Oregon lawmakers voice split reaction to Trump address

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., voiced starkly different reactions to President Trump’s first joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.

First, Walden’s statement:

“I think the president’s speech was refreshingly optimistic and a message about unity. And a message about taking care of America’s needs first — getting people back to with really good-paying jobs.

“I look forward to working with him and his Cabinet as we attack these problems that face our country. And deal with our infrastructure, deal with jobs, and deal with our nation’s security. And making sure we take care of veterans and the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform and keep us free.”

And here’s Sen. Ron Wyden’s statement, in full:

“At town halls all across Oregon last week, I heard from thousands of people who are hungry for real solutions. They believe in the Oregon Way, where it doesn’t matter what your party is, it matters that you have good ideas, and the willingness to fight for them. Unfortunately, the president has not kept the promises he made to millions of middle-class Americans. Instead of leveling the playing field for families, he’s rigging the rules of our economy to bloat the wallets of big business executives.

“Instead of draining the swamp, he’s filled the administration with Wall Street insiders who have made a fortune on the backs of the vulnerable. And while Trump is making decisions that help only the wealthy, there are communities across the country that are still waiting for the recovery from the Great Recession to show up. Rest assured I will continue to fight for these communities, and for hard working Americans everywhere, so that everyone in this country has the opportunity to get ahead in life.

“Tonight the president continued to use ‘health care happy-talk’ despite the fact that congressional Republicans are dangerously close to taking America back to the days when health care was only for the healthy and wealthy. Having ‘access’ to health insurance won’t mean much if families can’t afford it. Health care ‘freedom’ doesn’t mean losing coverage or barring women from seeing a doctor they trust. After years of talk, all that’s on offer is a plan where health care will cost more and Americans will get less.

“The president then hid behind hyperbole and rhetoric to distract from the fact that his tax plan will raise taxes on working families and cut benefits that the middle class depends on all so the wealthy can pay a lower rate. Once again he committed to handing out special breaks for special interests when he should be cleaning out the rot at the heart of our tax system. If you wanted a guide to putting the well-to-do before the needs of the middle class, the Trump tax plan is what you’d come up with.

“If Trump is ready to take up comprehensive immigration reform, there is a bipartisan immigration proposal that’s a good place to start. He needs to walk back the damaging statements and halt indiscriminate deportations of families. Mass deportations of people who have committed no crimes do not make us safer. Spending billions enriching defense contractors, when half the federal budget already goes to the military does not make us safer. Americans want our president to focus on real threats, and need real proposals to help working families get ahead. Instead, these knee-jerk schemes will leave our country poorer, and Americans worse off.”

Here’s Merkley’s reaction:

“In President Trump’s speech tonight, we heard the exact same things that we have heard so many times before: vague, nice sounding campaign-style promises of what he wants for our country, without any details on how he intends to achieve those promises.

“He said he’s going to build a ‘great, great wall’ to stop illegal immigration, but didn’t say how he’s going to pay for it. He said he wants massive tax relief for the middle class but gave no details on the tax reform his team is working on. He said he wants to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, but offered no plan.

“There’s no clearer example of Trump’s empty promises than his continuing calls to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and rip health care coverage away from 20 million low-income and working Americans without providing any real replacement plan. The truth is, rather than the ‘disaster’ that Trump claims it is, the Affordable Care Act is literally saving lives. That’s a fact. I know it, because I was honored to bring as my guest tonight a woman who owes her life, and the life of her son, to the Affordable Care Act.

“Marlene Barbera and her son Max were both deathly ill and in need of liver transplants to survive. Because of the ACA, they were both able to get insurance coverage, both able to get the transplants they needed, and they are both alive today to share their stories. Without the ACA, the continuing post-transplant care they need will be put in jeopardy, and both of their lives will be put at risk.

“The American people deserve answers. They deserve to know the details of Donald Trump’s plans and how he intends to pay for his programs. Above all, they deserve to know their access to quality, affordable health care is secure and that they have a fair and equal shot at prosperity.”