in other words
october5
2017
3
Bonamici Bulletin
By U.S. Congresswoman
Suzanne Bonamici
Fall is off to a busy
start. I visited Earl Boyles
Elementary School, which
is nationally recognized
for its excellent work to
bridge the gap between
early childhood education and the early
grades, and read aloud to children at the
Beaverton Library. After unidentified
immigration officers stopped a US citi-
zen and his wife in Hillsboro, I called on
ICE to explain the outrageous actions of
their officers, investigate what happened,
and apologize to the family. Finally, as
wildfires raged across the state, I joined
with my colleagues to call for additional
firefighting resources and a long-term so-
lution to the flawed fire funding mecha-
nism.
Here are more details about what
I’m working on in Oregon and Washing-
ton, DC:
Standing Up for Affordable Health
Care
Access to health care is a right
– not a privilege for the wealthy. Orego-
nians have said loud and clear that they
want Congress to improve the Affordable
Care Act, not take away coverage from
millions of Americans. Recently, Senate
leadership attempted once again to pass
another version of TrumpCare. The Gra-
ham-Cassidy proposal failed to protect
people with pre-existing conditions and
threatened essential health benefits like
mental health care and maternity care.
Thanks to the thousands of people who
reached out to their Members of Con-
gress, Graham-Cassidy did not get a vote.
Congressional leadership must listen to
Americans and turn their focus to expand-
ing access to affordable health care.
Engaging in Democracy
Town hall meetings are a great
way for me to connect with and hear
from the people I’m honored to repre-
sent. In North Plains, Tualatin, Yamhill,
and Columbia City, community members
shared concerns about protecting the Af-
fordable Care Act, keeping our country
safe, protecting the environment, and
getting to the bottom of the Trump cam-
paign’s ties to Russia. I’ve held dozens
of town hall meetings since I’ve been in
Congress, and this year I’m glad to see so
many people attending for the first time.
Our democracy is stronger when all of us
participate. Thank you to everyone who
has attended so far, and please join me for
town hall meetings in Portland and Can-
non Beach in October.
Protecting Your Personal Information
Consumers deserve the peace of
mind of knowing that their personal fi-
nancial information is secure. The breach
at Equifax has threatened the safety and
financial security of many consumers.
Equifax’s delay in disclosing the breach,
and reports of senior executives selling
stock are inexcusable. Further, it is unac-
ceptable that the company attempted to
use binding arbitration clauses to prevent
victims from accessing justice in a court
of law. As an advocate for stronger con-
sumer protections, I know that we must
do more to protect personal information
and hold financial institutions account-
able.
If the Equifax breach affected
you, I encourage you to review infor-
mation from the Consumer Protection
Financial Bureau and the Oregon De-
partment of Justice to learn how you
can protect yourself.
Giving Dreamers the Opportunity to
Succeed
The Trump Administration’s
decision to end the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) pro-
gram sends a message to the rest of
the world that our country has lost its
humanitarian spirit and inclusive val-
ues. I’ve met many ‘Dreamers,’ hard-
working young adults whose parents,
searching for a better life, brought them
to the United States as young children.
Dreamers deserve a chance to succeed.
I’m encouraged by the bipartisan sup-
port in Congress to take action and pro-
tect these young people so they can con-
tinue living their lives in the only coun-
try they’ve ever known. I’ll keep press-
ing Congressional leadership to bring
the Dream Act up for a vote.
You can find more updates
about my work around NW Oregon and
in Washington, DC on Facebook, Twit-
ter, Instagram, and YouTube. You can
also contact my Oregon and Washing-
ton, DC offices with questions, com-
ments, or for assistance with a federal
agency at https://bonamici.house.gov/
contact.
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Congresswoman
Suzanne Bonamici
Stacey Lynn
Aaron Miller
Representative Brad Witt
Photography
Scott Laird
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Salem Report
By Representative Brad Witt
This September the Legislature held
another 3-day preparation period for
the approaching session in February
2018. All three of my committees lis-
tened to important and interesting tes-
timony that I would like to share with
you.
Foremost among the presentations was an up-
date on the progress of fire suppression in Oregon. We
heard some fascinating statistics, including the cost at
that time of $340 million, which includes all partners,
state, private, tribal, and federal lands. Although more
than 77% of all fire starts were human caused, light-
ning strikes to date have exceeded those of the entire
2016 fire season. In the last week of July and the first
week of August alone there were over 10,000 lightning
strikes. The number of fires on ODF protected lands
consumed approximately 42,000 acres, but 95% of the
fires were kept to 10 acres or less. We have approxi-
mately 10,000 firefighters from all over our state, Wash-
ington, California and the National Guard to thank for
that. Thank you firefighters, especially those from Dis-
trict 31, for pitching in!
Nevertheless, in the face of over 190,000 acres
burned (includes federal and private lands), 19,000
residences threatened, 10 residences and 20 structures
destroyed, and over 7,500 people evacuated from their
homes, we have our work cut out for us going for-
ward. As legislators, we will be continuing to inves-
tigate the impact of federal land management on our
state, the impact of current forest practices, and how we
can create more resilient forests that are less susceptible
to the ravages of fire.
We also learned that ODOT has been working
hand in hand with the Department of Forestry to assess
damages to roadways, bridges and tunnels, particularly
through the Gorge. Although I-84 is once again open in
both directions, anyone using that route should log on
to Tripcheck.com to make sure that landslides and/or
falling trees have not caused detours or delays.
Finally, just a word to the wise on a re-
cent change in the law regarding “distracted driving,”
in other words, driving with any kind of communica-
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tions device in your hand, your lap, or the seat next to
you. As of October 1st, drivers may not hold a phone
in their hands unless they are stopped on the side of the
road or parked in a parking spot. Stopped at a red light
or in traffic doesn’t count. You may use a hands-free
device, such as a built-in blue tooth or a device mount-
ed on your dash, but only to activate a preprogrammed
function such as GPS, limited to a single touch or swipe.
The Legislature actually began tightening the
laws in 2013 when the Department of Motor Vehicles
reported a 30% rise in the number of roadway departure
fatalities linked to distracted driving. Following a Court
of Appeals decision in 2015, and the report from a task
force formed to study the issue, the statutes were again
revised in 2017 in HB 2597B.
The penalties will be significant, with the first
offense set at $260, the second offense would be $435
and a third offense within 10 years could be a mis-
demeanor with six months in jail and a fine of up to
$2,500. A special note to parents: Drivers under the age
of 18 are not allowed to use any kind of mobile device,
even those built into the car.
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