May Newsletter

A MESSAGE FROM VAL

Dear Friends,

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend my town halls in April. I was pleased to join Senator Merkley for town halls in Brookings, North Bend and Reedsport, and to join Senator Wyden for a town hall in Roseburg. I also held a town hall in Eugene focused on Social Security with former Representative DeFazio and Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM). 

In every part of the district, people expressed concern about the gutting of critical services and staff from federal agencies like weather forecasting and warnings from NOAA, and land and fire management provided by the Forest Service.

Cuts to agency staff and infrastructure have also made it difficult for constituents to access earned benefits. People shared that Social Security checks, which used to arrive predictably, are now showing up late, and veterans are having a harder time getting appointments for care at the VA. Here are a few more stories that I heard: 

• A woman in North Bend told me about waiting on hold for six hours to reach a staff person at the Social Security Office and then being disconnected. She told me she built her retirement on the promise that Social Security would be there when she retired and that she’d be homeless without it.
• Another woman in Brookings told me how the administration’s tariffs are decimating the small business she’d spent years building. She explained that due to the sudden and haphazard implementation of the tariffs, her business had no time to prepare or find alternatives products. She shared that even if she wanted to buy American products, there were no domestic factories making the goods she needed and she doesn’t know how much longer she can keep her doors open.
• In every town hall meeting, people were outraged at the administration’s policies that blatantly disregard due process related to the internments and deportations of immigrants – some of whom have legal status or are legal residents. A gentleman in Reedsport feared that if we ignore what is happening now to immigrants and international students, it is just a matter of time until these policies are used on other groups.

From the most conservative to the most liberal parts of our district, people are very concerned with what they are seeing. I want to ensure you that my staff and I are here to help you if you have an issue with a federal agency. While my office has seen delays as well, we continue to receive a steady flow of casework and have had success for many of the individuals we assist.

I’d also like to invite you to participate in future town halls. As your member of Congress, it is important for me to listen to your stories and hear your point of view. Information about future town halls will be listed here.

Sincerely,

Val

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