Congressmen Greg Walden and Peter Defazio faced the press Thursday afternoon at the Anne Basker auditorium to talk about upcoming legislation to bridge the financial gap for O & C Counties and provide a long term solution.

Congressman Walden summed up the situation, “We need action, both in terms of bridge financing to get through the desperation that we face as well as a long term solution so were not on this yoyo of the federal government failing its neighborly obligation that dates back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt. The status quo’s not working, for anybody.”

Walden went on to outline the fact the entire Oregon delegation is working on the situation referring to himself and Congressmen DeFazio and Schrader, “ if Peter and I and Kurt are on the same side, which we are in trying to move things forward, that we stand an excellent chance of not only passing in the House, but I have to believe the Senators in the Northwest will find away to coalesce around something we can work out the differences and get it down to the President’s desk. Who’s going to stand around and let these counties go broke?”

Congressman DeFazio said the support extends outside the Oregon delegation, “There seems to be bicameral, bipartisan agreement on the fact that there has to be some sort of temporary extension of existing payments to counties and schools.”

DeFazio laid out the strategy, “We have a two part strategy. One is the short term, the money, the extension. The other is long term self-sufficiency.”

When asked if there was a timeline for the proposed legislation Walden replied, “Sooner rather than later.”

The official language of the legistlation is not complete, but the highlights are listed on this website under local news.