American Background

When he walked into Clatsop Community College’s Columbia Hall Room 219 Friday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley was greeted with an impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday.” He turned 58 that day.

As part of a 50-town tour, he gathered with supporters in Clatsop County, less than two weeks before the Nov. 4 election, where he faces Republican challenger and pediatric neurosurgeon Monica Wehby.

Wehby, who’s visited the coast several times between the primaries and the general election race, including for the Astoria Regatta Festival, was not in the area this weekend.

Merkley, who spoke at the college’s last graduation, focused on his efforts to make college more affordable.

“My vision is that everyone has a fair shot,” said Merkley, who told of his millwright father who encouraged him to further his education. Merkley earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University and a master’s in public policy from Princeton University.

The U.S., he said, has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2001. It’s added back the same number, he said, but not of the same quality.

A main point of his campaign, is opposing the continuance of President George W. Bush-era tax cuts that he said will cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

“I ask you: Is America made better by a trillion dollars going through our very richest Americans, or by a trillion dollars being invested in infrastructure to create jobs or in education to lower the cost, the access, the barriers?” said Merkley, calling for investments into education and infrastructure.

On the issue of college support for veterans and their families, Merkley lauded his Spouses of Heroes Education Act (S.1039) that, as of Nov. 3, starts offering scholarships through the Veterans Administration to the spouses of military service members who died while on active duty.

Throughout his presentation and Q&A, Merkley voiced support for financial aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for undocumented students under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; the summer Pell Grant program, cut during the 2011 debt ceiling crisis and negatively impacting CCC’s summer enrollment; lower interest rates on student loans; increased funding for the federal TRIO student support programs; Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler’s Measure 86, an attempt in the Nov. 4 election to create a permanent student support investment fund; and an as yet unsuccessful state Pay it Forward proposal to offer tuition-free attendance for Oregon students at state schools.

Merkley also voiced support for CCC’s Patriot Hall Redevelopment Bond Measure 4-176. Supplemental ballots recently were sent to voters for the measure after the Clatsop County Clerk’s Office incorrectly listed the amount sought by the bond measure — up to $8.2 million.

According to Federal Elections Commission data, through Sept. 30, Merkley has raised $8.9 million, $7.2 million of it through individual contributions and another $1.3 million from political action committees. Wehby, meanwhile, has gathered about $3.1 million, $2.6 million from individual contributions and $466,000 from political action committees. According to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan website that tracks the influence of money in U.S. elections, outside groups have spent $2.4 million in the race between Merkley and Wehby, more than 95 percent in support of the latter.