Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
JENNINE PERKINSON
Advertising Director
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Local legislators
recap the session
balance through the shifts, standing
It’s a low-paying, high-stress
by his conservative ideals while
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working well with the opposition. It
colleagues are true allies and which
has paid off. Rare for a Republican
are false friends. A portion of your
in Democrat-dominated state
constituents are going to mistrust
you based solely on the color of your government, Smith sits on and chairs
important committees. Thanks to
campaign button, and the rest can
turn quickly if you don’t bring home KLVVHQLRULW\DQGDELOLW\WR¿QG
consensus, he is one of only a few
what they’re looking for.
Welcome to the life of a legislator. House Republicans who hold the
purse strings.
We know it’s a tough one, but it
Biggest win: Smith brought home
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thoughts on our three representatives the bacon. In addition to being a
linchpin in the Umatilla Basin water
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package, he secured $1.5 million
Bill Hansell — and include their
for the Eastern Oregon Trade and
thoughts on the Legislative session
Event Center, $2 million for the
that was.
Condon Airport and $1.6 million for
• The training wheels are off
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for Sen. Hansell, a longtime
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Umatilla County
restarted Eastern
commissioner who
The low-paying, Oregon University’s
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program,
Republicans in the
high stress 2015 wrestling
a big deal from the
2013 session.
stint in Salem
father of a wrestling
In that session
he faced the same
is over. So how family.
Biggest
steep learning curve
loss: Smith is a
Rep. Barreto faced
did it go?
concentrate-on-
this time around,
the-positive type of
and Hansell came
guy. He was disappointed about gun
back with a Rolodex full of new
regulations and other Democrat-led
allies from both sides of the aisle.
priorities, but much of that he often
That was crucial for bringing home
lets wash under the bridge.
the $50 million state water funding
Takeaway: Smith is well-
package, which Hansell played a
key part in after years of work by his positioned for one more shift. Where
will it take it him?
predecessors. The Umatilla Basin
• Rep. Greg Barreto, a freshman
should get a large chunk of the $50
Republican from Cove and small
million.
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It’s Hansell’s ability to appeal
session.
to reason that we appreciate most,
He acclimated himself to his
as well as his optimistic approach
new surroundings, working his way
to a legislator’s role. He knows not
through the often dumbfounding
every day in Salem is going to be a
world of politics. He told us of the
win, but he’ll come back and play
seven-day-a-week work schedule,
anyway.
the quirks of the Capitol and the
Biggest win: Water funding was
a must-have piece of legislation, and frustration of trying to be heard in
a place where it’s as much who you
made the session a success for that
know as what you know.
part of District 29. He also helped
He pledged from the beginning to
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avoid costly annexation with simple work on building relationships with
people from a variety of political
exemption legislation and increased
ideals. He admitted to his temper
protections for abused women.
getting the best of him at times, and
And then there’s the demolition
torching some of those relationships.
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His Facebook page remains
Recovery Center, which we hope
peppered with insults of the other
turns into a win for the city of
party, something not that uncommon
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in this age of partisanship, but
Biggest loss: Hansell bemoaned
uncommon compared with his
hits taken by small business,
including mandatory sick leave, and fellow local legislators.
Biggest win: He secured funding
the fact that Oregon seems to forget
of the $1.25 million Elgin rural
about the ag industry when creating
health care center (along with
statewide requirements.
Hansell) and paved the way to speed
Takeaway: If reputation is
limit increases in Eastern Oregon, a
evidence of success, Hansell is
longstanding wish list item for many.
doing something right in Salem.
Biggest loss: Barreto sought
He’s getting tabbed for the big
increased wolf kill compensation for
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his ranching constituents, but after
emergency board) and is setting
a bait-and-switch on the bargaining
himself up to be an even bigger
table it disappeared before his eyes.
force next time around.
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• Rep. Greg Smith has seen
plenty of changes in the last 16
also watched a handful of other
years. But the last 18 months have
bills die at the hands of House
dramatically changed the Heppner
Democrats.
Republican’s role in Salem. His
Takeaway: Barreto took some
district was redrawn to include
lumps during the past six months,
Hermiston in 2013. His fellow
but came out of the session with a
northeastern representatives Bob
couple bills that are exactly what his
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constituents wanted and a deeper
making him the most senior member understanding of the process. He
of the contingent by a long shot.
didn’t spend all of his time in Salem
But Smith has maintained his
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Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher
Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
OTHER VIEWS
Backing up wager with Iran
F
rom the minute Iran detected that
2. Congress should pass a resolution
the U.S. was unwilling to use
authorizing this and future presidents
its overwhelming military force
to use force to prevent Iran from ever
to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program
becoming a nuclear weapons state.
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Iran must know now that the U.S.
W. Bush administration, which would
president is authorized to destroy —
neither accept Iran’s right to a nuclear
without warning or negotiation — any
fuel cycle nor structure a military or
attempt by Tehran to build a bomb.
diplomatic option to stop it — no
3. Focus on the Iranian people. The
Thomas
perfect deal overwhelmingly favorable Friedman celebrations of this deal in Iran tell
to America and its allies was ever
us that “the Iranian people want to be
Comment
going to emerge from negotiations
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with Iran. The balance of power
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became too equal.
