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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 28, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Saturday, May 28, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com MIKE FORRESTER STEVE FORRESTER KATHRYN B. BROWN Pendleton Chairman of the Board Astoria President Pendleton Secretary/Treasurer CORY BOLLINGER JEFF ROGERS Aberdeen, S.D. Director Indianapolis, Ind. Director OUR VIEW A holiday for all of us In this bipartisan time, we rarely that join the military defend all have opportunities to truly come Americans — our lives, our land, together. our culture and our traditions. There’s Christmas, but apparently It can be easy to forget, so far there’s a war raging around it. We from the battleield, what that all watch the Super sacriice means. Bowl, but only half That there are nearly are satisied with the 7,000 young men No one gives outcome. Thanks and women who their life for to the never-ending have been killed in political calendar, the Democratic combat since 2001. this country inds it was for their or Republican And itself divided on a hometown as well daily basis. as ours, for their party. Memorial Day family and yours. is an opportunity to We understand step back from this division — to the impulse to spend the long unite in remembrance and respect weekend at the barbecue, car sale, for those who gave the ultimate camping or waiting in endless TSA sacriice for this country. It is also an checkpoints at the airport. And we opportunity to remember why they hope you do enjoy the day off work. gave that sacriice. What about this But we also hope you take a country and its principles makes it few minutes to look out at your worth ighting for? cemetery, over to your neighbors, to No one gives their life for the the less fortunate, at the incredibly Democratic or Republican party, blessed, onto our bountiful lands. or for their favorite sports team, or They are what we all have in for a single law or politician. Those common. 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 Never forget the true cost of war By CAMERON SMITH Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs T his year will mark 150 years since the irst local ceremonies decorating the graves of veterans after the end of the Civil War. This military family and community tradition was later formalized as a national day of honor in Decoration Day, and what we now call Memorial Day. In 1866, no family or community remained untouched by the Civil War — America’s bloodiest conlict resulted in over 1 million casualties and claimed over 620,000 lives. The impacts of the war were intensely and personally felt across the nation. Today, there are over 320,000 veterans across Oregon. We are four generations strong across 5 major wars, plus all those who stood guard over our peace and served in smaller conlicts around the world. With every veteran counted, we must also include recognition of their spouses and families who served in their own way on the home front while their veteran was in uniform. At the same time, we must acknowledge that our nation’s battles today are fought by less than one percent of our population. The weight of the most recent conlicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has been borne by the few. Most of our citizens today have not been directly impacted by the wars. The same cannot be said for our Gold Star families who have lost a loved one in service to the nation. We must never forget the true cost of war — a cost far beyond dollars and cents. Fifty years ago in Vietnam, we lost over 58,000 dedicated service members whose names are now immortalized in polished black granite at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Across the ages, from the beaches in Europe and on Paciic islands to the mountains and jungles in Asia, countless Americans have stood up to serve and have laid down their lives. At the most basic level, they fought to protect the one on their right and the one on their left, but ultimately their ight protects us all and preserves the values we hold dear. This Memorial Day, as we kick off the start of summer and turn to enjoy Oregon’s incredible parks, beaches, rivers and mountains, we must encourage all citizens to pause and honor our fallen and their families. We thank all veterans for their service in uniform and their continued service in using their leadership, skills and experience to enrich our communities across the state. We must continue to share the stories of our military’s service and most importantly share the stories of all those who have made the ultimate sacriice. Thank you for all of your support for Oregon veterans and God Bless all those still serving overseas. ■ Cameron Smith served three tours in Iraq as a Marine and is the Director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs. OTHER VIEWS Memorial weekend ranting S reaction has been good — really ummer is upon us, and we are positive.” We presume the market in facing important travel decisions. question does not involve the actual Such as who to blame when we passengers. get stuck in interminable airport lines. But the industry is so powerful So many options. There’s the that it seems to be able to get away government, but how many times can with squishing people into smaller you can complain about Congress in and smaller spaces. Last month, Sen. the course of a lifetime? There’s the Chuck Schumer of New York offered public — air trafic up 12 percent since Gail 2011. But really, people, don’t blame Collins an amendment to a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration yourself. Comment Let’s pick a rant that’s good for you, that would have imposed a moratorium good for me, good for the on reductions in seat size lines in security: Make the and space between rows. It airlines stop charging fees failed, 54-42. for checked baggage. Nobody spoke out Seems simple, doesn’t it? against the proposal, but Plus, if you do manage to only one Republican, Susan make it to your light, these Collins of Maine, voted for are the same people who it. We salute Susan Collins, will be announcing there’s a who has been, for a number $3 fee if you want a snack. of years, virtually the entire