ries of concern, a few other
hot button topics rose to
the surface during the Q&A
portion of the afternoon.
An EOU student, who said
he is originally from Cali-
fornia and is now a resident
of Brookings, asked about
the senator’s support for
banning the sale for semi-
✜✢★✗✭✜★✩✛ ✧✬✖ ✜✬✭✣ ✗✬
✜✣✣✜✢✙★ ✬✩✺✖✣✸ ✜✦✴ ✫✗✬ ✙✩✭✩★ -
ing the capacity of maga-
zines.
“In the future, what are
the odds that my children
will have the same chance
★✤✜★ ❃ ✤✜✮✖ ★✗ ✧✪✤★ ✖✦✖✭✩✖✣✸
foreign and domestic, on
our soil, if anything comes to
that?” he asked.
The senator responded
with asking the people in the
audience to raise their hands
if they support a national
background check system
similar to Oregon’s — almost
everyone raised their hands.
He then asked about how
they felt about limiting the
size of magazines to 10 bul-
lets and cracking down on
straw purchasers, who avoid
background checks and ob-
tain guns by getting some-
one else to buy for them.
Most people were in sup-
port of the magazine limita-
tion, and nearly everyone
was in support of stricter
laws to thwart straw pur-
chasers.
✯✰✖✤✜✮✖✜✙✙ ❁✩✦✴✣ ✗✫ ✧✪✤★ -
ing enemies on foreign soil,
and of course that’s the mili-
tary’s responsibility, (but)
we’re talking here about
gun ownership that involves
hunting, target practice, gun
collecting,” the senator said.
“I come from Southern Or-
egon where (owning guns)
is a sacred (right) to people.”
Following this question
on gun control, a woman
✫✬✗✭ ❄✦✩✗✦ ❅✗✢✦★❀ ✗✼✖✬✖✴
her personal experience of
spending eight days on the
border near El Paso, Texas,
and her interactions with
immigrants and vigilantes
there.
“I know that we’re in East-
ern Oregon and it doesn’t af-
fect us as much, but I’m very
concerned about the vigilan-
tes who have taken matters
into their own hands on the
See Merkley / Page 5A
❲✘❡✙✘ ✖ ✤✢✥ ✤✦✚✘ ✧✢★✛ ❲✘ ✖✙✘ ✩✖✙✣✘✙✪✫ ✙✖✗✜✬✘✙✪✫ ❜✖✚✘✙✪✫ ✭✖✙✮✘✗✘✙✪✫ ✭✙✖✗✮✯✖✙✘✗✥✪✫ ✰✲✫ ✳✳✴✫
✪✢✩✥❜✖✤✤✫ ✖✗✮ ❜✖✪✘❜✖✤✤ ✯✖✙✘✗✥✪✛ ❲✘ ✖✙✘ ✪✥✘✵✖✙✮✪ ✢✩ ✢★✙ ✤✢✜✖✤ ✜✢✣✣★✗✦✥✦✘✪✫ ✬✘✤✯✦✗✭ ✥✢
✣✖✚✘ ✥✬✘✣ ❜✘✥✥✘✙ ✯✤✖✜✘✪ ✥✢ ✵✢✙✚ ✖✗✮ ✤✦♠✘✛ ❲✘ ✖✙✘ ✦✗♠✢✤♠✘✮ ✦✗ ✤✢✜✖✤ ✢✙✭✖✗✦✸✖✥✦✢✗✪✫ ❜✢✥✬
✦✗✮✦♠✦✮★✖✤✤✧ ✖✗✮ ✖✪ ✖ ❜✖✗✚✛
❲✘❡✙✘ ✯✙✢★✮ ✥✢ ✜✖✤✤ ✥✬✦✪ ✯✤✖✜✘ ✢★✙ ✬✢✣✘✫ ✖✗✮ ✖✙✘ ✬✘✙✘ ✥✢ ✪✘✙♠✘ ✧✢★✛
▲✹✺✻✼ ✽✿✹❀✺✹ ✺❁❂❁✿✿❁❃❄ ✺❁❅✹✺❇✹✿❈
❏✖ ❑✙✖✗✮✘
◆✰●◗❍❘❙◗❚❯◆❯
P✙✢★✮✤✧ ✪✘✙♠✦✗✭ ❉✖✪✥✘✙✗ ❊✙✘✭✢✗ ✪✦✗✜✘ ●❍✰■
❜✖✗✗✘✙❜✖✗✚✛✜✢✣
▼✍✎✏✍✑ ✒✓✔✕