No to Congressional Pay Raises, Yes to Education

“[DeFazio] turns down Congressional pay increases and instead puts that money toward scholarships. He has never forgotten that he represents the common men and women of his district.” - Roseburg News-Review 10/20/05 

One of DeFazio’s proudest accomplishments is the $260,000 he has used to fund 157 scholarships and to reduce the national debt. For more than a decade, DeFazio linked his pay to cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients. He uses the pay raise money to fund scholarships for displaced workers at five southwestern Oregon community colleges. 

Fighting For Jobs & Local Needs

As a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, DeFazio played a key role in crafting and negotiating approval of the highway reauthorization bill.  DeFazio secured an additional $450 million for roads, bridges, highways and transit projects in Oregon over the next five years. This additional funding will help create 3,500 jobs a year.  

DeFazio has introduced legislation to eliminate the backlog of over 6 billion board feet of needed thinning which would improve forest health and create 3,000 new stable jobs in the woods and mills and provide more economic certainty for timber dependent communities.  DeFazio and Rep. Walden recently secured partial funding for the critical county payments program which funds vital county services like schools, roads and law enforcement. DeFazio worked hard to obtain initial funding to help deal with the west coast salmon fishing disaster.

Improved Funding for Education

DeFazio has fought to increase funding for education.  He has opposed the administration's cuts in student financial aid in order to fund tax cuts for millionaires.  These are not the priorities of most Americans.  DeFazio supports increased federal funding for school construction, Head Start, worker retraining, scholarships and loans for college students, and mandated federal programs such as IDEA.  He has also personally funded 157 scholarships from the congressional pay raises he has turned back.   

Protecting Social Security and Medicare

The president has already said he intends to make privatization of Social Security a top priority next year.  The president's plan will lead to more risk for seniors, and benefit cuts and uncertainty for all future retirees.  DeFazio opposes privatization of Social Security.  He has a plan to stabilize Social Security by simply asking those who earn over $94,500 to pay the same percent in taxes as those who earn less.

Veterans and Troops

DeFazio opposes an open-ended, stay the course policy in Iraq.  He has urged President Bush to negotiate a timeline for phased redeployment of US troops with the Iraqi government.

DeFazio has consistently fought for improved equipment, pay and benefits for the men and women in the military.  He's also fought to see that the federal government fulfills the promises made to those who served our country in the past. DeFazio supported an effort to increase the funding of veterans’ health care by $1.8 billion.  He has also helped get much needed funding for veterans’ clinics in Brookings, Bandon and Eugene to improve access to health care for veterans in southwest Oregon.  

Stop Oil Industry Price Gouging

With gas prices consistently high, oil companies are seeing record profits at the expense of American consumers. The administration has failed to bring relief.  DeFazio supports legislation to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies, increase fuel efficiency standards and mandate goals for conservation and renewable energy, put a moratorium on oil industry mergers, and make gouging consumers a federal crime.  He has also urged the administration to file trade sanctions against OPEC for collusion and market manipulation.

Against NAFTA, WTO, Fast Track, CAFTA

The U.S. trade deficit a record $600 billion last year. The U.S. lost 3.4 million jobs since 1994—41,000 were Oregon jobs—due to U.S. trade policies like NAFTA. We must reverse this trend. DeFazio has consistently opposed job killing trade agreements that threaten our sovereignty, our standard of living, and our consumer and environmental protections. He’s currently fighting the administration’s efforts to expand NAFTA to the entire Western Hemisphere.

Defending Civil Liberties and Personal Rights

DeFazio was one of the few members of Congress to oppose the intrusive and unconstitutional USA Patriot Act. He has fought attempts by the federal government to overturn Oregon’s Death with Dignity law and opposes efforts to restrict a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health care decisions.

Not Your Usual Politician

“DeFazio continues to be an independent thinker who values hard work and results more than rhetoric, and the practical more than party ideology.” - The Corvallis Gazette-Times 10/16/04