Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 19, 2004 Walden reflects on Reagan, gets ready for election By Steve Zimmerman Ashland Daily Tidings District 2 Congressman Greg Walden said he was impressed by the spirit of cooperation and non-partisanship taking place in Washington during the week of mourning the death of former President Ronald Reagan. "It was not only somber but kind," he said from his office at the Capitol. "There is a lot of partisanship up here on the hill, that's the way the process is built sometimes to extreme. But that went away this week. In talking to some of my colleagues, there is sort of this relief because we all get sick of it, but it continues to happen." Walden said he was hopeful that everyone on the hill will remember that legislators should be able to get along better than they do. Walden said the war in Iraq and the prisoner abuse scandal have made it more difficult to be in government. "I would not put that on the back of contentiousness," he said. "I believe it is also because of the enormity of the challenges we face domestically and globally. And whenever you face those challenges and uncertainties, people have different views they bring to the table and that makes it a difficult time." Walden is preparing to begin his campaign for reelection. He will face Democrat John McColgan for his U.S. House District 2 seat. One of the big issues facing Congress and the country is the controversy over the Patriot Act. Walden said it will be coming under close scrutiny in the near future. "It is one of those issues that is not just a liberal issue, it is also a conservative issue," he said. "I supported it as did an overwhelming number of my colleagues in the House. But in part, we put a three-year Sunset Provision in the act so that some of these new powers would be forced to come up for review. "We discovered that some of the provisions in that act have been important tools in identifying terrorists, even some in the Northwest. But we have also discovered that some of those provisions tilt the other way and tend to violate, I think, the due process civil rights of Americans. That is why I think the review of the act we are going to go through is an important one. Through that process we will be able to fine tune the law that gives law enforcement officials the tools they need to keep pace with the changing technology while not trampling on our constitutional rights." Walden said that because his district is so large, the issues facing his constituents are very diverse. "Campaigns always have a way of maturing some issues we might not think about today," he said. "But fundamentally, you get down to issues that are pretty much pocketbook issues. The economy and jobs are very important issues. My district has been hard hit for far too long, but it is starting to come back. Southern Oregon is stronger as is Central Oregon than most of the rest of the district's economy." Walden said education has always been a priority with him. "We need to continue to focus on helping our institutions of higher education and helping students get their education," he said. "I have been credited with getting the first earmark in a federal appropriation Southern Oregon University had ever gotten. That was for the digitization of their library collection. We also got funding for the Aucoin Center and worked to get money for the theater program." He said Congress also is working to increase Pell Grants as well as make sure the colleges have money for scholarships to help students afford college. Natural resources and the timber industry also continue to be hot-button issues in Southern Oregon. "I tend to run strongly on my record of building bipartisan support for improvements in helping manage our forests," Walden said. "The Healthy Forest Restoration Act, along with examples of what good has taken place in the Ashland Watershed and the Applegate are examples where some of the work we envisioned has already taken place and was done in an environmentally sensitive way." Walden has been spending much time working on a satisfactory resolution to the air tanker cancellation problem as fire season begins. "I think that was an unfortunate decision by the forest service," he said. "What happened was the National Transportation Safety Board did their required analysis of the crashes that occurred. They saw the planes were old and stressed and had never been certified for dropping retardant. The forest service was told they needed a system in place to certify these planes' air worthiness. "The forest service said, 'We do not have the ability to do that. That is not what we do. So we are going to go a different direction.' That resulted in the termination of the contracts for those 33 aircraft. I was dumbfounded there was not better communication and coordination among the agencies involved." After a meeting on Capitol Hill, the agencies are now working together talking and working out details. Until a solution can be found, other aircraft are being prepared for use during fire season in Oregon. And Walden is still working hard on health care issues for people who cannot afford health insurance, the elderly, small business owners and underprivileged residents of Oregon. As for debating McColgan before the November election, Walden said he looks forward to talking issues with his opponent. "I am happy to debate as long as it can be worked out with my Congressional schedule," he said. "In 2002, we went so late, I think we had about a week or two at the very end of October. Peter (Buckley) and I ended up debating for about an hour on Jefferson Public Radio. I look forward to meeting up with John along the way as well. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams