Now we take you to beaverton, joint where they held a town hall meeting. [applause] how many of you have never been to one of our town meetings . Faces,ul, so many new and the congresswoman and i feel that you are the faces of Representative Government so thank you for coming out. [laughter] [applause] do at the usually start of a town meeting is i talk about 40 or 45 minutes or everybody thinks it is really a lot of fun. Some people over there think im serious. Their face got all pale. That is not what we do at a townhall meeting. For the next 90 minutes we are not going to be reading speeches or using teleprompters. We want to hear from you. We are just going to field your questions, take your comments because that is really what democracy is all about. ,t is not about trickledown decide things in washington and then everybody just accept it. It is bottom up. It comes from the grassroots. [applause] speeches. I am thrilled to have the congresswoman with us today. I angle going to introduce her in a second but we have one little bit of business. We have all the wonderful volunteers from the food bank here with us. They need you this summer. They need you in the summer. [applause] we all love to be with the food bank in the winter and the holidays and the like and they always have lots of folks, but august,in oregon we own and everybody is at the beach having a good time. They need you. That is my only former formal request today, is that you help the food bank. It is a real pleasure to be able to introduce my colleague, congresswoman bone amici. She is an expert on issues relating to science, relating to education, and infrastructure. Please give a strong washington colleague,ome to my congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici chief. Bonamici. Thank you. Thank you for hosting. We have standing room only. I am thrilled with how many of you are here today. Counselor beatty, thank you for the introduction and your service to beaverton, where we have fabulous leaders in Washington County, and of course senator wyden. Has been aen champion for oregon for years and i have not caught up with the 850 plus town Hall Meetings but im glad to be here with you today. I want to mention how important it is to hear from you, to hear directly from the people we represent because we take your ideas and input back with us to washington, d. C. I want you to know what the people are contacting us about in my office in beaverton over the last couple of weeks. The top issues we have been hearing about, and we have had a significant increase in people contacting our office. Calls and visits and coming to our townHall Meetings, they care a lot about health care. That is the number one issue we have heard recently. The paris climate agreement, and why would we leave the paris climate agreement when we have the serious challenge of Climate Change . And an independent investigation. People are contacting my office and saying there are a lot of questions we need answered. We want an independent investigation. I share those concerns and i have been working hard on has, to as the senator support working families, to support Public Education, protect seniors. I know senator wyden has a great history of making sure seniors can live out their lives with dignity. That is so important. Taking care of our troops. Also, protecting the environment. Those are oregon values and thats what we have been working on and will continue working on even in these incredibly challenging times. I want to say a few words about the health care debate. We just had a rally this morning about the Health Care Bill. The bill originally did not have the bill to get rid of the Affordable Care act and replace it with something that would actually be worse did not have a vote in the house right away because there was so much concern about the direction of this health care. So there was a little break during that time and then we went back to washington, d. C. And it passed the house. ,this is the house bill 23 , Million People in the country would lose their health care coverage. After the vote, the president said it was mean and he wanted a better bill on the senate. Now the senate has a bill 22 , Million People will lose their Health Coverage. Its still mean, right . Its really bad for people with disabilities, bad for people in rural areas, bad for especially between 50 and 65, there is an h age tax. There are a lot of problems with this bill has people will be paying more and getting less. Its a big issue right now and we are fighting to improve Health Coverage for all, making sure that we have a better bill and that is a priority for all , of us, the senator and me. I just wanted to mention briefly about education because i spent a lot of time working on other education in a state legislature now in congress. We just passed a Technical Education bill in the house. I am hoping, senator, that the Senate Passes that as well because its a great handson learning that helps students engage and get realworld skills while they are in high school or community college. College affordability is another issue i am working on. And also fighting the administrations attempts to privatize Public Education, which we see coming. [applause] and just today you saw oregon as one of the states that is now involved in suing the department of education because they took away Consumer Protections for people who invested in those unscrupulous forprofit educators. We are fighting back against that too. Before we start the questions, coming right up, i wanted to invite you to contact my office and the senators office. My office is here in beaverton. If you have any questions about a federal agency, we have wonderful constituent caseworkers that can help with things like social security, immigration, medicaid, medicare, any federal issue. We have wonderful staff that help with those issues in our offices. Do not hesitate to reach out and we can help you. So again, thank you so much for this standing room only crowd here today. We look forward to your questions. We wanted this to be a great discussion. We want to hear from you. We look forward to answering your questions. [applause] and just wanted to echo one statement. As a veteran of the United States army, when you get health care at the v. A. It is complicated. It took me six years of fighting the v. A. To get the care. To rigell toays her office, she truly means it. She will move mountains for you. First numbers, first numbers, 919, 749 and the other thing the other thin is, particularly students are reluctant to ask their questions even when their number debts drawn. The other day at one of the high schools a bunch of students when , asking their questions and one student elbowed another and one and said you better ask your , question. That dude is serious. He will come to your house. [laughter] do not be bashful. No one has 919 . He will come to your house if you do not ask a question. 