Walden speaks emotionally on House floor about West’s frustrations

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., spoke passionately and at times tearfully on the House floor late Tuesday about the armed takeover of a wildlife refuge in his district and the federal policies that have fueled that level of frustration and anger.

Walden said Dwight and Steve Hammond, who on Monday returned to prison to serve the rest of a five-year sentence for arson, are part of a ranching family he’s known for close to 20 years, calling the family “long-time, responsible ranchers.”

And while not condoning the seizure of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by anti-government protesters, he urged his colleagues to try “to understand what drives people to do what’s happened.”

“I’ve seen the impact of federal policies, from the Clinton administration to the Obama administration,” the congressman said.

“I have seen what happens when overzealous bureaucrats and agencies go beyond the law and clamp down on people,” he said. “I have seen what courts have done, and I have seen the time for Congress to act — and it has not.”

The congressman painted a picture in numbers of the vast size of the remote, sparsely populated county, nearly three-fourths under federal control.

“What people don’t understand is the culture, the lifestyle of this great American West, and how much these ranchers care about the environment, about the future, about their children, about America,” Walden said.

“Now, I am not defending armed takeovers. I do not think that is appropriate,” Walden said, adding that he agrees with those who say it’s time for the participants “to realize they have made their case and go home.”

But Walden talked about the enormous wildfires that consume vast stretches of rangeland, tens or hundreds of thousands of acres.

He said the Hammonds are in prison after they admitted setting a backfire that burned 139 acres. He said they will serve out a five-year term under “a law that I would argue was never intended to mete out that kind of punishment.”

The congressman talked of the year-long effort working with local ranchers and residents to create the cooperative Steens Mountain Protection Act, rather than the large monument as originally proposed.

Walden spoke of the frustration he later felt at the “arrogance” of the BLM refusing to build fences for a cow-free wilderness area as Congress intended, and other challenges to what Congress intended.

“The bureaucracy wants to interpret the laws we write in ways they want, and in this case they were wrong,” Walden said.

He chastised a Portland newspaper or others who were making light of the militia’s action, as it’s “not a laughing matter by any consequence. Nobody’s going to win out of this thing.”

“This is a government that’s gone too far for too long,” Walden said, again saying he’s not condoning the occupation “in any way, I don’t think it’s appropriate. … But I understand and hear their anger.”

He also criticized the Obama administration for threatening in semi-secret fashion neighboring Malheur County a national monument of 2.5 million acres, which he called “outrageous” and feeds into the anger and frustration many feel.

“More than half my district is under federal management — or lack thereof,” Walden said, critical of proposals to close more forest roads, at times imposed while ignoring public input, despite open meetings where the input is often ignored.

“You see, how do you have faith in a government that doesn’t ever listen to you?” Walden said, his voice rising.”That is what’s breaking faith between the American people and their government. That’s what has to change.”

As for the Hammonds, Walden acknowledged “they probably did some things that were illegal,” but said “the federal government frequently will go on private land and set a fire without permission to back-burn. That happens all the time.” And rarely is anyone charged, much less sent to prison for five years.

“There’s always two sides on how these fires get fought,” Walden said, adding that he has great respect for firefighters, but “rarely does someone end up five years in prison.”

He laid out how a respected senior federal judge, on his final day on the bench, refused to impose upon the Hammonds the five-year arson sentence that’s a mandatory minimum under anti-terrorism legislation, but was later found to have no such discretion. So the Hammonds go back to prison – Dwight will be 79 when he gets out — while his wife tries to keep the ranch going and keep the grazing permits they depend on.

“We can change that (anti-terrorism) law — and we should, so nobody is locked in” in such circumstances. “We have to listen to the people. We have to understand why events like this are taking place in our communities.”

“The people there love the land,” Walden said. “They’re good people. Their sons and daughters go by higher proportion to fight in wars” — and die.

“I’ve been to their funerals,” Walden said, breaking briefly into tears. “So to my friends, throughout Eastern Oregon, I will always fight for you.”

Walden said due to lack of proper forest and rangeland management, the country is losing firefighters, homes, watersheds and more to wildfires “Teddy Roosevelt would roll over in his grave,” he said.

“It’s just gone too far. It’s hurtful,” Walden said. “And I hope people understand how serious this is felt, and how oppressed they feel by the government they elect, and by the government they certainly don’t elect.”

To see the full video, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx4ocLdWE90&feature=youtu.be