Editorial: Walden vote shows leadership

In doing so, Walden took immediate heat from conservative supporters of President Donald Trump for his vote, telling Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPD) reporter Jeff Mapes in an interview following the Jan. 3 vote that it is a mistake to continue the shutdown while the president and congressional Democrats fight over whether to fund a border wall.

“I’m trying for the life of me to figure out why we would keep shuttered and furloughed the employees in Burns and Vale in the BLM offices,” Walden said, “or in John Day and the Forest Service. Or not pick up the trash around Crater Lake Park or the other national parks... Why are they caught in this?”

Walden noted he did vote against another Democratic bill that provided temporary funding for the Department of Homeland Security that did not provide money for the wall. Walden said the president and congressional leaders can continue fighting over that issue without holding the rest of government hostage.

“I just thought as somebody representing more than just Republicans in Oregon, the right vote was to open these agencies and get these people back to work,” Walden told OPB, “and have the fight where it belongs, which is over on Homeland Security [funding].”

Walden told OPB his vote was not influenced by the more competitive re-election race he faced this year. While he won 56 percent of the vote in defeating Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the 20-year veteran of Congress has become accustomed to taking around 70 percent of the vote.

Ultimately, Walden told OPB, “the country needs to come together and resolve and fix our broken immigration.”

He said he supported tougher border security provisions but also backs providing protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

In breaking with the Republican majority in defense of Oregonians, those working for the federal government and those in need of the services those federal employees provide, Walden demonstrates the kind of leadership and statesmanship Oregonians need on both sides of the partisan divide.

His views on immigration clearly show a path forward for Republicans and Democrats alike to come together and find a humane, effective and long-lasting solution on our southern border.

In breaking with his party — and Walden is an influential ranking member of that party — he has clearly shown he is prepared to take a stand not just for his Republican base, but for all his constituents across eastern Oregon.

Walden will be in The Dalles Thursday, Jan. 24, 10:30 a.m., at the Oregon Veterans Home, 700 Veterans Dr., and in Hood River at 8 a.m. the same day at the National Guard Armory, 1590 12th St.

It will be interesting to see if Walden’s statesmanship and honest leadership on this critical issue will earn him, among his vocal and often combative opposition in the Gorge, at least an opportunity for an open and civil exchange of ideas, concerns and information.

It should.

— Mark Gibson is editor of The Dalles Chronicle.