792, we are talking about the last three digits. Rep. Bonamici the last three digits on the ticket. And 821, you are on deck. Rep. Bonamici someone is bringing you a microphone. Good afternoon. My name is amy. Im here with these lovely folks that work and volunteer at pantries and food banks. We want to thank you both for the fight you have brought to defend health care for low income people. We know that connection between hunger and when healthcare costs are up and down and so we want to thank you and also request that you bring that same fight to protecting the snap program, food stamps, we know that that program is vitally important. We thank you for your help on both those issues. Rep. Bonamici thank you and thank you for your work. A valuable program, snap, the food stamp program. Hunger, kids in school cannot eat when they are hungry and cannot even learn when they are hungry. School nutrition programs as well as snap are such good programs. Thank you for your help with the oregon food bank. I know i will be fighting for those. I hope all of you can hear that because, dollar for dollar, what our food banks and pantries are doing today is just as important as it gets. What i am finding is, a lot of people who are coming and have families that are hungry, not very long ago were volunteering at the food bank. And it is a challenging economy, as you know, particularly if your industry moves on and the question is, what are you going to do to be able to get a good wage and support your family . So i said two things. One, individually, our whole family is going to be out there with you all in august, because august is when they really need the volunteers and if there is one thing that you can do to help them, that is it. Number two, on the Budget Committee where i have continued to serve i will make protecting , the antihunger Program Priority number one. [applause] this is really, ultimately a statement about who we are as a country. If a country as rich and strong and good as ours going to say, we are just going to sit back and let the Trump Administration roll back antihunger programs . We have something in our state that we call the oregon way. We have a lot of democrats for it and a lot of republicans for it. Let me tell you something. If Mark Hatfield, our legendary republican senator, for some of you young people you were not born when Mark Hatfield served, but if Mark Hatfield heard about the cutbacks in antihunger programs, Mark Hatfield, a republican, would say no and so will the congresswoman and i. [applause] thank you. You want me to stand up . I am deborah. I live in northwest portland. Thank you both for all you have been doing and for being here. Senator wyden, i really appreciate your questioning of attorney general jeff sessions. Thank you. [applause] and that brings me to my concern. Health care is a huge issue, hunger is a huge issue. But i really worry about the country as a whole and the damage that is being done. Trump has nominated someone who doesnt believe in Public Education in charge of Public Education, someone who thinks poverty is a state of mind running urban development and housing. The list goes on and on. The director of the office of government ethics resigned today. So, i am terrified about the damage that is going to be done from a macro level, not just a program, but to our way of life and also our standing in the world. Rep. Bonamici thank you for here and sharing those concerns. I just did six town Hall Meetings recently and another by telephone with 1000 people, and i tell you, you are not alone in expressing those concerns. We all care about this country and American Leadership in the world. And please know that the senator and i and many of our colleagues, are fighting back every step of the way against the policies of, for example, secretary devos, who wants to privatize Public Education. Ruitt ory p administrator pruitt at the epa, secretary perry at energy, we need people in those positions who understand that Climate Change is real. We can grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time. Please know that when we hear these things, whether it be cabinet officials or people at the administration, we are speaking up, we are fighting back, and people across the country are joining town Hall Meetings like this, calling our offices, getting engaged, and fighting back. We have already seen a delay in the Health Care Bill. First in the house, now in the senate. That comes from this type of advocacy. Secretary devos barely made it because so many people across the country said, we want an education secretary that is committed to Public Education. Please know that we share those concerns and every step of the we are speaking up and fighting back and doing what we can because we all care greatly , about this country. People like counselor beatty who served in the military to defend this country. We all care and want us to not lose our rights. I have to say, i was very concerned for the request about all of the voting information and why in the world would we send our voter information to a panel when we do not have a problem with voting . We should be making it easier, for people to register and vote like we do in oregon not taking away our right to participate in democracy. We share your concerns and we are fighting back and stepping up and speaking out, as our as are people across the country. As she does son, well, sort of teed it up perfectly that we ought to say, given the fact that we know the russians tried to hack our election, it is time to pass my bill to take the vote by mail national. [applause] yes. Trail. T a paper lets have a paper trail for every ballot that is cast in america. That is the oregon system. [applause] make just two points with respect to the ethics and our standing in the world. As you know mr. President meets , with mr. Putin tomorrow. St with respect to ethics the lowest ethical bar for a president , the lowest ethical bar for a president , has been to voluntarily release their tax returns. [applause] every president has done it now for 40 years. Every democrat, every republican, every liberal, every conservative, because we made a judgment that this was a matter of the public right to know. I bring this up only by way of saying that ethics always starts at the top. [applause] senator wyden if the people at the top do not set an example, nobody else is going to want to fall in line. And to give you an idea of how bizarre this is, i am the senior democrat on the finance committee. We have jurisdiction over taxes and medicare and medicaid and the like. We are going to have appointees of the president have to disclose their taxes when the guy at the top wont, which is why i am determined to pass my bill to require that those tax returns be made public. [applause] senator wyden point number two. On our standing in the world, this too starts at the top. And i gather today, the president once again would not acknowledge what all the intelligence leadership has said , that the russians hacked our 2016 election. I hope when the president gets together with mr. Putin, he looks him in the eye and he says, your government interfered with our election, do not let it happen again. Period. [applause]. Next two numbers if they are asking you, wave your hand. There is only one dude he is fit , but he cannot get there fast. Up, 826 rep. Bonamici the last three numbers on the ticket, 914. 86. Is coming to your house. Anybody, 826 . We have 826. I also want to thank you for being here and all the work you are doing. Scott cohen. I am a portland resident. Recently i read an article by marcia geffen which was in harpers. Its the german element that German Parliament that burned it down in 1933 and lay a foundation to cut down all dissent. What i am worried about and what i would like to hear your thoughts on, is the following question. What if 9 11 had not happened in 2001, but that it happens in 2017 . What are we prepared to do to make sure that we can continue to dissent, to speak out, to resist this individual who calls himself the president . What are you prepared to do . We need to oppose him and resist against his agenda. And if something terrible happens, like happened 16 years ago, we cannot afford to be silenced into thinking that we need to be patriotic, we need to be patriotic by speaking out. So i would like to hear your thoughts about that. Rep. Bonamici thank you, scott, for your question. Did everyone hear that . We are very concerned about the president and the rights of people the right of free speech. , i have to tell you, its so important, we just celebrated the fourth of july. My Family Tradition is to read the decoration of independence. When you look at the history of our country and our constitution and our right to free speech, we have three separate and independent branches of government. And there are checks and balances for a reason. The Trump Administration released a budget. That is the Trump Administration statement of priorities and values, not congresses. responsibility is to write a budget. We still have those three branches of government and a checks and balances are holding the other branches accountable. I wanted to make accountable i heard one of the president she advisors the other day say they were criticizing the media because it is not patriotic enough. It is the medias responsibility to be accurate and truthful. And that is what they have been doing. When the president came back and said this is the modern president ial, to tweak all these things,weet all these the president can use social media. It is what he is saying not that he is using social media. He has not been respectful of women, our country, individual rights and free speech. Importantdia has an role to play in all this in holding the president accountable. I was extremely concerned about them limiting the people who can come to the white house to receive the press briefings, so i will fight every step of the way for that accountability that from from for knowledge fullowledgell from knowledge and the separation of the government from the media. Look at the number of people that came out today. This is what our country was founded on. Separation of powers, free speech, freedom of religion which has other which has also been under attack. , ourur constitution rights, and the declaration of independence will get us through. That question is so profoundly important. The congresswoman really hit it when it comes to the importance of a free and open press. The matter what you think of our comments tonight, when you walk momenthere, think for a about how in much of the world nou cannot have an ope Community Meeting like this one. That is what we have to protect. Scott wanted to know what it would mean if what happened in 9 11 happened now. I want to be very clear about this. Parents fled the nazis in the 30s. Not everyone got out. Islost family, so your point very well taken. Now, i was placed on the Intelligence Committee. Me sohild teases dad, what is going on in the socalled Intelligence Committee . I was put on the Committee Weeks before 9 11. Thoseo the horror in attacks and murders of 3000 americans. In the rush of all that, the Congress Overwhelmingly passed the patriot act. There was a view that there was a kind of timestamp on it. In other words, we had never seen anything like this. , andl detested bin laden we understood what that was about. Not look that carefully, because we had to make sure we protected our country. But we would come back pretty soon and start looking at it. Gain, but that did not happen we did not do much looking ahead. We all saw the development of the surveillance state. It got to the point where i asked the head of national ,ntelligence in an open session does the government collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans . And in front of the country he lied and said no. Know,appened, as you all is that it eventually came out. So, we now have passed a law that will stop the collection of phone records for hundreds and hundreds of people. All these innocent people. What will be different in 2017, and i am still on the Intelligence Committee and i will make it my personal mission, is to make clear that modern policies promote both security and liberty. They are not mutually exclusive. It is not one or the other. Somehow, that was the choice after 9 11. [applause] we will talk about some other issues that the congresswoman and i cared deeply about. I think strong encryption is one of the strongest things we can do to ensure privacy and protection. 2017 will beu that 9 11,ifferent than after because we learned a lot of important lessons. 887 . 844 . 806 . There in the back. All right, on deck is 729. Is gary from beaverton. I just want to comment that the election of this president is worse than 9 11. [applause] the general question i have is that i have confidence and faith that you two up there are representing my values as citizens, especially citizens like me who are lifelong democrats. What can we do most constructively to express our values, our desire for more constructive policy other than to communicate with you . I tried to lay out how i think political change is made in america. It is bottom, up it is bottomup and not topdown. I will take a minute to describe what i think happened last week with your grassroots pressure. Thishere not been grassroots uprising against l, ih mcconnells bil believe what would have happened is that around 2 00 or 3 00 a. M. Last friday morning the senate would have passed Mitch Mcconnells horrible Health Care Bill. We would have been put on a very tight time schedule for amendments. The senate would have passed it. Mcconnellint, mitch and paul ryan might get together , and i think paul ryan would say that i will keep the house of representatives in session on saturday and sunday, and we will pass the senate bill. Had that happened, it would have gone to be president and he would have signed it into law. At a rally this they said, had that the rally we would have been morning mourning. We need to go to the grassroots once more and talk about how important this is. It is not a Health Care Bill at all. For the richonanza it is a taxg bill for the fortunate few masquerading as a health bill. Hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks in order to pay for medicaid cuts. Now, a lot of republicans will say, we really need those tax breaks to create jobs. It gets better. They decided to make the big tax break retroactive. So, give me a break that it will create jobs. , it that tax break does creates tax windfalls. Help us stop it. That is what we have to do in the next couple of weeks. Thank you. Just to add onto that inc. You for the question. That just to add onto thank you for the question. Onto that, i have spoken with many moms and folks who will be affected by this. Her sevenyearold has already gone through that would be a lifetime cap, because he has leukemia. Coverage will take away from hundreds of thousands of oregonians. This is a wonderful, successful, thriving country, and there is no way no reason why health care should be just for the healthy and wealthy. We are going to help people get coverage and inventive care, but care, but wetive are also going to pay when people go to the emergency room when it is more expensive. So, we need people to come to the table to talk about how we can make it more accessible and affordable and not just take it away from people. To add to your point about what you can do, i want to take it in a slightly different direction and say that what we can all do is talk with people who have different opinions. The senator represents the whole state of oregon. I have a district in northwest oregon where i have urban, subu rban and rural. Not everyone in the district thinks alike. Sometimes people say there is a divide between the coastal states and midamerica. We do have more conversations with people who have different points of view and talk about talk about why our point of view is the one we believe in. When you to create bridges and not walls. The congressman just oreribed the organ way. The oregon way. I would like to know what you act,think about the reins an effortsee that as to erode democracy even further. Which one . Oh, the reins act. I believe that is the one dealing with regulations. Well, there have been efforts to try and take power away from congress and agency rulemaking. We have a bicameral legislative body for a reason. It has worked historically. That is why we have a bicameral system. We have agencies and rulemaking and a procedures act to make sure that rules are being written with the input of Community Members who care about the issues. We need to fight for those in supposed to make sure that. Eoples voices are heard not have agency and rules taken away without following the legislative process. It is my understanding that the reins act would take away some of those rights. The Health Care Bill in the house i was not in congress when the Affordable Care act sed theret when it pas had been just 79 hearings in the house and even more in the senate. We had input from stakeholders nurses, patient groups, providers, Insurance Companies, pharmaceutical companies, they all gave input and it was all consider. Amendments were offered in many, many hearings. It ended up passing on a that doesvote, but not mean there was not a whole conversation and input. The healthcare bill that passed the house did not have a single public hearing. The Affordable Care act had 79, and this one had zero. There was no input from stakeholders. There was no public hearings. No public discussions. Hearings are an opportunity for people to come up with new ideas and express their opinions. Then, there was the dealmaking that happened to get votes behind closed hours. That is not how democracy works. This question of how we protect our institutions and ensure that the voices of people are heard and that we do not have all these policies that chip away at peoples right to participate, i think we have to come back and we talked about our big challenges, the overturning of a Supreme Court decision, Citizens United. It is right at the heart of what our friends in the fourth row said in terms of ensuring that everyone has a voice. The Citizens United case basically says that the rich persons checkbook is the same thing as the poor persons soapbox. That is absurd, because the morebook buys a whole lot influence. The congresswoman and i spoke about the importance of the food their work this summer in august when they do not have volunteers. We are all going to go over there and volunteer. Do you think the food bank has the kind of lobbyists that the insurers and big medical pharmaceuticals have . We understand how you can affect the political process. To respond to your question, we have to pass legislation that overturns Citizens United, because it is right at the heart of protecting the voice of the ordinary citizen. [applause] i will call to more numbers. In otheremind you that parts of of the country that people are begging for their senators and representatives to come out and talk with them. This is pretty unique. 741 and 743 . Over there. Perfect. Good afternoon and thank you for being here. My name is hillary and i am from force growth here in Washington County. Forestgrove here in Washington County. Currently, i teach english in japan. We are a watchdog and i am part of a watchdog and activist group that supports refugees. We are nonpartisan, and our job is to make sure that our representatives from any side of the aisle are acting within the law and accurately. I am proud to represent americans abroad today. I received a letter this morning in my email regarding a postcard i had sent you from tokyo a couple months ago. It was about concerns with regards to the Current Situation in north korea. As somebody who is currently living very close to that area and interacts regularly with a lot of foreigners and the japanese people because of my job, i did appreciate the response from your office this morning that you are working and will work to make sure that steps are taken and that we ensure security with little casualties. So, i appreciate that. Ourrsonally do not trust current commander in chief to make sensible decisions sgarding north korea involvement with our allies and other countries in that area. I want to know, because he has also undone the committee that oversees a lot of ethics and things like that since he has taken office i want to know if you have trust in a secretary mattis, and if there is anyone in washington that you think t we can trust to help us that can help our administration make sensible decisions in regards to what is happening over to over in asia. Two points. Obviously, this is one of those inflection moments in our relations with north korea. We have gone around and around with them over the years, and nothing has seemed to work. They continue to move relentlessly to develop this capability to strike our shores. It seems to me there are two points that we ought to zero in on. First, obviously, china is a key player here. I think trade has expanded between china and north korea during this whole period. I believe it is by 37 according to the wall street journal. The chinese have to send a message that they are serious about this. By the way, if we really want to be serious about it, lets start imposing more stringent restrictions on the chinese banks, because it is the chinese banks who will lose out on some of these opportunities that might be the one thing that has china stepping up. Number two, with respect to the president and his advisers, the one i have been watching who i think could be a key player is as you know, on the outset of , it looksents term like they were talking seriously about a preemptive strike. General mcmaster went on National Television a couple of days later and basically took it off the table. Said, all right, this is somebody who looks like he really understands the ramifications. Since you have spent time there, andknow about the proximity ramifications for south korea and japan. I cannot get into much more than that, because i am on the Intelligence Committee but this will take a lot of my time and the congresswomans time. It will take vigorous oversight, and clearly this is one of those moments where the president , particularly at the g 20, can build a Global Coalition to show that this time it will be different. I just want to add thank you for being here. We all want that region and our country to be safe. I agree with the senator. I have been hearing positive things about mcmaster and also somewhat maddest somewhat mattis. The question is, is the president listening . Is answer is that tweeting not form policy. Policy a sound foreign with experts engaged. We need to build those partnerships, like the senator said, with others like china who can really make an influence because of that economic relationship. I have been very concerned about the state department and their budget cuts. We need diplomacy now more than ever. The senior staffers who have left the state department are creating a pretty big gap in what we need in international diplomacy. I know there is a new deputy secretary new deputy of state who is getting a lot of ess, but we need that now more than ever. With the cuts to the state department, when he to make sure we have the minds, the people with experience who are weighing in on all these foreign issues. So, i am watching very carefully what is happening right now in north korea. Hello, my name is ray johnson. I am retired. Senator, i have known you for a long time. We have voted for you every time we could. I have always trusted your knowledge, your wisdom, and your decisions. [applause] certainly like to hear you say once more to reassure me as a retiree, that you will do nothing but support icare, are benefits, an support medicare, our benefits, and everything we care about so much. A terrific question. Now, a lot of you are aware of my shady past with the grey panthers. I had a full head of hair and still my looks. Those issues have always been what have driven me the public service, particularly health care. I voice felt that if you and your loved ones do not have your health, then every thing else just goes by the board. I think one of our great challenges, and it is why i am so appreciative of the congresswoman always trying to reach out and find Common Ground with the other party, is about something i am sure you did not hear about a couple of months ago, because it was bipartisan and there was no fighting. So, there was not a lot of press coverage. Both parties i think have missed what happened with medicare. 