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About The Record-courier. (Haines, Baker County, Oregon) 1932-2016 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2015)
i Record-Courier THURSDAY, JANUARY 1,2015 Op-Ed by Rep. Greg Walden Making Progress Together for our Region and State The biggest disagreements and loudest voices got most of the attention during this last session of Congress, from filibusters to failed websites, immigration to ISIL. However, while the pundits blared, many of us worked hard to achieve important legislative wins for Oregon and- America in 2014—like boosting American energy and jobs and rooting out waste to save taxpayer dollars. Make no mistake, we still have work to do, but we have a strong foundation to build on next year with the new Republican majority in the Senate on efforts to grow and strengthen Oregon’s rural communities. All in all, I’m proud that three bills I wrote this session—protecting rural satel lite television service, providing more water and power for Central Oregon, and boosting agriculture research in Hermiston—are now' the law of the land. And several other of my initiatives passed the House with bipartisan support, includ ing the plan to reform federal forest policy to grow jobs in the woods, improve forest health, and provide needed revenue for schools, roads, and law enforcement. Although I am disappointed the Senate did not hold a vote on this plan or any forestry bill to assist our region, this gives us a strong base to build on next year with the new majority in the Senate. I’ve already begun conversations with members of the House and Senate from both parties on efforts to reform federal forest policy and better manage our lands. All of these initiatives were developed transparently with community support, so they will have good momentum going into 2015. One of my top priorities is making federal agencies like the IRS, the VA, and the EPA more transparent and accountable to taxpayers. I sought and secured a federal investigation into the enormous, costly, failure of Cover Oregon to stop the waste, demand the truth, and get accountability. That investigation is ongoing, and we hope to get the results in the near future. And when the FDA proposed rules that, would have made it harder to grow onions and brew local beer, I pushed back hard on behalf of producers and brewers, inviting the FDA to visit with Oregon growers to witness the rules’ impact firsthand. Our voices were heard as the agency reworked these to make them better for Oregon producers. I doubt most people realize how much time a member of Congress and his/her staff spend helping cut through red tape at agencies like the Social Security Administration or the VA, For me and my team, we helped more 2,811 Oregonians over the past two years, including nearly one thousand veterans cases. The Energy and Commerce Committee I serve on had 51 bills signed into law this session, including legislation to increase hydropower and boost research for pediatric diseases. We launched a major ini tiative called 21st Century Cures to aggressively help find cures for the nearly 6,500 known diseases that lack them. This is an exciting initiative that will dramatically improve the lives of people all over the world. The Committee also conducted thorough oversight of federal agencies under our jurisdiction. When the Federal Communications Commission proposed a “study” that sought to poke their noses into Amer ica’s newsrooms, the Communications and Technology panel that I chair objected strongly, leading to the agency dropping this threat to the First Amendment. And Congress successfully passed legislation to help clean up the mess at the VA and allow more vet erans to go outside the VA to, access care in the communities where they live. This will really help vet erans, especially in our rural communities. We also passed plans to streamline and improve job-training programs and provide needed resources to farmers to tackle drought, fire, and new diseases and pests in their crops. Getting deficit spending under control also remains a huge priority of mine. The House passed a budget that balances over the next 10 years and eventually pays off America’s debt. I supported efforts to reform programs, eliminate waste and duplication and as a result we cut discretionary spending to a level below when President Obama took office. This work, doesn’t always grab the headlines or dominate the chatter on Twitter, but these quiet gains improve the lives of people and help get our region and country on a better track. I could not have been as successful working on these issues without hearing from and listening to you—the .people of Oregon’s Second District. Just this year, I traveled more than 9,000 miles through our enormous district to hold town halls (49 in the past two years) and other community meetings. That’s in addition