community
Bonamici Holds Town Hall
imbursed for clean-up of marine debris.
Bonamici said she is also a co-sponsor
of a bill that was expected to pass that
reauthorizes research into harmful algae
blooms. She also worked on the Weath-
er Forecasting Improvement Act, which
as initially proposed would have taken
funding from climate change research.
Bonamici was able to help change the
bill to retain funding for climate re-
search and help get it passed by the
House. Bonamici also co-sponsored an
amendment that would keep the federal
government from interfering with states
that allow industrial hemp production,
including Oregon.
Bonamici noted that she re-
mains concerned about several major
issues that congress has been unable
to act on. ‘Secure Rural Schools’ is a
local concern that Bonamici says she
is very concerned about how long it is
taking to find a solution. “We’re hope-
ful there will be a solution that can get
through both chambers and signed by
the President into law so we don’t have
to keep coming back and getting these
band-aids for funding which has been
helpful but is not a long term solution,”
said the Congresswoman. Bonamici
also mentioned she is concerned about
timber management policies and risks
from forest fires.
Another concern is immigra-
tion reform which has passed the Senate
and has a slightly different bill pend-
ing in the House. “I would like to see
something start moving forward so we
can get that issue addressed,” said Bon-
amici.
Tax reform is another issue that
Bonamici says she is watching closely.
She also noted concerns about fund-
ing for the Highway Trust Fund which
helps maintain the federal highway sys-
tem through shrinking gas taxes at the
federal level. “This is a really serious
issue,” said Bonamici. “Transportation
projects in Oregon and across the coun-
try will be in jeopardy if we don’t find a
way to fund it.”
Bonamici also expressed con-
cerns about emergency preparedness.
“We need to do more to be prepared
for emergencies and we haven’t done
enough,” said Bonamici. “Of course it’s
always about how much does it cost and
you weight that against the risk. But
here it’s not if, it’s when. And so we
need to be ready.”
Bonamici concluded her open-
ing remarks by raising concerns about
rising gun violence in the United States.
june19
2014
continued from front page
Bonamici said there are numerous ideas
about how to address the issue. Bon-
amici noted that time and again young
people are being targeted in our country
in school shootings. “What are we go-
ing to do to address this problem in our
society? There is a common thread in all
of these—they are troubled young men.
Do they not have enough access to men-
tal health care or councilors in school?
Why are they able to get guns? Do
we need to have universal background
checks and other ways to try to keep
guns out of their hands? How do we go
about addressing this so we don’t have
another situation where we are losing
our youth, especially in our schools? It’s
a big issue in our society and we have to
work together to find a way to address
it.” Bonamici’s remarks came just days
before the latest school shooting took
place right in her home state of Oregon
at Troutdale’s Reynolds High School.
During the question and answer
section of the meeting Bonamici talked
about disproportionate rules and regu-
lations enforced by FEMA. Bonamici
noted that she supported the Flood In-
surance Rate Affordability Act which
has been signed into law and which tem-
porarily stabilizes flood insurance rates.
Bonamici was asked what she
is doing about “eroding religious free-
dom in our country,” specifically people
of faith and businesses that are being
discriminated against for not participat-
ing in specific events. The questioner
asked whether the Congresswoman was
supporting the Marriage and Religious
Freedom Act. Bonamici responded that
there is always a struggle when you have
the Constitution and individual rights in
conflict. “There is freedom of religion
and religious rights and I support that,
but I also support the right for people
to be treated equal under the law,” said
Bonamici.
An audience member asked
if there is a need to re-look at and re-
think how our country manages national
forests, specifically that forests should
not be used only for timber harvests
and as an income generator but also be
set aside and used for other methods
of income generation like tourism and
salmon fishing. Bonamici responded
that she is concerned about current for-
est policies and there is a need to better
understand what we expect from public
lands. Bonamici noted that she sits on
the Environment subcommittee of the
Science Committee which focuses on
the technologies around energy produc-
tion, things like carbon sequestration
and the effects of fracking. She said
timber policy is not something that her
subcommittee has looked at.
When the topic of public health
was raised, Bonamici stated that she is
frustrated by the failed implementation
of Cover Oregon and that we need to
find out who was responsible. “That
being said, the Affordable Care Act was
not about a website, it was about access
to health care,” said Bonamici. “We
hear stories where it is working. Are
there places where we need to work on it
and make it better and fix what is wrong
with it? Absolutely. We’re not going to
repeal it. We’re not going to take back
the consumer protections that people are
benefiting from. Let’s figure out where
we need to fill the gaps and strengthen it
and move forward and make it better.”
When asked about the IRS
Scandal, the questioner noted that
501(c)(4)s are receiving protection and
we need to stop hiding political funds
in what people call charities. Bonamici
agreed. “People say the IRS is target-
ing conservative groups. I want our
Treasury Department to be investigat-
ing to make sure everyone is complying
with the tax code. That’s their job. We
should be looking at whether any group
is misusing the regulations.”
Bonamici closed her remarks
by stating that campaign finance reform
is desperately needed. “The amount
of money that goes into political cam-
paigns is obscene. It’s ridiculous at the
federal level. It affects people’s trust in
government. It’s the wrong direction for
our country to have that much money in
politics.”
Publisher and Managing Editor
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503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
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