1965,ld into effect in and there were two parts. There was the hospital part which is called part a, and there was the doctor part which is part b. That was medicare. Folks, that is not medicare today. Today, medicare is not about broken ankles and a bad case of the flu. It is about cancer, diabetes, heart disease. It is about stroke and chronic illness. We are on the way to having 80 of the medicare Person Program consumed by chronic illness. , and i to orrin hatch told him we have to take some strong action here. I would suggest, respectfully, that we pass a bill to update the medicare guarantee. Medicare is not a voucher, it is not a coupon, it is a guarantee. Guarantee has not kept up with the times. We can do more to care for the folks at home, we can use more nonphysician providers, and more. I want you to know that those issues are why i went into public service, they are the issues that i still consider the most important, and i know it was not part of the headlines but we have begun an effort. It is along the lines of what the congresswoman just mentioned , it is bipartisan. In the house, a couple of our colleagues are sponsors of the bill. If somebody comes out and talks about the government and is not talk about medicare about the government government and not about medicare, it is not on the level. Medicare is up here, folks, and Everything Else is done here. There is going to be 10,000 people turning 65 every day for years to come. So i think updating the medicare guarantee would protect peoples rights and also look for ways to take bipartisan steps to ensure we contain the costs. Thats what we ought to be doing to address your question. [applause] rep. Bonamici because there are so many more people with chronic conditions, it so important to have access to health care throughout the year so people can get the health care they need and reduce chronic conditions and therefore, reduce Health Care Costs for the later years in life. The other thing i wanted to add is that medicare and social security, some people call them entitlements. They are not. They are earned benefits. [applause] senator wyden well said. 711. 802. He said they called his number but his question was already asked. We appreciate that. 802. 716. 920. 716, all right. 920, are you out there . Right there, perfect. Thank you both so much for the hard work you are doing. It must be counting right now. I wanted to say that names katie and i live here in beaverton. Essential powers were expanded greatly after 9 11 as you are he talked about, senator wyden. I feel its time for congress to rein in those powers and restore the balance democratic government. Please keep at it. [applause] rep. Bonamici we agree. And one of the ways we are talking about doing that is to pass an authorization to actually have Congress Passed an authorization for use of military force. Right now, the last authorization for use of military force was passed after 9 11, due to al qaeda. And if there is a request for military action, it is congressresponsibility to use military force. It requires us to do that again finally. I tell you, i will be looking for something that is limited in time and scope and well defined in terms of where we would authorize military force if that comes forward. It cannot just be an unlimited power. Next number, what was it . Hi, im russell, i live in northwest portland, and im here with some people who are talking about how trump intends to renegotiate nafta. And i want to know what you think about when the people pushing the nafta renegotiation are finally going to Pay Attention to human rights in mexico . Under the previous or current nafta arrangement, the labor production agreement, and complaints under nafta in that agreement has been against employer controlled union, firings for workers, organize workers, forced pregnancy testing of workers, mistreated migrant workers, and so on. These complaints do not result under sections under nafta and the model doesnt change. What are you going to do to change the model and see that enforcing labor standards are in the cortex of any new nafta . Rep. Bonamici thank you very much for that question and as somebody here in oregon that represents a trade district, i have said that a trade agreement would have to have those protections, labor protections, environmental protections, Consumer Protections, the enforceable, and reinforced. Thats what i will be looking for in any trade agreement and i will be watching closely because nafta has not been good for the country. We need to negotiate that so those protections are enforced and enforceable. Senator wyden nafta needs a bigtime upgrade. And certainly, what you are talking about is essential. And look, a lot of the priorities we have today, nobody thought much about back then. That does not make it right. But clearly, human rights, labor protections, the environment, these are all core today to American Values and i have said at the public hearings that we have had already in the Senate Finance committee, number one, i would support them, number two, i will do everything i can to get bipartisan support for them, and number three, i am also going to say, that now that the internet is the shipping lane of the 21st century, we add Digital Goods to this agreement so that people can make things in Washington County as a value to them in Washington County and ship them all over the world and get a good wage when they do it. [applause] rep. Bonamici what the next number . 