In the News

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici was shown plans for the Outdoor Museum, which will run along the three-quarter-of-mile trail from Main Street to Tiedeman Avenue, during a tour attended by city officials, planners and the project's lead urban designer.

The paved trail, already in place, begins directly to the east of the Symposium Coffee/Tigard Chamber of Commerce building.

Grabner would like to see that change. So would U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, the Democrat who represents McMinnville in Oregon's First Congressional District.

On Monday, Bonamici visited Henderson House, the local nonprofit organization that responds to domestic violence and sexual assault, to hear how staff members and others would change the current system.

Still, Bonamici said Thursday (Oct. 25) at a Westside Economic Alliance forum, "Our side of the aisle is taking steps that if we are in the majority, we will respect minority rights."

During the past eight years, she said, Republican majorities have rammed through key bills — such as the 2017 tax-code overhaul, which cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years — without consideration for the Democratic minority.

Bonamici said she is constantly trying to explain to colleagues in Washington that outlawing abortion won't make it go away. It'll just make it dangerous. Plus, she points out, studies routinely show that abortion rates go down under Democratic presidents, when contraception, preventative healthcare and sex education are widely available.

For Bonamici and other advocates of abortion rights across the country, Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court has brought a new sense of urgency in the fight to protect abortion rights.

It's an intensity Chambers feels every day.

Speaking as a member of Congregation Beth Israel, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici said President Donald Trump emboldens racists when he employs coded phrases like "globalists."

"Words matter," she said. "The hateful rhetoric we are seeing must stop, starting at the top levels of government."

"(There will) never be enough weapons to arm every synagogue, mosque or other place of worship," added U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, whose great uncle was gassed at Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

National Manufacturing Day, recently held on Oct. 5, is designed to get teenagers excited about going into manufacturing, whether entry level at 18 or later after a college degree.

Bonamici gave a general overview of issues that surfaced at other town hall meetings, ranging from healthcare and immigrant family separations, to the environment, Social Security, Medicare and the Trump administration.

Bonamici began by explaining her view on healthcare, a topic she said many are worried about. "I'm interested in strengthening access to health care, not taking it away," she said. "We need to work together to find a way to make sure that people have access to health care."

Bonamici, a Democrat, held the meeting as part of a swing through the district she represents, Oregon's First Congressional District in the northwestern part of the state. After being introduced by Banks Fire Chief Rodney Linz — the meeting was held at the Banks Fire District's station in downtown Banks — she talked for a few minutes about her legislative priorities before taking questions from constituents.