RV-VFP Chapter 156 Political Contacts

Political Contacts

VFP156 currently does not have a single spokesperson for contacting the various political offices to advocate our peace objectives, so please make your voice heard individually!

Below is a list of the officeholders and contact information for the United States; for Oregon; and for Jackson and Josephine Counties.

Society, Law and Politics

A recent headline relating to stem cell research indicated that the senate majority leader was going to break with his party to support legislation for stem cell research. The sub-headline indicated that members of his party were infuriated with him for doing so.

Let's stop for a minute and review our form of government. We have a representative form of government whereby the candidate is selected by the voters to represent them. They did not vote for a party. They voted for the candidate. The representative owes his allegiance to the voters, not the party. When we allow the party to dictate how the senator should decide, we no longer have a representative form of government. Choosing only between the two parties is simply voting for who we want to be our rulers. And we think this kind of government is a democracy?

Fortunately, the way our government is constituted still leaves the choice ultimately in our hands. When we are ready to do more than simply choose between two opposing philosophies for control of our government, we shall do so. It's important that we move beyond a mind set of abusive victors and vanquished foes and start searching for consensus on the best way to do things. Peace cannot be found in the, 'them against us' mindset.

- Dr. Dean Van Leuven - The Dean of Peace

The toll-free number for all national elected offices is 1-866-220-0044

Contacting the White House

President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact for email)
Telephone: Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard: 202-456-1414, FAX: 202-456-2461,
TDD: Comments: 202-456-6213, Visitors Office: 202-456-2121

Vice President's office: Vice President Joseph Biden vice_president@whitehouse.gov

Send your emailed comments in text format only, without graphics or attachments, to comments@whitehouse.gov. An autoresponder will acknowledge. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website.

Contacting Congress

The lists below provide S. OR representatives. Also, at Congress Merge, just input your zip code and you can get very good information about your respective congressional representatives. At Source Watch, you can get some quite complete info on the structure and leadership in Congress. Another good resource is at w2.eff.org/congress.

When mailing/emailing/faxing members of Congress, be formal and to the point or your letter may be ignored. Include your ground mail address in a heading or the body of the correspondence because most Congressmembers only respond to their constituency. (Therefore, it really does no good to email everyone in Congress.)

Your letter. email or fax should go to your Senator or Representative (or a particular committee member for legislation that is before that committee) and should be no longer than one page; two brief paragraphs are best. Please be concise. Identify yourself, your affiliation (i.e., Veterans for Peace, Chapter 156), and your major concern in the first paragraph. You should describe why the concern is important and worthwhile in the second paragraph. End with your postal address if it is not already in your heading or the body of your first paragraph.

U.S. Senators http://www.sos.state.or.us/bbook/national/senators/senators01.htm.

Ron Wyden, Democrat. Elected to Congress, 1980; reelected 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994. Elected to the U.S. Senate, 1996; reelected 1998 and 2004. Member, Finance; Energy and Natural Resources; Budget; Intelligence; and Aging Committees. Term expires 2011. DC Office: 223 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510-3703; 202-224-5244; Fax: 202-228-2717; Web and E-mail: http://wyden.senate.gov

Oregon office: The Federal Courthouse, 310 W 6th St., Rm. 118, Medford 97501; 541-858-5122; Fax: 541-858-5126.

Jeff Merkley, Democrat. Elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, 1999; became Speaker of the House in 2007. Elected to the U.S. Senate, 2008. Committee member: Banking, Housing and Urban Development; Budget; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and Environment and Public Works. Term expires: 2015. www.jeffmerkley.com.
DC Office: B40-B Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510; 202-224-3753; Fax: 202-228-3997; Web and E-mail: www.merkley.senate.gov

Oregon office: One World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250, Portland 97204; 503-326-3386; Fax: 503-326-2900.

U.S. Congressman, Second Congressional District

http://www.sos.state.or.us/bbook/national/reps/reps.htm.

Greg Walden - Republican. All counties east of the Cascades, all of Jackson and the Grants Pass area of Josephine.
Medford office: 843 E Main St., Suite 400, Medford 97504; 541-776-4646; Fax: 541-779-0204.

The toll-free number for all Oregon elected offices is 1-800-332-2313

A good reference page for Oregon's representatives is

http://www.sos.state.or.us/bbook/sitemap/index.htm, or, from http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/home.htm . . . and inputting just the zip codes.

Contacting the Governor of Oregon

Governor John Kitzhaber, Salem; Democrat; elected 2010; inaugurated January 2011; term expires January 2015.
Mailing Address: State Capitol Bldg., 160 State Capital, 900 Court St. NE, Suite 254, Salem 97301-4047
Governor's Citizen Message Line 503-378-4582. Fax: 503-378-6827. E-mail: www.governor.state.or.us/Gov

Contacting Oregon Legislators:

Note: you can find your Oregon legislator at http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
To see Oregon House and Senate districts map go to http://bluebook.state.or.us/state/legis/legis15a.htm and click on "maps".

State Senators

District 002: zips 97526, G.P.; 97502 C.P.; Medford
Sen. Jason A. Atkinson (REP)
900 Court Street NE, Suite S-216, Salem, OR 97301-4068
Local - PO Box 1704, Ashland 97528, 541-955-0911
Phone: (503) 986-1702, Fax: (503) 986-1929
WebSite: http://www.leg.state.or.us/atkinson , E-Mail: sen.jasonatkinson@state.or.us

District 003: zips 97520, Ashland; 97540, Talent; 97530, Jacksonville
Sen. Alan C. Bates (DEM)
900 Court Street NE, Suite S-305, Salem, OR 97301
Local - 886 Oak St., Ashland 97520, 541-482-1427
Phone: (503) 986-1703, Fax: (503) 986-1080
WebSite: http://www.leg.state.or.us/bates , E-Mail: sen.alanbates@state.or.us

State Representatives

District 003: zip 97526, G.P.
Rep. Wally Hicks (REP)
900 Court Street, NE, Suite H-391, Salem, OR 97301-4057
Phone: (503) 986-1403, Fax:
WebSite: http://www.leg.state.or.us/hicks , E-Mail: rep.wallyhicks@state.or.us
Home: PO Box 2061, Grants Pass 97528, 541-660-4085

District: 004, zip 97502 C.P. & Medford
Rep. Dennis Richardson (REP)
900 Court Street NE, Suite H-373, Salem, OR 97301-4062
Phone: (503) 986-1404, Fax: (503) 986-1590
WebSite: http://www.leg.state.or.us/richardson , E-Mail: rep.dennisrichardson@state.or.us
Home: 55 S 5th St., Central Point 97502, 541-601-0083

District 005: zips 97520, Ashland; 97540, Talent; 97530, Jacksonville
Rep. Peter Buckley (DEM)
900 Court Street NE, Suite H-286, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1405, Fax: (503) 986-1130
WebSite: http://www.leg.state.or.us/buckley , E-Mail: rep.peterbuckley@state.or.us
Home: 71 Dewey St., Ashland 97520, 503-986-1405

District 006: zips 97502, Medford
Sal Esquivel (REP)
900 Court Street NE, Suite H-483, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1406, Fax:
WebSite: http://www.leg.state.or.us/buckley , E-Mail: rep.salsquivel@state.or.us
Home: 711 Medford Center #178, Medford 97504, 541-734-4369

Josephine County
Josephine County Commissioners Dwight Ellis, Sandi Cassanelli and Simon Hare. Phone 541-474-5221; or write them at Room 154, Courthouse, Grants Pass, OR 97526; or e-mail them at bcc@co.josephine.or.us.