By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

Western had the opportunity to host the Polk County town hall meeting on Jan. 14. Many concerned members of the community and Western students gathered in the Werner University Center to voice their opinions and have their questions answered by the U.S. Senator for Oregon, Ron Wyden. Wyden has been a senator for Oregon since 1996; he holds open town hall meetings in all 36 counties in Oregon each year. This meeting marked Wyden’s 784th town hall meeting; topics discussed ranged from environmental issues, the election and health care.

Question: How can we get the entire country to vote by mail?
Wyden: I’d introduce legislation to take “Oregon’s Vote by Mail” national in effect to ensure that everyone in America would get a ballot in the mail. In other words, the Constitution makes it clear that elections are essentially governed by locals. But we could have the federal government give all Americans the opportunity to get a ballot in the mail … The fact that our vote by mail system ensures that there’s a paper trail probably helps us advance that cause, so I’m going to push that very hard.

Question: What do you see the federal government’s role [being] in maintaining water quantity, and water quality?
Wyden: It’s very appropriate that you bring this up, because there’s no question that water is going to be one of the paramount challenges of our time. Right before I left Washington D.C., there we some discussions about infrastructure; I and others were making a point that in addition to roads and bridges, we need to consider a basic part of infrastructure.
Things like sewer, and water systems and the like because you clearly cannot have big league economic growth and big league quality life with all these outdated kind of systems … When you hear legislatures talk about infrastructure, roads and bridges and transportation systems, I think the operative question is, will you include in that water and sewer which has too often in the past not been.

Question: What is a way on a more immediate basis that we can make our voices heard … are all calls equal?
Wyden: Well, we’ll be able to tell you more as we get there on Friday and we actually start to see what a new administration chooses to do because, clearly, we’re moving out of the campaign and into the kind of governing period … so, what we’re gonna have to see is exactly what, you know, policies are.
I, personally, think there are a few things that are sort of natural. If we get a budget, for example, that substantially cuts the funds for low-income hunger programs. Number one, I’ll use my seat on the budget committee to oppose that, but number two, we’re gonna need a lot of people pitching in at the pantries and the shelters … so people are gonna be able to get involved that way.
I think probably the best thing you can do is find one more person to join you in this effort of speaking out with elected officials, participating on local programs … but if there’s one thing you can do, it’s find one more person to join you in pitching in.

If you would like to contact Senator Ron Wyden with your own questions, you can fill out a form at www.wyden.senate.gov/contact.
Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu