WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas is nearing the end of her first year in Congress representing Oregon's 6th Congressional District, and she called in to this week's episode of Straight Talk from Washington DC to talk about the ups and downs of her first term so far.
Salinas, a Democrat, won the first election for the newly-created district in November 2022 after previously serving three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives.
She weighed in on two topics that have been dominating headlines in recent weeks: The ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and congressional Republicans' struggle to elect a successor, as well as Hamas's attacks on Israel and subsequent conflict in the Gaza Strip. But she also discussed a range of federal legislation that she's worked on this year that could have environmental, economic and health care impacts for Oregonians.
The House Speaker fight
The unprecedented mid-term removal of McCarthy has left the U.S. House of Representatives leaderless for more than a week, grinding congressional business to a halt. Congressional Democrats joined a handful of Republicans to oust McCarthy, and Salinas said it wasn't a vote she took lightly, but "our former speaker consistently demonstrated that he was unable to lead."
When asked how much longer she thought the process of replacing him would take, Salinas said she didn't know, and said she was concerned that the speakership fight could drag on long enough to once again raise the threat of a government shutdown in November. The House avoided a government shutdown at the last minute by passing a temporary funding measure late last month, but the maneuver cost McCarthy his job — and Salinas said she viewed the extension measure as incomplete.
"That last bill, it wasn't perfect," she said. "It lacked funding for Ukraine, funding for student borrowers — something I specifically called on leadership to include."
Oregon energy and economy
Friday also brought the news that the Pacific Northwest has been designated as one of seven new regional "hydrogen hubs" by the Biden Administration, due in large part to the region's abundance of hydropower, and Salinas said the development will fit in well with Oregon's efforts to switch to cleaner energy.
"This is exciting news," she said. "This was a competitive nationwide process, and it truly will be a boon for the region. The hubs will actually accelerate the transition to clean energy and create an estimated about 10,000 jobs in our region, which includes about 8,000 good paying construction jobs."
She also touted how Oregon stands to benefit from the federal CHIPS act, which aims to boost the domestic semiconductor industry. Oregon isn't just a chips manufacturer, she noted — the state also makes many other parts in the semiconductor supply chain, so the state will benefit heavily from the investment.
Israel and Gaza
Asked about her thoughts on the conflict between Hamas and Israel, Salinas said she stands with Israel and condemned Hamas's attacks, recalling a recent trip where she visited an Israeli kibbutz that was later attacked. She said House members felt united on the issue, not just in Oregon's congressional delegation but overall.
"I feel as though we are united behind the people of Israel and we are, we stand at the ready to make sure that we help Israel to defend itself, you know, Republicans and Democrats are united on this issue, not just in Oregon," she said.
She also said she would like to see civilians in the Gaza Strip get relief and evacuation help from the United Nations.
Mental health care
Salinas is a member of the bipartisan Mental Health Caucus and recently gave a floor speech focusing on the topic. She discussed the Hope and Mental Wellbeing Act, a bill that would offer three free mental healthcare visits per year for anyone insured by Medicaid or Medicare. Three visits won't be enough in many cases, she said, but it would be a start.
"I heard along the campaign trail a lot from seniors, older Americans and those who are on, you know, the Oregon Health Plan or other other kinds of insurance, that they really can't access care because of the cost. And so this would essentially allow somebody's foot in the door," she said.
The U.S. is experiencing widespread mental health provider shortages, and Salinas said her own district illustrates how the problem is particularly acute in smaller rural towns. Salinas also helped found the bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, which she said would also play a role in tackling the crisis.
Small farmer support
Salinas discussed her efforts to try to improve the farm bill to provide better support to small family farms, which she said tend to get left behind currently, with most of the federal support going to a handful of larger farms. She said she's worked with Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to facilitate listening sessions in Oregon for other congressional committee members to learn about how small local farmers have struggled with things like extreme weather events.
"When a catastrophic weather event happens like fires or heat domes or the ice storms that we've seen over the last few years, they have a hard time because they either can't access crop insurance or they don't have access to disaster assistance. And so I have come up with a bill that would kind of change the paradigm on how those who come up with the policies around crop insurance actually are incentivized," she said.
Straight Talk airs Friday at 7pm, Saturday and Sunday at 6:30pm. Straight Talk is also available as a podcast.