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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, AuguST 3, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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GUEST COLUMN
DeFazio is not giving up
C
ongressman Peter DeFazio is not
giving up.
The Democrat from Spring-
field doesn’t quit. And whereas the
U.S. House passed DeFazio’s mod-
ern approach to rebuilding the nation’s
infrastructure – earning praise from the
White House – President Joe Biden’s
administration has
now reversed course
and embraced the
less-sweeping, old-fash-
ioned fossil-fuels
approach contained in
the Senate version.
Or so it seems. Few
DICK
people know what might
HUGHES
be in the bipartisan infra-
structure package that
senators initially took up last week.
“We have seen no policy. They voted
on a four-page outline. The way we do
things in the House, we normally vote
on bills that have legislation and text,”
DeFazio told me during a Thursday
phone conversation from Washington,
D.C.
“This outline was written by three
people who have no expertise in infra-
structure and (was) thrown together. But
we still don’t know what’s in it. We’re
waiting to see the details, but I have tre-
mendous concerns.”
DeFazio, who represents Oregon’s
4th Congressional District, chairs the
House Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture Committee. He’s been working on
these issues for decades. A story in Polit-
ico last week noted that he “possesses a
staffer-level knowledge of the issues he
covers, earning him respect from both
leadership and members in both parties.”
But DeFazio and other House mem-
bers, along with most senators, have
been largely relegated to the sidelines.
“This is a plan that’s being driven by
the White House and a small group of
senators,” he told me.
The Politico article summed it up:
“DeFazio is on the verge of getting
rolled. And he’s not going quietly.”
He’s contacting senators about poten-
tial amendments, or he could try to
amend the Senate bill when it reaches
the House. But it’s uncertain whether the
Biden administration and enough sena-
tors would go along. The crystal ball is
very cloudy.
Without significant changes, DeFazio
said, the Senate bill will lock in the
failed transportation policies of the past,
which don’t deal with resiliency, social
equity and climate change.
America’s interstate system dates
to the 1950s and President Dwight D.
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Aging infrastructure is a challenge across Oregon.
‘THIS OuTLINE WAS WRITTEN By
THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO EXPERTISE
IN INFRASTRuCTuRE ANd (WAS) THROWN
TOgETHER. BuT WE STILL dON’T KNOW WHAT’S
IN IT. WE’RE WAITINg TO SEE THE dETAILS,
BuT I HAVE TREMENdOuS CONCERNS.’
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
Eisenhower’s Grand Plan to upgrade the
nation’s road network through the efforts
of the federal government, states, coun-
ties and cities.
Today, 1 in 3 interstate bridges needs
repair or replacement, along with thou-
sands more on other roads. Sewage sys-
tems are inadequate. Public water sys-
tems are failing. Some Oregon towns
confront leaky pipes more than 100
years old. Mass transit in rural areas is
so lacking that it essentially boils down
to what former Oregon Senate Repub-
lican Leader Ted Ferrioli said was the
daily choice between driving the red
pickup or the blue pickup.
DeFazio calls his House bill the best
infrastructure legislation ever proposed
for rural America, including roads,
bridges and innovative transit options so
people easily can get to the doctor.
“I wrote a comprehensive, transfor-
mative 21st century transportation bill,”
DeFazio said of his INVEST in Amer-
ica Act. It passed the U.S. House on
July 1, largely along party lines. “Every-
thing else has been Eisenhower 7.0,
8.0 — totally highway-centric, fossil
fuel-centric. I wrote a bill that moves
us away from fossil fuels and looks at
other options to solve congestion prob-
lems than just building more lane miles,
which just doesn’t work.”
The transportation sector is the larg-
est emitter of greenhouse gases nation-
ally and in Oregon. Because Oregon is
so small, the statewide climate policy
bills debated in our Legislature would
yield an almost imperceptible effect on
global climate change. In contrast, a
national approach would be significant.
“There are steps we can take today
that won’t inconvenience people — to
continue to have the mobility we have
today but have it in a way that doesn’t
destroy the climate. It’s imperative,”
DeFazio said.