The largest airlines population of the Moderate charge $25 for the Republican Caucus. irst checked bag, thus When Schumer lies, his encouraging people to drag irst move is to empty the their belongings through the seat pocket in front of him. airport, clogging the X-ray lines and slowing “I take out the magazine and the airsickness the boarding process as everybody ights to bag so I have an extra eighth of an inch,” he cram one last rolling duffel into the overhead said in a phone interview. compartment. It’s a matter of some passion — when the The idea that travelers should be hit by an presidents of three airlines visited Schumer’s extra charge for, um, having luggage began ofice for discussion of a totally unrelated in 2008, when the cost of fuel went through issue, he moved the coffee table so it was an the roof. We understood the airlines’ pain, inch from their knees. “I said: ‘OK, now you sort of. Maybe. But now fuel prices have know how it feels.’” fallen into the cellar. The airlines are taking But about the bags. in stupendous proits — last year nearly $26 Rather than reducing the number of bags billion after taxes, up from $2.3 billion in in security lines, the airlines would like the 2010. government to deal with the problem by Yet the baggage fees are still with us. In adding more workers to screen them. And the fact, they’ve gone up by about two-thirds. perpetually beleaguered Transportation Security Last year, the nation’s airlines made more than Administration is going to spend $34 million $3.8 billion off what I believe it is fair to call a to hire more people and pay more overtime this scam. It’s also an excellent way to make your summer. Which, it assured the public, is not prices look lower than they really are when really going to solve much of anything. people surf for the cheapest ticket, a number (Who, you may ask, pays for the security that never includes details like the special lines anyway? For the most part you the fees for bags, food, canceling a reservation, taxpayer do. Also you the passenger pay a booking by phone, sitting in a minimally more special security fee on your tickets. Which comfortable emergency row or, in some cases, Congress tends to grab away from the TSA for requesting a pillow. use in all-purpose deicit reduction. I know, I Shouldn’t the airlines offer up the baggage know.) fee as a token of solidarity with their miserable A spokesman for Delta Air Lines, which passengers? The idea has come up. Homeland took in more than $875 million on baggage Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asked the fees last year, told The Atlanta Journal- airlines to “consider possibly” this modest Constitution that bowing to the extremely bow to air travel sanity. Two U.S. senators, modest Markey-Blumenthal request for Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard a summer suspension of the baggage fee Blumenthal of Connecticut, wrote a letter to wouldn’t “really help alleviate a lot.” It would the airlines asking them to just drop the fees also, he said, require a “considerable change during the high-trafic summer months. to the business model.” We pause now for the sound of silence and Heaven forfend we mess with the business crickets chirping. model. The airlines have maximized proits by ■ making travel as miserable as possible. Boeing Gail Collins joined The New York Times found a way to cram 14 more seats into its in 1995 as a member of the editorial board largest twin-engine jetliner by reducing the and later as an Op-Ed columnist. In 2001 she size of the lavatories. Bloomberg quoted a became the irst woman ever appointed editor Boeing oficial as reporting that “the market of the Times’s editorial page. Shouldn’t airlines offer up the baggage fee as a token of solidarity with their miserable passengers? The plight of the endangered farmer The (Bend) Bulletin, May 21 C entral Oregon farmers should not be allowed to become an endangered species. If the Endangered Species Act is going to require big or small changes in how irrigation districts take water from the Deschutes Basin, Congress needs to provide the money to protect the farmers from being threatened. It’s encouraging to see that Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, has taken a step toward making money available. The Senate agriculture appropriations bill contains some $50 million in new funding that is more speciically aimed toward ixing the kinds of problems Central Oregon has. The money has criteria attached to it that its the region’s irrigation districts — a need to make improvements to conserve water, improve eficiency or otherwise improve habitat. It doesn’t mean the districts are going to get $50 million. The language would have to survive intact on a journey through Congress and be signed into law. Local districts would still have to apply. They would have to compete with other applicants that face similar challenges. But it would be new money available. Think of it as a nonearmark earmark in the post-earmark era. A key issue in the Deschutes Basin is using water better. Nearly 90 percent of the streamlow from the Deschutes River in Bend is diverted during irrigation season to irrigation canals, according to the Deschutes River Conservancy. The change is particularly noticeable in the winter when water is stored. Just below Wickiup Dam, lows in the Deschutes River can drop to 20 cubic feet per second starting in the fall, compared to as much as 1,500 cfs in the spring. There may be partial solutions that can be done for no money. One analysis suggested more water could simply be let through the Wickiup Dam in most years, as much as 100 cubic feet per second more. There’s also a ongoing study of the Deschutes Basin that will attempt to identify other ixes. Most solutions cost money. Piping canals conserves water, but it’s expensive. For instance, piping all of Central Oregon Irrigation District’s main canals could save as much as 400 cfs for the Deschutes River. It might cost more than $300 million. That’s why it’s so important for Oregon’s congressional delegation to look for ways for the federal government to help. Send letters to 211 SE Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR, 97801 or editor@eastoregonian.com