Photo by SAMANTHA WHITE

During his town hall on Aug. 29, Rep. Greg Walden gave an overview of his work and then accepted questions and comments from the audience.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) held a town hall meeting Thursday, Aug. 29, at the Harney County Community Center in Burns. This was his 39th town hall and second trip to Harney County in 2019.

After local scout troops presented the colors, Walden provided an overview of his recent work.

“We did make some progress in the last Congress improving the tools in the box of our federal forest and land-management agencies,” he said, explaining that new authorities were passed in the Farm Bill that simplify the processes for reducing hazardous fuels and addressing insect- and disease-ridden forests.

Additionally, funding for collaboratives was increased, and new authorities were extended to counties in the Good Neighbor Authority.

According to the agency’s website, “Good Neighbor Authority allows the USDA Forest Service to enter into agreements with state forestry agencies to do the critical management work to keep our forests healthy and productive.”

However, Walden said, “I think there’s more work that needs to be done.”

He is cosponsoring legislation that would expedite post-fire cleanup and eliminate the prohibition on harvesting trees greater than 21 inches in diameter. The legislation would also allow the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to use grazing to help reduce fuel loads.

Walden also noted that he supports removing the gray wolf from the endangered species list, and he’s tackling illegal/unwanted robocalls, surprise medical billing, and high pharmaceutical costs.

Following his update, Walden began accepting questions and comments from the audience.

Barbara Cannady asked about the availability of public assistance for people who are entering the United States without legal permission.

Walden replied, “I know the administration just announced better definitions about people coming into the country and whether or not they’ve been on, or are going to be on, public assistance, because the idea is that’s not what immigration is all about.”

He added, “There are other laws on the books. It’s a matter of enforcement, however.”

Amelia Hamerlynck, a 2018 Burns High School graduate, said she and many of her friends are members of the LGBTQ+ community, and they experienced a lot of bullying.

“I was wondering what you can do, and what we can do at the state level, to try to make the culture of Harney County more accepting so that people don’t feel the need to hide who they are and feel ashamed and have psychological problems,” she said.

Walden replied, “We should respect each other. I oppose discrimination against LGBTQ. I voted for the Equality Act recently to protect people. I think, in America, you should have freedom of choice. You should have protection for your lifestyle, and I voted that way, and I support that. I voted for the hate crimes legislation because we ought to be able to treat each other civilly and be able to enjoy the freedoms this great country offers us as people.”

Richard Day, chairman of the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center board, noted that the center has yet to receive grant funding for the center’s bus-barn extension project.

“We’ll get ahold of the Department of Transportation and find out what the holdup is there,” Walden said.

Day, who is also a Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance volunteer, discussed changes to the Medicare enrollment process.

“Everybody in the United States is going to have to reenter their information and their prescription drugs,” Day said, adding that open enrollment begins in six weeks, and the volunteers haven’t received any training.

Walden said he will reach out to Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Harney District Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dan Grigg thanked Walden for his assistance with addressing air ambulance costs, and Dick Ingraham thanked Walden’s Medford office for helping him investigate providers in the real estate business.

Lynn McClintock asked about the impact of tariffs  and immigration policies on the agricultural economy.

“I have conveyed directly to the administration at every level, the president on down, about the effect of tariffs and the importance of markets,” Walden said, adding that he supports ratifying agreements with Japan, Canada, and Mexico.

However, he said, “China cheats,” adding “They are a problem and a competitor and a bad actor. So I think it was time for somebody to stand up to China, and this president has certainly done that.”

Regarding immigration, he said, “Last July, I voted for two different bills on the House floor that would have given protection for Dreamers; provided a secure, stable, and legal agricultural workforce in America; and secured our borders. Unfortunately, I don’t think there was a single Democrat who voted for either bill, and we didn’t have enough Republicans to get it over the line either.”

Jerry Miller, a local cattle rancher, expressed a need for country-of-origin labeling on beef packaging.

“We need to have some way of identifying our cattle as U.S. cattle — born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States — and the rest of the cattle identified as foreign cattle,” Miller said.

Walden replied that he supported, voted for, and reimplemented country-of-origin labeling years ago.

“And then it turned out that it was litigated, and it violated the trade agreements we had been involved in. So then these countries had the right to come back in and tariff other ag products, and they were doing that,” Walden said. “At that point, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association asked me to vote to repeal country-of-origin labeling, and the Congress did that.”

He added, “Now, more and more people like you are saying, ‘Wait a minute. This isn’t working either,’ and I’m hearing more and more about how there is too much consolidation in the packer industry, and I think that’s something that, hopefully, the Ag Committee would take a look at.”

Becky Cunningham of Rimrock Recycling discussed the impact of China’s decision to stop accepting the United States’ recycled products. She said the cost to transport the material is now greater than its worth. Cunningham also suggested adding wine bottles to the list of containers that qualify for a 10-cent refund.

Paul Hyland discussed roadblocks to receiving medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We should be able to take care of our veterans without them having to come to a member of Congress to break through,” Walden said. “That tells me there’s still a systemic problem.”

He added that Harney County’s veterans should be able to receive basic healthcare locally.

There was also a lengthy conversation concerning gun legislation.

“None of us want violence in our schools. We all want to try and do everything we can to prevent what we see happening in these mass shootings,” Walden said.

Back when he was in school, Walden said it was common for students to store shotguns or hunting rifles in their vehicles during hunting season.

“None of us ever — ever that I can remember — had the notion that we’d ever bring one of those inside the school and engage in carnage,” he said. “What is it, do you think, help me understand, about today’s generation where we now fear that happening? What’s changed?”

He said, “I don’t pretend to know the answer to that, but I don’t want to take away your constitutional right in this process.”

Walden concluded the town hall by stating, “It’s an honor and privilege to represent you, and despite all our similarities and differences and concerns, we always need to remember we live in the best country on the planet. So God bless you, and God bless America.”