Cheers to 1,000 Town Halls

Serving Oregonians in the U.S. Senate is the greatest honor of my life. And nothing has been more important in my public service than keeping my promise to listen to Oregonians in open-to-all town halls, in each of our state’s 36 counties, every year. 

 One of the reasons I made that townhall promise is to provide Oregonians with a public space to talk about issues that matter to them. That was important when I held my first town hall in Fossil for Wheeler County, in 1996, and in Eugene for my 1,000th, in 2022. I chose Lane County because it is where I first fell in love with our state five decades back as a law student at the University of Oregon.  Back then, there was no shortage of issues to speak out on – a country that seemed hopelessly divided, tensions with Russia, inflation, racial justice, environmental fears … the list goes on. These issues sure sound familiar even now, decades later in 2022. There is no question that the challenges we face are serious. But I am relentlessly optimistic that we will meet those challenges head on, and come out stronger for it.

 I’ve always said that change doesn’t come from the top-down – it’s grassroots up. Town halls provide a critical touchstone to close the gap between Oregon and D.C., and make sure those grassroots Oregon voices are heard loud and clear. And now, I’ve kept my promise to Oregonians by doing 1,000 town halls in every nook and cranny of our beautiful state.

 1,000 chances to hear from you. Cheers to 1,000 more, starting this week.