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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2011)
Page 20 The INDEPENDENT, August 17, 2011 Merkley explains no vote on the debt bill On August 2, the United States Senate voted on legisla- tion to increase the debt ceiling while imposing deep cuts on programs important to many middle class families. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley voted against the bill. He issued the following statement: “I have spent the last sever- al days immersed in the details of this budget deal, trying to un- derstand its real-world impact on Oregon’s middle class and small businesses. I have a sin- gle, simple measure to evalu- ate this proposal: is it going to create greater opportunities for prosperity and success for working Americans? Unfortu- nately, I have concluded that it will not, and so I cannot sup- port it. “First, this deal will con- tribute to the gathering storm threatening to make our current unemployment crisis even worse. Our unsustainable defi- cits are absolutely a long-term challenge that we must ad- dress. But millions of Oregoni- ans and Americans are out of work right now. And with at least 5 million foreclosures looming, with the expiration of extended unemployment bene- fits forecast to cost half a mil- lion jobs next year, with the payroll tax holiday ending and costing another estimated 900,000 jobs in 2012, we should be relentlessly preoccu- pied with how to create more jobs. Instead, this package will add to the job losses, repeating the mistakes that have caused prolonged economic slumps in this country and elsewhere. “Second, this deal will do serious damage to the pro- grams that middle class Amer- icans depend on. The bulk of the deficit reduction is piled onto that small part of the budget that funds things like Head Start, college financial aid, research into clean energy and medical cures, and safe- guards against contaminated food and polluted air and water. These sorts of pro- grams, combined, are less than one-fifth of the budget. And we are spending the same amount on them today in a real dollars, per person basis, as we did in 2001. Yet these pro- grams – critical to helping fam- ilies in tough times, to giving kids the tools they need to suc- ceed, and to keeping our See Merkley on page 22 Governor signs Witt’s bill to shut down shark fin market in Oregon The Governor, on August 4, signed HB 2838, chiefly spon- sored by Representative Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie), which out- laws the marketing of shark fins in Oregon. Shark fins are an expensive, in-demand item used in shark fin soup. “All too often shark fins are obtained by means of a barbar- ic practice commonly referred to as finning. This involves the taking of sharks solely for the purpose of harvesting their fins, while the rest of the fish is usu- ally wasted,” said Rep. Witt. “Worse yet, sharks are often finned alive, only to die an ago- nizing death of starvation, drowning or bleeding.” Some estimates show that internationally approximately 73 million sharks are finned and killed each year. Oregon fisheries regulations conform to federal requirements prohibit- ing the removal of shark fins or tail at sea. However, there has been no Oregon law that bans the possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins in state. HB 2838 changes that. In the wake of Oregon action on this issue, similar legislation is now being considered in Cal- ifornia and Canada. Washing- ton State and Hawaii have en- acted similar laws. Want to know what happens around here all year? Get The Independent delivered to your home for a year for only $20.00 Call today to start your subscription 503-429-9410