Wyden in town: Lots of questions, one internship offer

More than 50 people crowded the Baker City Council chambers for a town hall meeting with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden on Friday morning.

The event featured a question-and-answer format to allow people to hear Wyden’s responses without support materials or teleprompters, he explained to the audience.

Elliott Averett, who graduated this spring from Baker High School, asked Wyden whether anything could be done about federal officials who leave their government posts for jobs in the private sector.

Averett cited as an example Meredith Baker, a former member of the FCC who earlier this year voted in favor of the Comcast-NBC merger and then, a few months later, took a job with Comcast.

“What can you do about that?” Averett asked.

“This is an example of a poster child for what’s wrong with Washington ethics,” Wyden responded.

“If it’s not illegal, it ought to be.”

Wyden offered Averett an internship either in Washington or Oregon because the teenager knew so much about the topic and expressed himself well.

“You’ve clearly done your homework,” Wyden told him.

Averett, who spearheaded a pro-Barack Obama effort in Baker County during the 2008 presidential campaign, is planning to attend college in Minnesota this fall, and he’ll probably major in political science. He’d like to end up working in politics or attending law school.

A man in the audience asked Wyden whether Congress was doing anything to help with the process for getting projects approved on federal lands such as national forests.

“We’re getting killed,” the man said.

Wyden, who has been a senator since 1996, described his Oregon Eastside Forests Restoration, Old Growth Protection, and Jobs Act, S220, as an example of trying to take a “practical, balanced approach” that would preserve “treasures and jobs,” he said.

“It’s something I feel strongly about,” Wyden said.

The senator introduced the legislation in late 2009, touting its support from both the timber industry and environmental groups.

The bill is designed to increase logging on public lands east of the Cascades in Oregon, while preserving old growth forests.

Its co-sponsor is Oregon’s other senator, Democrat Jeff Merkley, and it’s currently in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.

Mary Jo Carpenter expressed her concerns to Wyden about the stringency of some rules for senior care at a time when there are fewer workers to ensure that the rules are followed. Carpenter is the county manager for Community Connection, which provides an array of services to local seniors, including lunches on weekdays.

“It’s a burden on us,” Carpenter said, referring to federal red tape.

She talked about the requirement of having menus certified by a credentialed nutritionist — a profession not always available in a small community such as Baker County.

Wyden wondered whether rural services, such as Community Connection, could use a nutritionist at the State Office on Aging to obtain approval of the menus. The senator offered to have his staff check into the matter.

Baker City Councilor Sam Bass asked Wyden if there is a way to stop pharmaceutical companies from spending money on advertising that only inflates the cost of their drugs.

“That’s not right,” Bass said.

“You’d think the government would be a tough negotiator,” Wyden replied. “The government essentially signed away (its) ability to negotiate.”

Wyden also explained that he opposed legislation that stopped Medicare officials from negotiating with drug companies. He wants to “lift that restriction (so) people can get more value for their dollar.”

Next came issues concerning veterans.

One speaker told Wyden he’s concerned about a relative getting proper medical treatment. Another wondered why it is so difficult for many vets to obtain employment once they return home from out-of-country tours of duty.

With actions in such places as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya “this country has no idea what’s coming at us. All these vets that are coming home,” Wyden said.

One of the vets, Luke Wilson, a retired staff sergeant with the Oregon National Guard, said “the federal and state governments are the worst at hiring veterans. What can we do?”

“You can give speeches until you are blue in the face,” Wyden said. “But if we don’t step up, no one will.”

He suggested Fortoregon.org, a website that helps soldiers connect with various organizations that can help with a variety of reintegration needs, such as health care and employment.

Reintegration legislation he introduced in 2009 didn’t make it through committee during that session of Congress, Wyden said.

That bill is called the National Guard and Reserve Soft Landing Reintegration Act, and it deals with matters such as military family leave, wounded soldier retention, mental health care and veterans’ hospital quality report cards.

Several members of the audience asked Wyden about China.

Wyden belongs to a bi-partisan group of legislators supporting S-1133 — The Enforcing Orders and Reducing Circumvention and Evasion Act (ENFORCE). It was introduced in May as a way to help stop merchandise laundering. China is sending goods through other countries for sale here to avoid government limits on the amount of products they can bring to market.

“It’s wrong and it’s stealing American jobs,” Wyden said.

Other questions about China focused on its currency control and the effect on the world economy, and Chinese companies buying land near Boise and in other parts of the country.

“Foreign investment can be a mixed bag,” Wyden said about the latter. “If it generates family-wage jobs, then I’m in — but there are security issues.” 

Other topics included: Dealing with human trafficking, Boise TV stations not being available here, the unavailability of The Oregonian, the skyrocketing cost of attending college, reworking the prison and drug rehabilitation systems so more people become active participants in society, conflicts of interest among some members of the Supreme Court and comments about a book called “Presimetrics: What the Facts Tell Us About How the Presidents Measure Up On the Issues We Care About.”

Suzanne Moses of Baker City asked Wyden why there is no attempt to refute the assertion “that tax increases decrease job creation?”

Wyden said that his and Dan Coats’, R-Ind., Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act would simplify the tax system, gives breaks to individuals, families and especially the middle class. It also would promote small business growth, increase compliance and target corporate welfare.

For example, it would “bring down rates while keeping progressivity,” Wyden said.