3/11/23, 3:31 PM
WYDEN IN MADRAS
“The is America, we make sure people’s voices are going to be heard”
Yesterday (3/10/23), Senator Ron WYDEN, D-Oregon, held a town hall meeting in Madras, Oregon. He spent about 90 minutes fielding questions from the community and students from the High School.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Madras Police Department and the Oregon State Police provided security for the Event.
Jefferson County Commissioner/Chair, Kelly Simmelink attended along with is son from Madras High School.
Senator WYDEN opened the meeting by reaffirming his pledge to hold an open meeting in every county every year.
Wyden: “So the next 90 minutes, I’m just going to listen to you, try to respond to your comments, your questions and softball questions are especially welcomed today.”
Community members and students needed a ticket to ask the Senator questions, alternating between the general public and the students. Yellow tickets for the general public and red for the students.
Wyden addressed questions covering an array of issues that included law enforcement, inflation, immigration, the environment, abortion, jobs, homelessness, the war in Ukraine and the First Amendment.
Regarding immigration, Wyden admitted the “system is broken.” He added, “It doesn’t work for anybody.” He explained he’s a first generation immigrant, that his dad fled the Nazis and worked in the intelligence field.
The Senator supports the Ukrainian War and believes if we don’t stop the Russians, they’ll just keep going, “because that’s what dictators and authoritarians want to do…”
Wyden fervently believes in the importance of one exercising their First Amendment Rights. He stated: “The Founding Fathers, if you read their writings, the thing that really stands out, is how deeply they believed in the First Amendment and speech.
The Founding Fathers, to a great extent, thought that speech was probably more important than government…”
“This is America, we make sure people’s voices are going to be heard.”
*VIDEO SNIPPET ATTACHED
Prior to the meeting, Ranch Matters had an opportunity to speak with some of Senator Wyden’s staff regarding the loss of First Amendment Rights and Due Process issues on Crooked River Ranch (CRR).