878. Rep. Bonamici 878, the last three numbers on the ticket. Do we have 713 on deck . How about a 897 . I just want to know what you are doing right now or what you can do to bolster the aca, because i am sure most republicans want to just watch it drown in the bathtub. Rep. Bonamici we just had a Big Health Care rally. The Affordable Care act, which past several years ago and has been incremented here in oregon, significantly reduced the number of uninsured. We are seeing very positive signs, in fact everett medical school said they are seeing fewer cardiac arrest. People are getting access to preventive care. Access to health care is critical to our community. And if we dont invest now, we will pay later with chronic disease. I used to work with legal aid years ago, probably when the senator was with the gray panthers, and helping people that were struggling. Many people are struggling because they did not have health care, or they had insurance that did not cover them when they needed it. They came because they were harassed by debt electors and down in the way financially. We cannot go back to the days where a diagnosis or an accident leads people to go back up to and they lose their homes and their savings. That is not who they are as a country. So i will be fighting at the table, ready and willing to have conversations with colleagues on both sides of the aisle with how we expand access to Affordable Health care, and not take it away. This senate bill would result in more than 511,000 people losing Insurance Coverage in oregon. That is accessible. It really especially hurts low income, people with disabilities, students and people in schools with special needs. All these people will be affected, that for women, that for seniors, that for children, that for low income people, its really bad. We are going to be fighting that bill and ready willing, and able to sit around the table to figure out how we can improve access to Affordable Health care. One thing is the cost of prescription drug. There is no reason we should not be negotiating prescription drugs and medicare like we do for the da. [applause] senator wyden one other part of this effort that we have to make on health care is, make sure people really see what is at stake here. I have had so many people i have had so many people come up to me in fact somebody did it at fred myers the other day, one of my claims to fame is i have had a barbecue chicken at every fred meyer in oregon. [laughter] someone came up and said i am with you on this whole effort to stop the mcconnell bill, but i am glad that we are not affected because we have employer coverage. 160 Million People get their care in america through their employer, it is kind of a historical afterthought after world war ii, and i said to the gentleman, i hate to have to tell you, but you could really be affected because this legislation allows states to weigh what are called the essential benefits, and that would mean that the protection in the Affordable Care act which says if you work for an employer in america, you get catastrophic protection. There are limits on what the Insurance Companies can do to you if you have these enormous expenses, and they can be waived as a result of this bill, so a big part of what we have to do and this was a fellow who was smart, had a good job. We have to get out the story about how sweeping the says. What the congresswoman and i saw at the rally today were all kinds of people who want us to go further than the aca. [applause] and we are with them. What we better realize is that if we allow the far right to take america lurching backward on health, it is going to be harder to move forward, so that is why this fight is so important. Rep. Bonamici i agree. [applause] rep. Bonamici 886. I live in oregon city, and it is summer in oregon. It is my favorite time of the year and i spend a lot of my Time Outdoors hiking in our forests and kayaking on our waters and i am extremely concerned about the risk to our public lands. It appears that our public lands are going to be destroyed simply by waving a pen, not only in our state but offshore, and i want to know what can be done through the congress, through legislation to preserve our public land . [applause] rep. Bonamici i agree with you our public land needs to be preserved and i moved every step of the way to fight that. A lot of decisions are being made to the executive ranch and the cabinet secretary, secretary of the interior, for example. Every time i see a threat, i speak up, speak out, but it is going to take all of us speaking up and letting your voices be heard. Join an organization that amplifies your voice, because the more we can get the message across, like with health care, that people want to preserve and protect their public lands, the less likely it is they will take steps. I know the Antiquities Act is under attack. I will fight to preserve that. Sen. Wyden there is one sleeper in this battle to protect our public lands. This is really an incrediblly important fight. If the congress does something that is kind of foolish and a mistake, very often you can come back and get it corrected. If the congress cells offer allows our federal treasures to be sold off, we are not going to get them back. So this is incredibly important, and i think the sleeper in this debate is we now have a really surging recreation economy. We have an extraordinary number thousands of oregonians the numbers are in the hundreds of millions of dollars for all of the people who are kayakers and making equipment and the like. What do they want . Exactly what you want, not having someone mess with our federal treasures. You had Better Believe we are getting the environmental folks and the recreation folks together because i think this is one that could end up getting bipartisan support for protecting our treasures. [applause] rep. Bonamici next number . 886. Rep. Bonamici 886 . And on deck, 938. Thank you, i am a resident of beaverton. I appreciate you being here. Flying all the way out from washington. My question is, we can get into the weeds on various public policies. Obviously, in congress there are various opinions. I believe in the room, there are opinions about policies and priorities. My question is the fundamental Financial Condition of federal government. You in legislature, are responsible for the use of the scarce funds, tax revenues are a alltime high, yet we are 20 trillion in debt. My question is, first of all, would you support a balanced Budget Amendment and what is your opinion on how we can deal with that . I have eight grandchildren, if you take those numbers and divide by the number of citizens in the country, that is about 60,000 per person, men, women and children. My question is, how do i explain to my eight grandchildren, you are almost 500,000 in debt before you get started. How do you as legislators deal with that and what is your proposal how do you propose to deal with that and what is the longterm solution . Sen. Wyden enormously important