to the thousands of telephone town hall questions, emails, letters, phone calls, Facebook messages, and tweets I’ve ¿re ceived from you and answered (more than 41,000 just this year). As the New Year dawns, I pledge to continue to work as hard as I can to solve our problems, here at homeand'across the nation.'I wantrtO'continue totiear from you about your ideas and priorities. .Ita is how I develop my “to do” list to take back to Washington, D.C. each week. Please visit www.walden.house.gov to send me an email to let me know what you think should be on my plate for 2015. TO AU VETERANS The Baker County Veteran Services Office provides access to a wide range of benefits and services to veterans and their families. Health Care, Education, Compensation and Pension, Burial Benefits and much more Rick Gloria, Veterans Services Coordinator 1995 3rd Street * 541-523-8223 G unsmithing and F irearms S ales Serving all of Baker County and beyond E. FRAZER GUNWORKS, LLC Edward Frazer - Owner 2616 Bearco Loop, La Grande, Oregon 541-663-8000 ♦ gunworks@frontier.com any family sized pizza Limit 1. Not good with any other offer. TAKE ‘NP BAKE PIZZA 1850 Campbell St. J. Baker City, OR Your2015 Seeding Headquarters! Spring Wheat Forage WB-6121 SWMw WB-6341 SW.Vw Babe SW Solano.HRS ”L' . " WB-9518 HRS New 1010 Triticale Haybet Barley Monida Oat Flex & Journey Forage Mixes Oregon Se etcìs Pasture & Range Grass Mixes Alforex & Dairyland Alfalfa North Powder 541-898-7333 Imbler 541-534-5655 A heartfelt thank you to the following Businesses and Individuals for their contribution to the 2014 Festival of Trees presented by Saint Alphonsus Foundation—Baker City Aaron & Autumn Harrell Ace Nursery Adiva Ailah Kuhl Amy Roseborough Andi Jaca Angela Brashler Angela Robb Angi Boruch Animal Clinic Anthony Lakes Ash Grove Cement Audrey Kirby Aud’s & Ends Baker City Herald Baker City Lions Baker City Realty Baker County Cattlewomen Baker County Health Department Baker County Library District Baker Custom Meats Baker Dental Group Baker Food Co-Op BHS Honor Society BHS Leadership Baker Truck Corral Baker Vision Clinic Banner Bank Barley Browns Beckey Christy Betty's Books Beverly Chadwick Beverly Weston Bill Doman/PRCF Adults in Custody Bisnett Insurance Blaine Petersen Blue Mountain Pathology Bob Parker Bonne Rexroad Cabin Cowboy Designs Cam Credits Carl Town Chad Hurliman Chalene Nichols Charley's Ice Cream Parlor Cherie Peterson Christina Conklin - Christina Smith/ Hoofs & Horns/ Cabin Rentals, Troy, Oregon Clarke & Clarke Insurance Coca Cola Bottling Co. Coffee Corral Colleen Taylor Community Bank Courtesy Home Furnishings D & B Supply Dan & Lynne Domey/ Eastern Oregon Rental Delicioso Mexican Restaurant Denise Harmon Dennis & Terri Axness Dr. Dan Hayden/ Hayden Dental Dr. Eric & Kristy , Sandefur Dr. William & Melissa Irvine Earth & Vine Eastern Oregon Dental Group Elkhorn Embroidery Emery Owen Farrah Chastain Gentry Auto Group Ginger Savage Girl Scouts Troop 50112 Guyer & Associates Hayley Hester Heather McCoy Heidi Quintela Idaho Power Company Jackie Wirth Janice Cowan Jason Yencopal & Crew Jayne Kellar Jeremy & Michelle Coley/Elkhorn Drilling Jessica Hatfield Jim & Carole Webb Judy Griffin Justin Nedrow Katherine Bailey Kicks Sports Kirk & Marsha Smith Kiwanis Club Kristy Settlemyer Lavish Les Schwab Life Flight Lisa Shira Little Pig Long's Waterworks Lome Tritt Lynette Perry Mad Habit Mandy Peterson Margaret Bootsma, Lanae & Taylor Jones Martin & Terry Leuenberger Marvin Wood Products Meagan Paoletti Megan Cully Michelle Paoletti Mickey Swanson Millstone Ranch Misty Town Morgan Gilda Neil & Amanda Carroll Nick Conklin State Farm Old West Federal Credit Union & Staff Oregon Health Transformation Consultants, LLC Oregon Livestock Supply OSU Extension OTEC Paula Sawyer/The Flower Box Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. Peterson's Gallery & Chocolatier Pins and Tonics Powder River Correctional Facility Queen City Modern Random Resales Ray & Shelly Gibbons Rob & Dianne Ellingson Saint Alphonsus- Administration Saint Alphonsus- Admitting Saint Alphonsus- Auxiliary Saint Alphonsus- Baker Clinic Saint Alphonsus- Birth Center Saint Alphonsus- Bootsma Clinic Saint Alphonsus- ER/ICU Saint Alphonsus- HIM Department Saint Alphonsus- Housekeeping Saint Alphonsus- Ortho, General Surgery & Rheumatology Saint Alphonsus- Pharmacy Saint Alphonsus- Supply Chain Saint Alphonsus- Vailey Medical Center Samantha Stevenson Sandy Sturdy Savannah Daly Shane & Ronda Fritz Shannon Downing Sid Johnson & Co. Sommer Sargent Sorbenots Soroptimist St. Luke's Clinic EOMA Physicians & Staff State Farm-Gregg Hinrichsen Sunridge Superior Towing Terri Brandt Correia The Lamb Family - Eric, Katie, Sydney & Ellie The Sycamore Tree Treasure Every Stitch Triple C Redi-Mix Tyler Bowling Tyler Fouts Umpqua Bank Vision Wealth Management Wells Fargo Bank Wheatland Insurance
