“A Republican or a Democrat, some things we can agree on. Together, we stopped the closure of the VA center and we upgraded regional clinics for veterans. And when Private First Class Chelsea Wells was denied her enlistment bonus, we uncovered a National Guard paperwork glitch that had wrongfully rejected thousands of military bonuses. Today, I’m proud to report, those soldiers are paid, and that glitch is gone. I’m Greg Walden, and I approve this message because some things are worth fighting for, instead of over.”
Catastrophic wildfires: destroying livestock, water, and wildlife, and leaving timber in ruins. The cleanup has to be done. But that’s not enough. It’s time to prevent these catastrophic fires. To do that, we have to change federal law and allow active management that develops healthy forests and creates rural jobs. It’s time the federal government stops shutting us out of our forests, and started better managing.
This year alone, in Oregon, wildfires have consumed more than 1 million acres of rangelands and more than 150,000 acres of forests.[1]
In Oregon, forests cover 48 percent of our state’s land area (30.4 million acres). Of that, 60% is owned and controlled by the federal government, but the federal government only produces 12% of the timber harvest in Oregon. That means 88% of timber harvest comes off of private, state, and tribal lands.[2]
Our federal forests are unhealthy. In Oregon alone, approximately 85% (25.8 million acres) of federal forests are classified as the most unhealthy, at-risk, and fire-prone. Nineteen percent of annual growth on federal lands dies or is infected by bugs and disease each year… compared to less than four percent of annual growth on private lands.[3]
We can do better.
I continue to work across the aisle to build support for changing the law to allow more of the management decisions for federal forests to be made under our successful state forest law, with local community input and support.
The heart of the problem is the need to reduce red tape and bureaucracy that drives the cost of producing timber and jobs through the roof and prevents our land managers from doing what needs to be done to improve forest health and create value from and jobs in our forests.
This is no time to close roads and shut the public out of their forests without community input. I continue to speak out against the flawed travel management plans throughout the Second District. Communities must be able to access the forests and natural resources that surround them.
Federal agencies need to listen to and coordinate with those in our communities that are constantly impacted by their rules and actions—or lack thereof. I’ll continue to press them to do so, and to work to change federal law when they won’t.
Together, we can solve these problems—preventing wildfires and growing jobs in Oregon. I’d appreciate your support in this effort.
I wrote the new broadband jobs law to provide additional 3G and 4G capacity for wireless technologies like smart phones, tablets, and mobile devices. Experts say it can help create hundreds of thousands of American jobs in the next ten years. Even more, it brings mobile infrastructure to areas like rural Oregon. So, when business calls, it won’t be whether you can answer, but how.
PORTLAND – After listening to President Obama’s speech in Portland Tuesday, Republicans said he’s on the wrong track when it comes to the economy and doesn’t understand how small business works.
The GOP members of Oregon’s congressional delegation said
Congressman Greg Walden said he thinks Oregon may be more in play this election even though it’s been many years since this state voted for a Republican president.
The last time Oregon voted republican was in 1984, for President Reagan.
“President Reagan tried to get us moving as a country, united and actually encouraged entrepreneurs and said really good things about them. He didn’t sort of say, ‘look you didn’t build your business, somebody else did,’ Walden said.
“As a small employer that really irritated me and I know that irritated a lot of people around Oregon who are shopkeepers or small business owners. They’re working overnight and day and night on the weekends. They don’t see the federal government standing there sweeping the floors,” Walden said.
In 2008, President Obama beat his Republican opponent John McCain by 16 points.
Right now, polls show that the president has just a single digit lead over Republican Mitt Romney. The latest electoral map shows Oregon leaning democrat, but not with a solid lead.
CENTRAL POINT, Ore. — Lawmakers say threats to national cyber security happens numerous times each day…and one local congressman is hoping a local police team can help.
Congressman Greg Walden says the work that goes on at the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force is very similar to the online investigations at many other police agencies. That includes pursuing those who prey on children, but also those who target companies.
Walden says companies can lose up to 20 years of research and development because of a illegal hacking.
“A lot of it having to do with international theft of intellectual property, malware, bots, both malicious and disruptive, threats to critical infrastructure. As well as the sort of crime that we all know about that occurs on the Internet,” says Congressman Greg Walden – (R) U.S. Congress.
Congressman Walden visited the facility on Friday. He expects bi-partisan action on cyber security when congress goes back in session in a few weeks.
When Republicans took control of the House from Nancy Pelosi last year, one of the first actions they took was to vote to repeal the health care bill. It has gone nowhere in the Senate.
But some good news today in the ongoing work to pick apart the worst parts of the health care law — the House Energy and Commerce passed a bill to repeal the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). The health law implemented IPAB, an arbitrarily appointedboard of unelected bureaucrats, to cut spending on health care treatments, giving them the power to refuse health care and reduce Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care. On Monday, 42 state medical associations endorsed the full repeal of IPAB.
Do you want the same Washington bureaucrats who brought you the compassion of the IRS and the competence of Katrina to deliver yourhealthcare for you and your family? We need more personal choice, not government control of the health care system and personal health decisions.
President Obama released his budget today, which sets the country up for more debt and doubt. The budget calls for another $1.33 trillion in deficit spending, which would mark the fourth straight year with deficits in excess of $1 trillion. You couldn’t run a small business or family budget like this. Last year, the House passed a budget that would have reduced deficits by $4.2 trillion over the next decade compared to the President’s proposal (while protecting Medicare and Social Security); unfortunately, it’s been more than 1,000 days since the Senate passed a budget.
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