By Romy Carver
Photos & video by Don Backman
An enthusiastic, standing room only crowd of over 450 people greeted Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Suzanne Bonamici Saturday morning, February 22, 2025 at Neah-Kah-Nie high school in the lower gym. There were several people holding signs and some people were chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go!”
The legislators spotlighted the work of the Cape Meares Community Association, which is working to secure and preserve the watershed “for the future drinking water of generations to come.” They are also nearly doubling the size of the Cape Meares Wildlife Refuge. Merkley presented the group with a flag which had been flown over the Capitol. The group’s spokesperson, Bev Stein, expressed worries about the “turmoil of the Trump/Musk administration” hindering the progress of the project, but stated, “We take comfort in knowing we have the full support of Senator Merkley and Congresswoman Bonamici. Their support and the determination and persistence of our ‘little community that could’ gives us optimism that we will succeed. And your activism and resistance to the chaos, cruelty and incompetence of the current administration gives us hope not only for our project but for similar worthy efforts throughout the state and nation.”
Both legislators reported receiving thousands of calls from constituents with concerns lately. Bonamici reported that she received about 6,000 calls and emails this past week. She said that people tend to focus on local and regional issues, and the number one issue she had received calls about this past week was firings of forest service employees. She stated, “These are not normal times.”
They both stated that they are trying to protect programs that individuals and families depend on to thrive, such as SNAP, and subsidies to college loans, and trying to ensure that proceeds from tax cuts do not go to mega-billionaires. They spoke about their concerns over firings and cuts to vital programs, such as the recent firing of federal researchers.
The questions from the crowd were overwhelmingly around concerns about the cuts in federal funding and the erosion of democracy. One man shared that he lost his wife to Alzheimer’s and was worried about research funding. Merkley shared that the funding for cancer and Alzheimer’s research has been illegally frozen, but he believes it is currently being restored.
Another person expressed concerns about Oregon farmers in the face of cuts to USAID, which directly benefits American farmers. We are also facing federal funding cuts which directly impact housing in Tillamook County as well as critical infrastructure upgrades.
The former Assistant Secretary of the Army spoke about the firing of lifelong experienced and highly qualified dedicated career generals and admirals and expressed deep concerns about Pete Hegseth being completely unqualified.
Both legislators expressed deep concerns about the same issues and assured the crowd that they are doing everything within their power during a Constitutional crisis to preserve rights. They urged participants to get involved in whatever causes are important to them and be part of that effort by “using every power that you have.” While their powers are limited, they emphasized that the people themselves hold the power, and when there is a public uproar, that makes all the difference. An example they provided was the recent illegal firing of the people who staff the VA suicide hotline. After a strong public outcry, they were restored.
They urged the public to continue to call legislators, in particular with stories of how we have been personally impacted by funding cuts and other issues. They appreciate all of the calls and want to continue to keep hearing from their constituents. They discouraged people from contacting legislators in other jurisdictions as they will have no impact, and there are already people in those jurisdictions making those phone calls and sending emails.
They asked people to please spread accurate information to counter the flood of propaganda and disinformation that is being pushed out. They stated that the illegal actions of the current administration need to be widely publicized. They encouraged rallies to raise awareness, and mentioned local grassroots groups, such as Indivisible.
Indivisible is a grassroots non-partisan organization. The website states, “We’re a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.”
Merkley explained that there are tipping points, and one was crossed when the Supreme Court granted presidential immunity for crimes. Another is crossed when the majority party in Congress allows their power and responsibility to be taken away or gives it away. These are two critical parts of constitutional checks and balances. A final tipping point is if the Supreme Court sides with the president and gives up their power by saying the president is allowed to do whatever he wants, even if it violates the Constitution, or if the President ignores the courts.
Merkley states, “If you do that, you have broken the line that’s so essential to the separation of powers…at that point we do not have a President, we have a king or a future queen. And that’s not okay because we are Americans and we stand for the Republic, and every patriotic American is going to need to be in the streets, and be loud, and be aggressive to save our democracy.”
“We are in a Constitutional crisis, the likes that we haven’t seen in the history of the United States… our entire Republic is in a moment of great crisis.”