Merkley addresses issues at Sisters town hall

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., held a Sisters town hall on Wednesday, talking about a variety of issues, including one followed closely by area residents: a recently passed funding bill that he said will help better fund firefighting efforts.

In the past, federal funding to fight wildfires in a bad fire season often came form other areas in the budget, which meant slashing of funds for other programs such as fire prevention, trail maintenance and logging.

Now, he said, funding for bad fire seasons can be used more like funding to deal with a natural disaster.

“This will make fighting fires in a bad fire year much more like a bad hurricane or bad flood or bad earthquake, so that’s a real win,” Merkley said.

Merkley said he sees this as a huge win for the Forest Service, as they will be able to now focus their efforts on fighting fire and have enough funding to also better prevent fires.

Merkley also touched on border security.

Merkley said border security is something that has been supported broadly by the government, and in the past 10 years there has been a big increase in security efforts at the border with Mexico.

But the senator said he doesn’t believe sending military to the border is the right solution for protecting the country.

“We have had the conversations about National Guard and so forth, and they have said that is something that they are not trained for,” Merkley said. “That is not a mission appropriate for them. And so I think that it is probably not the best idea.”

The topic of immigration was brought up during the town hall meeting as well, specifically when it comes to DACA and the “Dreamers.”

Merkley said he is going to continue to fight for the rights of “Dreamers,” children of immigrants who were born in and are living in this country.

A Sisters student asked the senator about his thoughts on recent mass shootings, and the senator said he would be working to create a safer environment when it comes to guns.

He said while doing these town hall meetings, he has heard the arguments from both sides of the issue.

But he added that he was not too confident a bill addressing the issue will make it to the floor in the near future.

“The only chance will be if (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell decides to put a background (check) bill on the floor that already has the support of most of his caucus, and blocks any amendments of any other issues,” he said.

Merkley added that he would like to see tighter background checks and gun sale loopholes closed, along with better research on gun violence in the United States.

Merkley was also asked if he was running for president in 2020. The senator, who was holding a Warm Springs town hall later Wednesday, said he is keeping the option open.