Awards banquet
slated Friday, Sept.
28 in Vancouver
VANCOUVER, Wash. — The 17th
annual Labor Award Banquet will be
held Friday, Sept. 28, at the Vancouver
Hilton Hotel, 301 West 6th Street. The
banquet is sponsored by the Labor
Roundtable of Southwest Washington
and features guest speakers, door prizes
and awards to union leaders, locals and
political and community allies.
The cost of the dinner is $50 per per-
son. A no-host bar opens at 6 p.m. with
dinner served at 7 p.m.
For more information, call Philip
Parker at 360-687-5611.
Ken Allen (center) executive director of AFSCME Oregon Council 75,
appears at press conference supporting a bill to boost investment in health
care and job training for war veterans. With him are Nathan Hepper (left),
an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and Eugene Rosolie, president of
Veterans in Action.
Veterans and union urge
Sen. Smith to back vets bill
Swanson, Thomas &Coon
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Ken Allen, executive director of
American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees Oregon
Council 75, spoke at the press confer-
ence. He was there representing the
Emergency Campaign for America’s
Priorities, a coalition of labor organiza-
tions and other human needs activists.
“Whatever you think of the Iraq
War, surely we can all agree that pro-
viding our veterans with the services
they need when they return home ought
to be a priority,” Allen said. “And so we
respectfully disagree with the president
on this issue — and we hope Sen.
Smith will, too.”
Allen said AFSCME represents
mental health workers throughout Ore-
gon, and he hears from members “the
need that exists for these brave veter-
ans. “War is hell. And it’s difficult for
any of us to imagine what veterans see
and go through while they are overseas.
“The problem is,” Allen continued,
“it follows them when they return
home. Too many service members are
afflicted with post-traumatic stress dis-
order or traumatic brain injuries — and
they don’t even know it. We must not
let our vets suffer in silence when they
return home. Some in Congress oppose
this bill, saying it costs too much. But
we’re spending billions on the war in
Iraq, so we must disagree when the
president and others say we can’t afford
to take care of our veterans when they
return home.”
K ramers/metro
mailing service
3201 N.W. YEON
PORTLAND, OREGON 97210
(503) 274-1638 FAX (503) 227-1245
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( 503) 228-5222
Oregon veterans and their support-
ers held a press conference in Portland
last month to urge Oregon U.S. Sen.
Gordon Smith to support a bill that
would boost investment in health care
and job training for veterans.
A study released in early August
showed Army suicides at a 26-year
high. That report prompted Oregon vet-
erans groups to call on Smith to vote for
the Labor, Health & Human Services,
Education appropriations bill, which
funds critical suicide prevention pro-
grams, as well as job training and
homelessness prevention services.
Among other highlights, the bill in-
cludes $3.4 billion for the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad-
ministration, $228 million for veterans’
employment and training programs,
$23.6 million for the Homeless Veter-
ans Program and $10 million ear-
marked toward traumatic brain injuries.
President Bush has threatened to
veto the bill.
“We left our families, friends and
careers to serve our country — and
we’d gladly do it again,” said Nathan
Hepper, an Army vet who returned
from Iraq in 2005 after serving as a
squad leader in Operation Iraqi Free-
dom. “All we ask is that Sen. Smith re-
spect our sacrifice by investing in job
training, health services and other
needs we face when we return home
from war. We need Sen. Smith to stand
at our side and oppose President Bush’s
threatened veto.”
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— Eric Brending, Owner —
PAGE 8
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
SEPTEMBER 21, 2007