Carnegie Endowment. We should reach out
But there are degrees of imperfect, and
to them in every way — visas, exchanges and
the diplomatic option structured by the
scholarships — to strengthen their voices.
Obama team — if properly implemented and
Visiting Iran taught me that Iranians have
augmented by muscular diplomacy — serves
had enough Islamic fundamentalism to know
core U.S. interests better than any options I
they want less of it, and they’ve had enough
hear coming from the deal’s
democracy to know they want
critics: It prevents Iran from
more of it. (Iran’s hard-line
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to break out with a nuclear
this well, which is why they
weapon for 15 years and
are still trying to persuade
creates a context that could
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empower the more pragmatic
this deal and its opening to the
forces inside Iran over time —
world.)
at the price of constraining, but
4. Avoid a black-and-white
not eliminating, Iran’s nuclear
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infrastructure and sanctions
idea that Iran is everywhere
relief that will strengthen
our enemy and the Sunni Arabs
Tehran as a regional power.
our allies is a mistake. Saudi
Supporting this deal doesn’t
Arabia’s leadership has been
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a steadfast U.S. ally in the
opposing it doesn’t make you
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Dr. Strangelove. Both sides
pro-American. But the Saudi
have legitimate arguments. But
leadership’s ruling bargain
having studied them, I believe
is toxic: It says to the Saudi
America’s interests are best served now by
people that the al-Saud tribe gets to rule
focusing on how to get the best out of this deal and in return the Saudi Wahhabi religious
and cushion the worst, rather than scuttling it.
establishment gets billions of dollars to
That would be a mistake that would isolate us, transform the face of Sunni Islam from an
not Iran, and limit our choices to going to war
open and modernizing faith to a puritanical,
or tolerating an Iran much closer to nuclear
anti-women, anti-Shiite, anti-pluralistic
breakout, without any observers or curbs on
one. The Saudis have lost control of this
the ground, and with crumbling sanctions.
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“The nuclear agreement is a deal, not a
and it has mutated into the ideology that
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whom were Saudis — and the Islamic State.
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Iran aided the U.S. in toppling the Taliban
(Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei, are each making
regime in Afghanistan, and, at the same time,
a tacit bet. Obama is defending the deal
Tehran, and its cat’s paw, Hezbollah, have
in transactional terms (that it addresses a
propped up the Syrian regime while it has
discrete urgent challenge), but betting that
perpetrated a genocide against its own people,
it will empower Iran’s moderate faction and
mostly Syrian Sunnis. We need to confront
put the country on a more favorable societal
Iran’s regional behavior when it contradicts
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our interests, but align with it when it
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comports with our interests. We want to
the transactional nature of the agreement
balance the autocratic Sunnis and Shiites, not
(sanctions relief) and forestall the deal’s
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potentially transformational implications to
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broadly, we need to contain, amplify and
We can, though, do things to increase the
innovate: Contain the most aggressive forces
odds that the bet goes our way:
there, amplify any leaders or people building
1. Don’t let this deal become the
decency there, and innovate on energy like
Obamacare of arms control, where all the
crazy to keep prices low, reduce oil money to
energy goes into the negotiation but then
bad actors and reduce our exposure to a region
that is going to be in turmoil for a long, long,
the implementing tools — in this case the
long time.
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Thomas L. Friedman won the 2002 Pulitzer
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Prize for commentary.
aspect of implementing this deal.
Supporting
this deal
doesn’t make
you Neville
Chamberlin;
opposing
it doesn’t
make you Dr.
Strangelove.
YOUR VIEWS
Oregon should support
stronger food labeling laws
The Oregon congressional delegation
should support the Safe and Accurate Food
Labeling Act (HR 1599). Lack of federal
action in past years has spurred states to create
their own mandatory labeling standards.
However, the federal government is the
proper place for this regulation because
consumers deserve to have accurate and
reliable food labels in every state. Finally
there’s a sensible solution in Congress that
will apply to all the states and won’t harm
Oregon agriculture.
The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act
is a voluntary system in which food producers
can choose how to market their goods without
increasing food prices. A study last year by
Cornell University found that a mandatory
state-based approach could force families to
pay up to $500 more per year for groceries.
Thousands of products labeled “USDA
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help consumers identify foods made without
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system allows the consumer to decide if they
wish to pay the higher costs associated with
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regulatory agency in the world has reviewed
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safe.
By creating a national voluntary standard
for labeling, the Safe and Accurate Food
Labeling Act ensures that families and
farmers in Oregon are not burdened with the
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I hope our delegation supports this pragmatic
legislation.
Ian Tolleson, government affairs director
Northwest Food Processors Association
Portland
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper
reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and
products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must
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The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send
letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
or email editor@eastoregonian.com.