On August 6, M’s Leadership Team welcomed Congressman Earl Blumenauer, U.S. Representative to Oregon’s 3rd district, for lunch and a wide-ranging conversation. Rep. Blumenauer has visited M several times in the past, and it was a pleasure to host him again.
Rep. Blumenauer opened the discussion by asking what was on attendees’ minds. Many of the topics centered on the increasingly contentious atmosphere between political ideologies, and how gridlock is preventing meaningful action on key issues facing our region and the nation. Rep. Blumenauer acknowledged the challenge, calling it the worst he’s seen in his three-decade tenure, but emphasized the need to “take simple, common-sense steps that we can actually achieve.”
“A lot of this begins with education,” he told the attendees, using his farm bill as an example: when kids understand where their food comes from and what is involved with its production, they have a better understanding of how to support and protect those resources.
Another example of the impact of education is how the United States dealt with highway safety issues in the 1970s, combining enforcement with a comprehensive national campaign to educate drivers about simple steps they could take to protect their own safety.
“We need to treat the epidemic of gun violence as the public health crisis that it is,” Rep. Blumenauer said, ”just as the nation did with highway safety.” The more holistically we understand an issue, the better chance we have of finding common ground and taking reasonable steps toward a solution.
Despite the perception of bipartisan divide, Rep. Blumenauer strives to work across the aisle and make a difference for his constituents by focusing on areas of common concern, including food safety and availability, retirement security as lifespans grow longer, and reasonable tweaks to the tax system.
Education is one of the key aspects of M’s own advocacy efforts, and meeting with Rep. Blumenauer enables us to share our perspective on pressing issues that could impact our clients and our industry. We look forward to continuing this conversation in the future.