question, and not an abstraction in our household. My wife and i are older parents. We have twins that are nine. Lovely scarlett, brightest red hair on the planet, four years old. I think about what it means for one generation to go to a restaurant and order the biggest meal in sight and when they bring the check, just walk out and leave a check for the next generation. So my view is, that a lot of these things that sound good various kinds of amendments and the like, usually just produce a lot of dodges. To me, the answer to your question has got to be, will a legislator name specific items specific items they are willing to tackle . And that is why i mentioned the question of our bipartisan bill on medicare. From the standpoint of the budget, sir, structurally there is nothing that resembles the challenge of medicare. And i have come up with something now with the republicans that i think protects the medicare guarantee and response to your question about where we are going in the budget. It updates the guarantee, we are going to take steps with things like independence in homes where some areas have seen 30,000 a person savings. My view is we have a choice. One, you think there is a serious problem. I would say happy absolutely, two, are we going for things that sound good. But people in politics have usually got around them, or are we going to hold our political folks are accountable on the single biggest measures of our time . And i just gave you how i proceed. Rep. Bonamici thank you for the question. It is an important question and if you look back not that long ago, there was a surplus. Why do we have this debt . This deficit . My first year in congress, i was on the Budget Committee. Speaker ryan was the chair, and one of the first hearings i sat in as a member of congress was about the defense budget. The then secretary was talking about why we need Good Investments in things like intelligence and cyber security. Do we want to keep our country safe, absolutely. But the amount of money we spend at the pentagon and in the Defense Department is enormous. We can look at that we are always looking for smarter, better ways to do things and it is one of the reasons why i work with the Pacific Northwest defense coalition, which is a group of northwest businesses that have defense contracts to help them find smarter, better ways to do things and that is not just true in the Defense Department. We can always find more efficient, smarter, better ways to do things. When i was in the organ legislators, i was working on education issues. One of my favorite bills was a mandate repeal bill, where we looked through the regulations and got rid of a lot of unnecessary laws and regulations that didnt improve education, but were creating a burden. We are always looking for the opportunities to make government work better, to make government work smarter, but we need to have a serious conversation about where we are spending the revenue and as we look at revenue and tax reform, how are we going to grow the economy so that we dont continue to have the debt and the deficit. But thank you, were all thinking about future generations. The last question is going to go to senator wyden. He wants to ask the audience a question. I have a feeling you will be able to use this christmas cards in your hands. So get ready. How many of you heard about todays meeting online or through social media, or twitter or facebook . Raise your hands. The reason i am asking is the free and open internet is being threatened. Right now, the federal Commission Communications commission and there do later due leader is talking about setting aside something called Net Neutrality. And Net Neutrality means you get to go where you want, when you want, how you want. It is the ultimate in statement abiding insuring everyone has a chance to get ahead. And he wants to set up something called priority lanes. What it basically means is people with deep pockets will get that prime lane and everyone else would probably have to wait for their content. And what they need. Now, the big lobbies are really pushing this, and so i put a link up on my website. If you share the view that we ought to be protecting Net Neutrality, you can weigh in by just going to that link. Here is the most interesting argument. These Big Companies that constantly keep merging, they dont like to stand up in front of a crowd like this and say that they are against Net Neutrality. So they say they are for voluntary Net Neutrality. And so what i said, that has got about as much chance to work as my saying that William Peter wyden, age nine, will voluntarily limit himself to one dessert. [laughter] sen. Wyden isnt going to happen. And to me, some of these issues like ensuring that the internet stays free and open, and if i thats why i asked how many heard about this meeting online or through facebook or social media. This is one of the priorities we ought to have at a time when these big communication firms keep merging and combining and leveraging more political power almost by the week. So i want to get the last word to my friends and colleague congressman boehner michi bonamici. But to those of you who share my view about how much the internet has done, particularly for a place like oregon, where we use it to communicate and for kids to get an education, you can find out about jobs and this meeting, i hope you will decide to support Net Neutrality. And my last word, my good friend [applause] rep. Bonamici thank you, and thank you senator. I want to take this opportunity to not only thank you, but thank you, counselor, for helping. [applause] rep. Bonamici the senator and i cannot do what we do without our amazing staff, so would all of our staff . Wave staff wave . Staff from my office. Thank you staff for helping today and thank you, everyone, for spending part of this beautiful summer day in oregon to share your thoughts with us. If we didnt get your question, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office. You can call, you can email, you can catch some of the staff on your way out. Please stay engaged. We want to here from you. Thank you so much. [applause] the house and Senate Returns next week from their Independence Day break. The Defense Authorization bill. We were joined by a capitol Hill Reporter for details