A4 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2022
BAKER CITY
Opinion
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Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Oregon
investments
in Russia
S
tate Treasurer Tobias Read has
faced calls to pull state investments
out of fossil fuels and NSO Group,
an Israeli company whose software was
used to spy on people’s phones. And now
there are questions about state invest-
ments in Russia.
His office told us the state has $135
billion in assets under its management.
They ran the numbers and of that about
$122 million is invested in bonds, public
equity and currency connected to Russia.
Is Oregon going to pull that money?
Not at the moment. Should it?
“We support the people of Ukraine,”
Read said in a statement that was sent
to us on Feb. 28. “I’ve asked my team to
fully evaluate the portfolio’s exposure
to investments in Russia and to identify
our options as institutional investors.
I’m also meeting with the U.S. Treasury
this week to determine, with their guid-
ance, any opportunity we have to aid the
U.S. response.”
Read has pointed out Oregon’s invest-
ment policy is about making money and
doesn’t allow purely political divestment.
“We are to ‘make the moneys as pro-
ductive as possible’ (ORS 293.721) and
the ‘investment funds shall be…man-
aged as a prudent investor would do…’
(ORS 293.726). This means we cannot
insert personal or political preferences
into our investment decisions,” Read and
other members of the Oregon Investment
Council wrote in a letter in 2021 to Sen-
ate President Peter Courtney about in-
vestments in fossil fuels.
What’s also interesting about that let-
ter is that they did not ask for more au-
thority to make investment decisions
based on political factors. In fact, they
cautioned against it. They argued they
did not believe it was an effective way to
change corporate behavior. There could
be financial penalties for pulling out of
certain investments.
As you might expect, if that is his per-
spective, Read did not ask this legislative
session for changes, either. To be fair to
Read, he didn’t know Russia would in-
vade Ukraine or what the international
response would be.
Do you believe the people managing
Oregon’s investments should have more
authority to make investment decisions
based on political decisions? In some
cases? In the case of this Russian inva-
sion? You can tell Read what you think at
oregon.treasurer@ost.state.or.us.
There is a short summary on the trea-
surer’s blog about investments and fossil
fuels at tinyurl.com/ORfossilfuels.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of
the Baker City Herald. Columns, letters
and cartoons on this page express the opin-
ions of the authors and not necessarily that
of the Baker City Herald.
COLUMN
Kick Russia off UN Security Council
BY IRYNA ZAVERUKHA
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has
changed the world. While Ukrainians try
to defend themselves and call for collective
self-defense, millions of people in the free
world plead for action. The post-World War
II international political order is failing. But it
has not yet fallen: The United Nations still can
take action to regain moral standing and to
secure the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Ukraine and all other member states.
The U.N.’s main purpose is to maintain in-
ternational peace and security, but it did not
prevent the full-scale brutal war now happen-
ing in Ukraine, nor did it prevent or punish
Russia’s unlawful seizure of Crimea and its oc-
cupation of Donbas in 2014.
The organization’s final insult to Ukraine
and everyone horrified by its treatment has
been Russia’s role presiding over the Security
Council. From this soapbox, the highest stage
in the world, the Russian ambassador has am-
plified the Kremlin’s propagandistic narrative
for weeks.
By giving this platform, the U.N. has con-
veyed legitimacy for Russia and done real
harm to Ukrainians and to world peace. That
need not be its legacy. The U.N. can now be
part of the solution.
Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassa-
dor to the United Nations, gave an emotional
speech on Feb. 24, pointing to a provision in
the U.N. Charter intended to deal with mem-
bers that persistently violate U.N. principles.
According to Article 6, such members may be
expelled from the organization by the General
Assembly upon the recommendation of the
Security Council.
Because any one of the permanent mem-
bers of the Security Council — the United
States, Russia, China, Britain and France —
can veto any action the council considers, it
is clear this provision was not designed to be
employed against any of those five.
