Editor:

I would like to respond to the letter from Mr. Concannon regarding my June 6 vote on a bill that would have extended the county payments program for four years.

As Mr. Concannon may know, extending the county payments program has been a top priority of mine in Congress for many years. I was disappointed that the version of the county payments bill that was brought to the House floor for a vote paid for the program by illegally breaking federal contracts. That mechanism has already been tossed out by the Senate three times and the President vowed to veto any bill that would break federal contracts.

No matter how important the county payments program is to Oregon, for over 21 years as a small business owner in Oregon I never knowingly violated contracts, and I’m not about to do so now as a member of Congress for the sake of political expediency.

This month, I plan to introduce, with bipartisan co-sponsors, legislation I’ve been working on the past month that would fund county payments and PILT for five years (instead of four, as the bill voted on June 6 proposed to do), provide $3.1 billion for renewable energy production, and $1 billion for heating assistance for poor Americans. We would raise the money by allowing environmentally-responsible oil and natural gas production beyond 75 miles from American coastlines.

Currently, some 85 percent of America’s offshore energy resources are off-limits due to federal law, and we import 60 percent of our oil, sending hundreds of millions of dollars a day to dictators like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. I believe we can and should work to make America more energy independent and help our rural communities at the same time.

We can develop our own energy, produce new jobs and revenues, pay for county roads and schools and not violate contract law.

Congressman Greg Walden

Hood River, Ore.