{"id":20446,"date":"2024-08-11T12:05:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T16:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=20446"},"modified":"2024-09-10T12:07:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T16:07:19","slug":"merkley-holds-town-hall-in-newport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-holds-town-hall-in-newport\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley holds town hall in Newport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lincoln County Leader<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley held his 32nd town hall of the year on Friday, Aug. 2, when he spoke with constituents in the auditorium of the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since taking office in 2009, Merkley has kept his promise to hold an open town hall for each of Oregon\u2019s 36 counties every year. \u201cOver the course of the more than 570 town halls I\u2019ve held since Oregonians sent me to the Senate, I\u2019ve seen how these events provide respectful, safe spaces for people to express their unique points of view during these often-divisive times,\u201d Merkley said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topics brought up by those attending the Newport town hall covered everything from local, state, national and international issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One person asked Merkley about the lack of progress on the construction of a new Big Creek Dam in Newport. \u201cWhy is it taking so long, and what can you do to get it done before it breaks and floods everything, and what can we do to help that process?\u201d she asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley said he was able to help get $60 million in federal funding allocated for that project. \u201cThat\u2019s step one. Now we\u2019re trying to raise the money to tackle it. The money in the Infrastructure Bill is wildly oversubscribed by dam projects across the country, so federal money is hard to get for it, but we\u2019re trying.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another person asked how Lincoln County might access more homeless emergency shelter funding, as well as outreach in local homeless encampments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the best ways is through community-initiated projects,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten funds for different shelter projects all over the state. The main funds come from the federal government through the state, and that means advocating for elected state members.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a topic of national concern, Merkley was asked about the crisis on the U.S. southern border. \u201cA lot of our policies for people coming here, especially for people seeking asylum, are critically inhumane,\u201d one person said. \u201cWhat are you doing, and what can you do to make that better?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley replied, \u201cWe need to have rule of law on the border, and one thing that has happened with the internet is word has gotten out around the world that if you come to the border and you say the word \u2018asylum\u2019 that it will trigger certain rights. These were designed to accommodate a small number of folks who were victims of torture or other things, but not a massive inflow from all those who say we want to immigrate to the U.S. outside of the normal immigration laws of the U.S. So we have a challenge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley said the U.S. needs to have a humane, accommodating structure for people who are truly fleeing political persecution or torture or risk of life, \u201cbut we cannot have an open border where people think if you say the word asylum you get free entry into the United States,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very broken, the structure, right now, and in order to restore it, we have to have a lot of funding,\u201d added Merkley. \u201cIt is a huge frustration. A few months ago we had a bipartisan agreement on a massive investment in asylum judges, border security, intercepting fentanyl, a whole host of pieces of the puzzle, and a candidate for the highest federal office said to members of his party, \u2018Bail out and vote against it because I don\u2019t want anything to pass before November,\u2019 and so it died. It\u2019s become a political football instead of common sense solutions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the international scene, one person asked about the possibility of a war with Iran. \u201cYou are a U.S. senator. You have the pulse of what is going on there, and what I want to know what we can do, as U.S. citizens, to prevent more bloodshed. What\u2019s going on in Iran can only mean devastation for us all.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley said it all centers on the animosity between the Israelis and Palestinians. \u201cI believe that the only way to break the cycle of hate and violence is to have two states for two people. That means the U.S. needs to back a Palestinian state,\u201d he said. There is a plan the administration has been working on to try to persuade Israel to be part of the coalition that will support the Palestinian state, he said. \u201cThe odds of this are extremely small, but this is the slim possibility that maybe we can create the structure that we do not see this continuous animosity. Out of every conflict, you draw a new generation that hates each other. I\u2019m hoping we can break this cycle of war and hate. It\u2019s going to matter a whole lot what happens in the November election, and it\u2019s also going to matter a whole lot what happens in terms of day-to-day events right now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n