In the News
At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, pressed BIE Director Tony Dearman to outline what his agency and Chemawa are doing to improve the school's overall performance, from hiring practices to student safety.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici visited the intersection of public high schools and private industry at Portland Community College in Hillsboro on Monday, June 6. The congresswoman from northwest Oregon is hoping to bring $910,000 to the school's semiconductor and advanced manufacturing programs, which aligns with local K-12 curriculums and in turn feeds the workforce at Intel and other local technology firms.
"It's been a really challenging couple of years for many reasons and a lot of youth have behavioral health challenges and we need to find the solution," said Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, from Oregon's 1st Congressional District. "There's a lot of issues weighing heavy on the minds of our youth today. The isolation that came from the pandemic, it's been really tough and a lot of students feel like they don't have a place to reach out or someone they can talk to."
Small business owners and local leaders gathered last week with Rep. Suzanne Bonamici to celebrate the start of Columbia County's first small business resource center and discuss the challenges facing local businesses. Bonamici said she was "really excited to be here to learn more about this project and to support this wonderful project here in Columbia County." She secured $175,000 for the center as part of an omnibus spending package last month.
Across Multnomah County, 492 preschoolers are on waitlists for four Head Start and Oregon Pre-K providers, according to the state's Early Learning Division. It's part of what makes Oregon a "child care desert." But the issues aren't space or money. The issue is a lack of staff. To highlight the shortage, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici in April toured a Neighborhood House Head Start program in Northwest Portland.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici spent a portion of Earth Day taking a tour of A&R Solar, a Tualatin company that installs eco-friendly solar panels on homes and businesses. Bonamici finished her Earth Day activities with a visit to Tualatin High School, where she was expected to meet the Tualatin High School Climate Action Club to discuss sustainable climate action goals. Her plans also included hearing about students' advocacy work with the Tigard-Tualatin School District's board on climate issues.
Speaking at a hangar near Portland International Airport Thursday afternoon, President Joe Biden highlighted several ongoing and planned upgrades to the airport as examples of the kind of national infrastructure renewal that will be delivered through the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that he signed last fall. Mayor Ted Wheeler, Brown, Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Kurt Schrader, Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer each gave brief introductory speeches touting infrastructure developments in Oregon.
At Monday's ceremony, senior Intel officials said they have a legacy in Hillsboro and an ongoing commitment there. Merkley as well as Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici all gave assurances that they would work to fund the CHIPS Act, a bill that would give $52 billion in federal investments and incentives to U.S. chip manufacturers.
Representatives of the University of Oregon and Portland Public Schools briefed Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on Tuesday about plans for a new degree program that will focus exclusively on children's mental and emotional health.
Intel said it has essentially finished three years of work on the main Hillsboro factory, an addition known as Mod3. CEO Pat Gelsinger was due to attend a celebration Monday morning, despite the unseasonable April snow, along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici.