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"What really helps is to make the vaccine available and accessible and come to the community. So we are here in a large parking lot in Tektronix," said Congresswoman Bonamici.

The Protecting Our Students in School Act would prohibit corporal punishment in schools that receive federal funding, and establish a grant program to help improve school climate and culture. It was introduced June 10 in the U.S. House and Senate by a trio of Democrats: U.S. Reps. A. Donald McEachin of Virgina and Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, along with U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

On June 10, Reps. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) recently reintroduced the Protecting Our Students in School Act of 2021, which takes steps to eliminate the harmful, antiquated practice of hitting children in public schools. In addition to removing corporal punishment in public institutions, the bill puts in place measures to create supportive school climates with positive discipline strategies that are backed by science.

Oregon congresswoman and LCC alumni Suzanne Bonamici joined the ceremony as the keynote speaker and was awarded the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. "As I reflect on the past 17 months of the pandemic, the magnitude of loss of loved ones, jobs, businesses and opportunities remains unfathomable," Bonamici said. "But we've also seen resilience beyond what we might have thought possible."

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is pushing for federal funding to increase resources for small businesses throughout Columbia County. Bonamici, who will see her district shrink when Oregon gets a sixth representative in Congress, recently spoke with the Spotlight about redistricting, workforce development, redistricting, potential community projects, childcare and more.

"People still haven't been fully vaccinated. I think this is adding to peoples' concern of going back to work. I think people are concerned about their health," Walsh said. "I do not feel that the $300 bonus is keeping people out of work." Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said high child care costs have also kept parents at home. "I've had so many conversations with people who say, I want to go back to work, but I don't have affordable child care," Bonamici said. "So we need to solve that issue."

Reps. Bonamici and Dan Young (R-AK) introduced the BLUE GLOBE (Bolstering Longterm Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries) that would reauthorize a NOAA program dedicated to researching and addressing workforce shortages in the "blue economy."