He sees the urgency as both environ-
mental and political. The recent massive
flooding in Germany destroyed centu-
ries-old homes. Tundra is melting. Sibe-
rian forests are burning. So are parts
of the Pacific Northwest amid unprec-
edented heat waves that claimed hun-
dreds of lives. The latest heat wave,
coming amid severe drought, caused
Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday to
declare a state of emergency in 23 of
Oregon’s 36 counties.
“This is not normal, but it might be
the new normal. And we’ve got to get on
top of climate change,” DeFazio said.
Meanwhile, history suggests Republi-
cans will retake the Senate and House in
the 2022 elections, which would mean
DeFazio losing his committee chairman-
ship. His own congressional district has
lost some of its blue tint. It’s unknown
whether this year’s redistricting will for-
tify his Democratic base, and he faces a
repeat challenge next year from Repub-
lican Alek Skarlatos, of Roseburg.
DeFazio’s infrastructure bill, which
earned the ire of Citizens Against Gov-
ernment Waste, allowed each House
member to designate $20 million for
projects that met specific criteria. The
Legislature took a similar, although
smaller, approach this year at the behest
of Oregon House Republicans.
Going for governor: Readers
responded to this month’s column about
next year’s governor’s race by suggest-
ing state Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scap-
poose, should run, and Republicans
should not count out Medford business-
woman Jessica Gomez.
Folks also said lesser-known candi-
dates, such as Yamhill County Commis-
sioner Casey Kulla, a Democrat, and
Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam, a Repub-
lican who has formed an exploratory
committee but has not declared his can-
didacy, deserve more attention.
Another reader asked about the polit-
ical affiliation of New York Times col-
umnist Nicholas Kristof, who is consid-
ering running. I checked Oregon’s voter
database. It indicates he is registered to
vote in Yamhill County as a Democrat.
As for me, I have three questions for
any gubernatorial candidate:
1. What does Oregon need in a gov-
ernor right now?
2. What qualities does it to take to be
a good governor?
3. Is Oregon governable?
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Rapacious media
or weeks, NBC has touted Simone
Biles as the shoo-in for Olympic gold.
The fantastically talented young gymnast
was literally put in a pressure cooker to
satisfy the media’s need for superhuman
heroes.
When persons like Biles snap under
the pressure of media expectations, they
are cast aside in the search for replace-
ments. The media requires heroes in their
rapacious quest for top ratings, regardless
of who will be the psychological victims.
ERHARD GROSS
Astoria
F
A job well done
ongratulations on a job well done!
Many thanks to Matt Zedwick of
Columbia Veterinary Hospital for spon-
soring the first annual Columbia River
Dog Walk on July 25.
The event was a fundraiser supporting
four local nonprofit groups for animals
in Clatsop County, including River Song
Foundation, the Wildlife Center of the
North Coast, Tri-City Spay and Neuter of
Seaside and Clatsop Animal Assistance.
Thanks also go to the many other
sponsors and volunteers, including Boy
Scout Troop 330 of Astoria, for donating
their time and energy.
Zedwick’s enthusiasm made the event
fun, and I look forward to attending the
second annual Columbia River Dog
Walk.
STACEY McKENNEY
Astoria
C
Wake up
eing mildly educated in world his-
tory, I had a conversation recently
with a man I admire who said something
that frightened me to my soul. It has been
B
the start of every democratic nation’s
demise. His words were, “I watch Fox
News mostly. They seem to be the least
biased of the TV media.”
Regardless of how or where you
receive your trusted news today, a citizen
must know almost all media has a bias.
Whether it’s the self-admitted Republican
agenda of Fox, or anywhere else. Most
people give little attention to that back-
ground noise coming from everywhere.
If that small bit of sound only comes
from one source, humans begin to believe
the emperor does wear a suit and red tie.
The truth is the emperor is naked — cut-
ting the legs off those who see through
the lies and try to be true to themselves.
Subconsciously, people have always
become more like those they emulate. For
me, it was Audie Murphy, a World War II
hero turned movie star. For former Pres-
ident Donald Trump, he has allegedly
praised Adolf Hitler. We should all know
what that man is famous for.
Wake up. Please pull your heads out
of wherever, and pay attention. If only
1% of the population controls most of the
wealth and the media, who is controlling
whom? It’s time to learn that we citizens
have the responsibility to not act like the
sheep politicians pose us to be.
TROY HASKELL
Astoria