However, by the time of Kyslytsya’s admo-
nition, it was becoming impossible to ignore
the Russian Federation’s persistent and blatant
violation of principles of international law and
the deceitful manipulation of legal norms.
There is a path forward, however, with-
out Security Council unanimity, following
the “Uniting for Peace” resolution model
from 1950.
The Ukraine ambassador’s appeal deserves
a response. The United Nations is holding an
emergency session of the General Assembly,
something that has happened only 10 times
since the first major deadlock of the Secu-
rity Council. On Wednesday, 141 states de-
manded that Russia immediately, completely
and unconditionally withdraw all of its mil-
itary forces from the territory of Ukraine
within its internationally recognized borders.
Further and substantially more action is
needed. This time, the emergency session
should go well beyond any of the previous
10. Although this would admittedly stretch
the terms of the U.N. Charter, there is noth-
ing to stop the General Assembly from en-
acting reforms that would be needed to expel
Russia from the Security Council.
Keeping Russia in this inner circle has
yielded no benefit for the international
community. The U.N. is not restraining the
Kremlin’s belligerence thus far, and we have
no reason to believe that it ever will if Russia
continues to have veto authority.
Removing Russia from the Security Coun-
cil would signal an end to the impotent re-
sponse to the aggression, autocracy and nu-
clear threat. It would signal that the U.N.
didn’t abandon its main purpose. At this
point, the expulsion of Russia is not mere
punishment. It is lifesaving necessity.
The time for condemnation, punishment
and expectations of changes in Russian be-
havior has long since passed. By the time
Russia massed more than 190,000 troops
at the Ukrainian border, the international
community was well aware of the imminent
threat to Ukrainian sovereignty. Such action
by Russia was again in direct contravention
of the Budapest Memorandum on Security
Assurances for Ukraine, signed by Russia, the
U.S. and the United Kingdom in 1994.
The hope in ousting Russia from the Se-
curity Council would be to restore peace
through the employment of a collective
self-defense mechanism that would secure
Russian withdrawal of military forces from
Ukraine, based on borders that were interna-
tionally recognized when the sovereign re-
public gained independence in 1991.
Moreover, emasculation of Russia as a
player with veto power is essential to ren-
der Russian President Vladimir Putin and
others subject to the jurisdiction of the In-
ternational Criminal Court for the crime
of aggression.
In the 20th century, when people talked
about reforming the U.N., it was an academic
exercise. Today, changes are simply unavoid-
able. We are at the point of no return.
Failing to heed the prescient adage of phi-
losopher George Santayana and ignoring the
Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 is to fail to
learn the lesson of history, thus condemning
us to repeat it. But there is still time to pre-
vent a complete collapse of the international
order; the U.N. need not crumble as did the
League of Nations.
The Ukraine crisis offers an opportunity
for the U.N. to preserve its relevance and re-
shape itself in a way that would provide se-
curity for the entire global community. If the
General Assembly convenes in an emergency
session and takes decisive action, we will
have reason to hope.
Will the United Nations assume the neces-
sary leadership to stop the aggressor, employ
all meaningful tools for reestablishing peace
and hold the perpetrators accountable? Or
will it leave members embroiled in a brutal
war in the center of Europe?
As Kyslytsya stated in his speech on the
first day of the U.N. emergency session, if
Ukraine falls, the U.N. will fall. If the U.N.
can assert its moral standing, it will organize
its members to save Ukraine and the signifi-
cance of democracy. The fates of Ukraine and
of the global community are entwined.
Iryna Zaverukha, former deputy dean of
law at Ivan Franko National University of
Lviv in Ukraine, teaches public international
law and international criminal law at
Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1111; to send
comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. office: 313 Hart Senate Office
Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-
3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland office: One World Trade
Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204;
503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900. Baker City office, 1705
Main St., Suite 504, 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen Senate Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-
228-2717. La Grande office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR
97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (2nd District): D.C. office: 1239
Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515,
202-225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. Medford office: 14 N.
Central Avenue Suite 112, Medford, OR 97850; Phone: 541-
776-4646; fax: 541-779-0204; Ontario office: 2430 S.W.
Fourth Ave., No. 2, Ontario, OR 97914; Phone: 541-709-2040.
bentz.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Shane Alderson, Joanna Dixon, Johnny Waggoner Sr. and
Dean Guyer.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.treasurer@
ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100, Salem OR 97301-
3896; 503-378-4000.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Jonathan
Cannon, city manager; Ty Duby, police chief; Sean Lee, fire
chief; Michelle Owen, public works director.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum: Justice
Building, Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse
1995 3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200. Meets the
first and third Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark
Bennett, Bruce Nichols.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and
information are available online at www.leg.state.or.us.
State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem office: 900
Court St. N.E., S-403, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. Email:
Sen.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem office: 900 Court
St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov
Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker City,
OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City Council
meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council
Chambers. Councilors Jason Spriet, Kerry McQuisten,
Baker County departments: 541-523-8200. Travis Ash,
sheriff; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster; Greg Baxter, district
attorney; Alice Durflinger, county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby,
county clerk; Kerry Savage, county assessor.
Baker School District: 2090 4th Street, Baker City, OR
97814; 541-524-2260; fax 541-524-2564. Superintendent:
Mark Witty. Board meets the third Tuesday of the month at
6 p.m. Council Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655 First St.; Chris
Hawkins, Andrew Bryan, Travis Cook, Jessica Dougherty,
Julie Huntington.
OTHER VIEWS
To protect Ukrainians in U.S., fix our immigration system
Editorial from The Dallas Morning
News:
There is little that Republicans
and Democrats in Congress agree on
nowadays, so we are heartened to see
them come together to support the
people of Ukraine. Bipartisan calls are
growing louder to extend temporary
protections to Ukrainians already in
the U.S., and we hope the Biden ad-
ministration will listen.
The special protection, called
Temporary Protected Status or TPS,
shields recipients from deportation
for 18 months and gives them permis-
sion to work. Eligible people include
Ukrainians who are here on nonim-
migrant visas to attend college, do
business or visit family. TPS would
also protect Ukrainians who have
overstayed their visas.
Lawmakers are also asking the
Biden administration to relax rules for
Ukrainian students to allow them to
work off campus and take less than a
full course load at school.
It would be callous for Americans
to force Ukrainians to go back home
to a brutal invasion. The U.S. has
previously offered TPS to citizens of
other countries, including El Salvador,
Haiti and Venezuela, after natural di-
sasters and political crises.
But we urge members of the U.S.
House and Senate to look beyond
the TPS designation. Our country
can grant this special status, but there
is more work that needs to be done
behind the curtain. Our lawmakers
must fix the case-processing backlog
in our immigration system that com-
plicates the lives of people waiting in
line for humanitarian protections and
other immigration statuses.
About 30,000 Ukrainians could
benefit from TPS, according to the
Migration Policy Institute think tank.
Yet as of September, there was a back-
log of 281,000 TPS applications, said
Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst
with MPI. The average wait time is
about four months, which is far better
than other programs in which appli-
cants wait for years, but there is also
a significant backlog for applicants
seeking employment authorization
documents.
After our country’s bungled exit
from Afghanistan last year, public
pressure mounted on American of-
ficials to expedite protections for Af-
ghan immigrants. That led to U.S. Cit-
izenship and Immigration Services, or
USCIS, shifting people and resources
to process those applications faster,
Gelatt said. It was the right step, but it
also meant that people in line for other
programs will have to wait even longer.
The USCIS backlog of cases
across programs — from refugee
status to work visas to family green
cards — has grown from 5.7 million
in 2019 to 9.5 million as of Febru-
ary. It’s a giant headache for appli-
cants, who find themselves in a le-
gal limbo that keeps them separated
from family or that causes them to
lose out on job offers or university
admission.
We hope this country’s efforts to
help our Ukrainian visitors will bring
renewed attention to the gaps in our
immigration system and perhaps
muster the political will to do some-
thing about them.