The INDEPENDENT, October 1, 2009
Where to Find Them
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(Dem)
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland OR 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525
223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-0001
Phone: 202-224-5244
E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/
contact
Website: http://wyden.senate.
gov
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
(Dem.)
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-326-3386
107 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3753
E-Mail: http://merkley.senate.
gov/contact
WebSite: http://merkley.senate.
gov
U.S. Representative David Wu
(Dem) OR District 1
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Website: http://house.gov/wu
Senator Betsy Johnson
(Dem) Senate District 16
PO Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 503-543-4046
900 Court St. NE, S-314
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1716
E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/johnson
Representative Brad Witt
(Dem) House District. 31
21740 Lindberg Road,
Clatskanie, OR 97016
Phone: 503-728-4664
900 Court St. NE, H-373
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1431
E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/witt
Representative Deborah
Boone
(Dem) House District 32
PO Box 926
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Phone: 503-717-9182
900 Court St. NE, H-375
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1432
E-mail: rep.deborahboone@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/boone
Page 3
Letters
Boise employees are
great community help
To the Editor:
Thank you for your contin-
ued support.
During these tough times,
we frequently hear only the
negative. Jobs are lost, no rais-
es, cost of food and shelter go-
ing up.
I would like to focus on
something very positive going
on in our community. That is
Boise Paper and the support
the company and their employ-
ees are giving to this communi-
ty as they themselves are going
through some very difficult
Ike Says…
From Page 2
regard of fire closures and gat-
ed roads by individuals on
ATVs. It has become almost a
contest to see who can defeat
the other as the timber compa-
nies barricade illegal ATV trails
and the outlaws find new ways
around the blockages. Let’s
just say, if you get caught on an
ATV in a closed area, there will
be no leniency, the timberland
owners and troopers are not
amused.
Will there be any salmon for
Salmon Festival this year?
Probably not, although the pre-
dicted rainfall will surely help.
My wife said she saw one from
the bridge downtown. Chinook
runs in the Nehalem River
have taken a huge turn for the
worse in the last few years and
ODF&W is scrambling to figure
out why. They took the ex-
treme measure this year of
closing the fishery for Chinook
salmon in the Nehalem
drainage. ODF&W is also con-
ducting extensive spawning
surveys this year and gather-
ing genetic samples. One
could assume the genetic sam-
ples are to help identify when
Nehalem Chinook are caught
in other fisheries, and to ob-
serve the impact of these out-
side fisheries. Let’s hope they
get this fish run turned around,
it’s pretty hard to have a
Salmon Festival without any
salmon!
Izaak Walton League,
Nehalem Valley Chapter
meets monthly on the 3rd
Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call
503-428-7193 for location.
times.
Over this last year, Boise
has experienced a significant
reduction in the number of peo-
ple employed there. Funds that
were readily available from the
company to support community
events are no longer available.
What could possibly be good
about that?
The answer: Boise employ-
ees, past and present, are still
actively involved in volunteer-
ing in our community. Those
still employed are helping sup-
port many not-for-profit pro-
grams via payroll deduction
and the company is reaching
out to community not-for-profits
with donations of computers,
office machines, furniture and
office supplies.
United Way of Columbia
County has received and
helped distribute over $6200 in
furniture, computers, office ma-
chines and assorted school
and office supplies. These
items have helped numerous
community organizations, in-
cluding United Way, by provid-
ing them with needed items
without having to dip into their
already stretched budgets. The
volunteers who serve on
boards, help deliver meals, etc.
are crucial to the continued
availability of service to those in
need in our community.
Thank you to Boise and the
employees, both current and
past, who continue to support
the community where they live
and do business.
We are very fortunate to
have such dedicated people in
our community.
Sincerely,
Kathye Beck
Executive Director
United Way of Columbia
County
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will
not publish letters that in-
clude personal attacks on
private citizens. Because of
space limitations, preference
will be given to brief letters,
300 words or less.
All letters must be signed
and include a verifiable ad-
dress or phone number.
An Oregon Perspective
By Senator Jeff Merkley
Bringing Down the
Cost of Health Care
Recently, I held a num-
ber of town hall meetings
in Eastern and Central
Oregon. Whether I was in
Crook County, Wallowa or
Harney, the number one
issue on people’s minds
was health care reform. Oregonians want to
know what will change, what will remain, and
how much this will cost individuals, businesses,
and the country.
In the reform plans currently in front of Con-
gress, there are several strategies that will lower
health care costs while encouraging market-
based competition and choice:
First, we need to make it illegal for insurance
companies to discriminate based on pre-existing
conditions. And for Americans who have insur-
ance, we need to stop providers from delaying,
capping or eliminating coverage just when peo-
ple need care the most. It is unacceptable that in-
surance companies can drop someone from cov-
erage when they get sick or injured even if
they’ve been reliably paying premiums for years.
We’ll also make insurance more portable so
that you can keep your plan if you lose your job
or want to switch to a different job. And we’ll end
the low lifetime limits that throw even insured
families into bankruptcy because they’ve ex-
hausted their available benefits.
A crucial component for lowering costs is in-
creased competition. We will give individuals
and small businesses more choices by creating
an insurance marketplace. This marketplace will
enable them to band together in one large group
to get a better deal from insurance companies in-
stead of having to try to buy a policy on their own
in a confusing and fragmented insurance market.
Each person in the pool will then be able to
choose whichever plan they prefer. This is how
the health plan for federal employees and Mem-
bers of Congress works.
The other major mechanism for increasing
competition is the creation of a strong communi-
ty health plan – or public option. Consumers
would still be able to pick from among private in-
surers if they want, but the community plan
would give them another choice to improve serv-
ice and drive down costs.
The health care plans being developed in
Washington will lower costs while strengthening
our health care system for those who have insur-
ance and extending care to those who don’t.
Now is the time to move forward and improve our
health care system for all Americans.
"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, "Universe," a part limited in
time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something
separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This
delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to
affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves
from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living crea-
tures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this com-
pletely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation
and a foundation for inner security."
— Albert Einstein - (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921