Senator Ron Wyden talks Afghanistan, spending bills, infrastructure live on KTVZ
'You can't have big-league quality of life with little-league infrastructure'
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., discussed a wide variety of issues, from the Afghanistan takeover aftermath to the two large pending spending bills and fast-rising drug prices during a live interview Tuesday evening with NewsChannel 21’s Lee Anderson.
Wyden, sporting a neutral blue-and-silver ‘Oregon’ ball cap, said he believes the Senate-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill will pass the House and that the far larger $3.1 trillion Democrats’ spending bill also will win passage, though he admitted, “It’s going to be a lot of heavy lifting.”
“I think people understand, now is the time you’ve got to make some key investments,” such as the fact that “very often, workers need child care to move goods,” so along with physical infrastructure, they also are “focusing on the needs of families.”
“You can’t have big-league quality of life with little-league infrastructure,” Wyden said, also citing the need to “clean out the forests” and reduce the threat of wildfire.
Wyden also said he is leading an effort in the fall spending package to lift the restriction on Medicare so it can negotiate for lower drug prices, a move that is “almost always picked up by the private sector.”
“I agree with moderates – we have to finance the package responsibly,” he said, noting that many of the wealthiest, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who paid no income taxes – “they’ve got to pay their fair share.”
As for Afghanistan, Wyden said, “What we’re seeing on every broadcast is absolutely horrifying.”
“Once Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump negotiated the terms of surrender to the Taliban, we were facing one alternative – to put hundreds of thousands of American soldiers back into Afghanistan, with no end in sight. I was talking to families across the state, and they were telling me they didn’t want to send their sons and daughters back into Afghanistan, after 20 years – and I sure agree with them.”
The senator said their “phone is ringing off the people” with accounts such as one NewsChannel 21 told Monday of a Redmond Marine fighting to bring his platoon’s translator out of Afghanistan to safety.
“We’ve got to stay with it until they get out safely, and as Oregon’s senior senator, I’m committed to doing that,” he said.
Wyden also promoted the goal of a “21st century Civilian Conservation Corps. We ought to get thousands of young people back into the woods, clearing out those over-dense stands. I think we’ll have strong support.”
