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As I visit communities across Northwest Oregon, I hear from many Oregonians who feel left behind and left out of the economic recovery. Too many people are still struggling to make ends meet. If they are working, their wages are stagnant. They feel overwhelmed by rising rent prices, barriers to transportation, and sky-high childcare costs. There may be job openings in their community, but the jobs require skills and resources they don't have.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Three Oregon Congress members visited the Veteran Affairs Medical Center Friday to bring attention to a major problem — veterans committing suicide at an alarming rate.
Sen. Ron Wyden and Congress members Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici met with veteran Erin Miller who now works as a crisis intervention specialist for Lines for Life.
Miller served in Iraq in 2005, but now dedicates her time to helping veterans who are contemplating suicide.
"Spreading the word, we can definitely help, I believe," Miller said.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon's legislators are looking to address what they call is an overlooked problem plaguing our military veterans - suicide.
Government studies show veterans are about 22 percent more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the population. It's 2.5 times more prominent among women who have served.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici talked about tackling the epidemic Friday during a visit to the Veteran's Hospital in SW Portland.
A week after visiting a Hillsboro health clinic, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici celebrated what she said was a mixed bag of funding for school-based health centers in Oregon.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program last week, something the Beaverton democrat listed as among her top priorities during a visit to a clinic at Hillsboro's Century High School in late October. The center was threatened with closure after Congress allowed the CHIP program to expire in September in the wake of several battles on health care.
In the wake of this year's horrific wildfire season, the U.S. House on Wednesday passed legislation aimed at reversing the rising fire danger in the nation's forests and grasslands.
The measure, passed on a 232-188 vote, would increase timber harvests and relax some key environmental rules. It also seeks to relieve the U.S. Forest Service from being forced to cannibalize its fire prevention budget to pay for the rapidly escalating costs of combating wild-land blazes.