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Photo by Jim Craven Greg Walden made his first visit Tuesday to his Medford district office as a member of Congress. Walden focuses on home district, not Beltway By PAUL FATTIG When Greg Walden stepped onto the floor, he felt like he was about to get the bum's rush. After all, he was standing on hallowed ground -- the floor of the powerful House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. "The feeling I had was that I was going to get caught down there," he said, laughing. "When I was a congressional staffer, you weren't allowed to be on the floor of the House. I kept looking around, thinking, `They are going to ask me to leave.' " They weren't. Walden was among those sworn in last week as a member of the 106th Congress. A former state legislator from Hood River, the Republican was elected last fall to succeed longtime Rep. Bob Smith, R-Medford, who retired from the 2nd Congressional District seat. Walden, 42, who owns two radio stations, worked for six years as press secretary and later chief of staff for former Oregon Congressman Denny Smith. His wife, Mylene, worked for Smith for four years, and for a California congressman for two years. With nearly a dozen years, including eight in the state Legislature, separating him from his previous congressional experience, a few changes have occurred, he observed. "The big change that I see is that we (GOP) are now in the majority," he said during a stop in his Medford district office Tuesday. "That makes it a night-and-day difference in terms of an opportunity of getting things done and being part of setting the agenda. "All the time I was back there on staff, Denny was outnumbered on the Interior (now Resources Committee) two to one," he added. He acknowledges that today's Congress may have the reputation of being a bit contentious. "There are some wounded folks over the impeachment debate," he admitted. But recent speeches by new House Speaker Denny Hastert, R-Ill., and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., urged members to work together, he noted. "I'm optimistic about that," he said. While he concedes there is concern by some that the GOP is split between the moderate and conservative wings, he notes that Hastert was unanimously elected. He also rejects the idea some suggest that some GOP members of Congress are obsessed with sin. "Larry Flynt seems to be caught up in it -- nobody accused him of being on the right," he said of the pornographic magazine publisher. "I hope this focus on people's private life goes away at some point. "But I believe that people in public office should be of high moral character," he added. "Does that mean you wear it on your sleeve and are moralistic and judgmental about others? No. Americans don't want that. But they do want you to have scruples and principles and some moral character." The bottom line, Walden said, is that he intends to focus on issues, not private lives. And he intends to bridge the gap between the interests of those in the 2nd District and Washington, D.C. "People in the Beltway get too concerned about what is important along the Potomac rather than what is important along the Rogue," he said. Folks out in the district are concerned about issues like highways, education, Social Security and health insurance, he said, adding, "That's what I want to be dealing with." Walden has been appointed to the Agriculture, Resource and Government Reform committees. He also expects to be on up to six subcommittees when those appointments are made. He figures his philosophy nearly dovetails with that of his predecessor. "Particularly, on the natural resources issues, I'll be shoulder-to-shoulder where Bob was, except I won't have a gavel," he said of Smith, former chairman of the Agriculture Committee. Walden will maintain the same district office held by Smith in Medford at 843 E. Main St., Suite 400. The telephone number remains the same: 776-4646. The toll-free number is (800) 533-3303. The district covers Jackson County, most of Josephine County, and the 18 counties east of the Cascades. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA