Stop illegal immigration

Recently, Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley tried to give amnesty to virtually every illegal alien in the U.S. as well as future illegal aliens who could get here by June. The blanket amnesty was an amendment to the DACA bill that seems to be expanding by the week. Fortunately, it failed by an uncomfortably close vote of 54-45, but it showed that both Wyden and Merkley are too beholden to the cheap labor lobby to protect Americans from invasive mob rule.

Although the DACA program was declared invalid in federal court during the Obama administration, both Trump and Congress consider it inevitable in some form. The only details to work out are whether Americans will get ANY immigration enforcement in return for legalized DACA recipients and their families. The amendment that Wyden and Merkley supported offered no future enforcement at all. Given their dogged efforts to legalize the entire U.S. illegal alien population and those planning to sneak in, they could at lease feign a concern for American welfare.

Lyneil Vandermolen

Powell Butte

Stop gun violence

Yet another mass shooting this year, and it’s only February. The shooter apparently obtained his semi-automatic weapon through perfectly legal means. In fact, the process was less involved than getting a driver’s license.

A semi-automatic weapon is not needed to hunt. Reasonable gun control does not mean, as the NRA warns, that all guns will be taken away nor that the government will come and eliminate all our rights. This is the language of fear and ignorance.

Between my family and my wife’s family, about 50 percent own guns, used for protection and hunting. No one owns a semi-automatic, and we certainly would welcome a more rigorous vetting process for gun ownership.

Australia some 22 years ago banned semi-automatic weapons and since then not a single mass casualty event with more than five victims.

I for one am simply sick and tired of those legislators who ask for prayers and then cower before the NRA. These politicians don’t even try to do the right thing and take a stand against this madness.

Bravo to those incredibly courageous youths who are the force behind a long-needed wake up call to gun violence! Please make your voice be heard so that together we can be the movement that finally puts the brakes on gun violence.

Rick Tietz

Bend

Keep the Antiquities Act

Contrary to The Bulletin’s assertions in its Jan. 31 editorial, fundamentally changing the Antiquities Act would keep important public lands from getting the protection they need. As The Bulletin acknowledges, past U.S. presidents have used the Antiquities Act to protect over 150 important places in our country, from the Grand Canyon to Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

When critical public lands are threatened, the Antiquities Act allows the president to act rapidly to defend them. National monuments preserve Native American cultural sites, dinosaur fossils and many other irreplaceable treasures. If the president loses the authority to designate national monuments, as The Bulletin recommends, we stand to lose many significant places to threats like vandalism and shortsighted development.

The current dysfunction in Congress confirms that the Antiquities Act continues to be a critical conservation tool. It can take years to protect public land through an act of Congress, due to partisan obstruction or bureaucratic delays, not debate or public process.

Past presidents have shown how the Antiquities Act can be used thoughtfully to protect new national monuments. After a local public process, President Obama expanded Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument — supported by Oregon’s governor, senators, and many state and local elected officials. In contrast, the current administration is stripping protection from public lands and ignoring the voices of millions of Americans who want national monuments kept intact. Changing the Antiquities Act as The Bulletin suggests will put important places at risk, without giving the public more of a say in what lands get protection.

Dan Youmans

Sunriver

Behind the counter is not bad

Just choked down my coffee over this gem on the Feb. 20 front page of The Bulletin: “No one moves to Bend to work behind a counter….”

Really? Thousands of people in Bend work behind counters and are none the worse for it. Happy, content and proud salaried Bendites work “behind counters.”

And may I counter with, “Many people happily come to Bend for job opportunities that involve those pesky counters.”

Is there a person manning the counter at The Bulletin? Bummer of a job.

Cynthia Gore

Bend