The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS” mentioning Jeff Merkley was published in the Senate section on pages S815-S816 on Feb. 23.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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RECOGNIZING THE KLAMATH TRIBES
Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, the Klamath Tribes in Oregon have a saying: ``We help each other; We will live good.'' These words are neither hollow nor trivial to the members of these Tribes. They live them each and every day and never more so than when disaster strikes. When the Two Four Two Fire raged through the Chiloquin Ranger District of the Fremont-Winema National Forest last September, scorching over 14,000 acres, destroying homes and traditional hunting and fishing sites, members of the Tribes rallied together, opening their doors, their hearts, and their wallets to help their fellow Oregonians in a time of great need.
They brought those eight words--``We help each other; We will live good''--to life.
When emergency personnel needed a large, open area to establish an evacuation shelter for all those who had to flee their homes ahead of the inferno, the Tribes immediately offered up the parking lot the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino for their use.
When the firefighters tasked with containing the fire needed a massive open space to stage their ample equipment, those same expansive parking lots were readily provided to them.
At the same time, the doors of their hotel were thrown open to anyone displaced by the fire, to Tribal and non-Tribal members alike who were in need of shelter. In the middle of a pandemic, with all manner of precautions in place to keep folks healthy and safe, that was no easy feat, but they did it, all while also welcoming the Red Cross inside to set up a response center, as well.
As the forests burned around it, the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino stood there like the eye of a hurricane. It became a center of help and healing, of safety and shelter. Had they just done those things, the Klamath Tribes would have already gone far above and beyond to support Tribal members and community members alike. They didn't stop, however, with providing the use of their hotel and its facilities to first responders and to those in need.
No. Klamath Tribal Behavioral Health went out and provided assistance and services to anyone who had been affected and displaced, free of charge. Whether they were Tribal members or not, it didn't matter. Those who needed help were able to get it. They helped feed the firefighters risking their lives fighting the infernos, emergency volunteers helping others, and even evacuees.
And even now, some 5 months after the worst of the fire's carnage, the Klamath Tribes are still doing what they can to help those whose lives were turned upside down by it. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help any family who lost their home or their property to the Two Four Two Fire rebuild and start to get back up on their feet again. The distribution of the money raised by the account is still a work in progress. The Tribes are fine-tuning the priority system and how folks will apply for it. But once all of that is worked out, this is going to be a tremendous help to so many of our friends and neighbors who have endured such heartbreak and hardship.
``We help each other; We will live good.'' There is no question that the members of the Klamath Tribes have helped those in need across southern Oregon through an unimaginably difficult time. We are all deeply grateful for everything they have done, both during the Two Four Two Fire and afterward. And we will all be better off as a State and as a community because of their kindness and generosity of spirit.
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