Senator Wyden speaks to Sisters students

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D.-Oregon, stood in front of a tough audience last week: students at Sisters High School.

The Senator stopped by the school last Wednesday afternoon using a town meeting format to entertain the students' questions and respond to the teens' take on the state of the nation.

"I like to go to high schools because I think there are so many important issues right now for young people," said Senator Wyden.

According to social studies teacher Jon Renner, the all-school assembly grew out of Renner's desire for Senator Wyden to speak to his Constitutional Law class about the "rule of the law in our society."

Wyden was able to arrange his schedule during a stopover in Sisters to visit the school, providing an opportunity for the entire student body to meet with him was easy.

"It is quite an honor to have the Senator visit our little school," said Renner.

The chain of students who lined up behind the microphones at either side of the auditorium was virtually endless. The first question the Senator was asked was if he would favor the enactment of a law to lower the drinking age in America. Senator Wyden's response was a definite no.

"We've got such a serious problem as it is, but your point is one worth talking about," he said. "Certainly, there are a lot of responsible young people who I'm sure are saying to themselves, 'how can it be that ... we can't even have one glass of wine' or something like that."

Another student asked for Wyden to comment about providing free tuition for the children of illegal immigrants to enable these young people to attain a college education.

"There are an awful lot of those kids who did absolutely nothing wrong," Wyden said.

"My own view is that we ought to change our priorities so that those kids and other kids can both have a chance to go to school. We're spending over $300 million a day on the war in Iraq. Have you heard about this children's cultural program in the last couple of weeks? That program's going to cost probably $19 million a day. We'll spend $330 million a day on the war in Iraq, and we can't afford $19,000,000 a day for kids...?

Wyden noted that "the most important vote that I cast in all of my time ... was the vote ... to oppose the war." The statement earned a rousing round of applause and cheers from his young audience.

Wyden was asked how he feels about carrying the burden of representing the State of Oregon in Congress.

"I don't see this as something that's burdensome, unpleasant. I think I have been very blessed. It's something I never expected," Senator Wyden said.

Another student asked the Senator if Republicans and Democrats can find common ground on environmental issues.

"I think that there is more bipartisanship than you see in the media," Senator Wyden said. "I think we're missing a huge opportunity to try and come up with energy independence. I think the president missed an opportunity for something that the country would have responded to very well, Democrats, Republicans and people of both political parties."

Senator Wyden told The Nugget that he takes advantage of as many opportunities as possible to speak with young people.

"I learn a lot, and I hope it will cause them (the students) to want to be more involved in government, whether it's as voters, whether it's as working as interns. I hope some of them will want to run for office someday, because we've got to start grooming our next generation of leaders. I hope it will be a two way street, because I learn a lot, number one, and I hope they do as well."

Renner hopes that Senator Wyden's collegue, Republican Senator Gordon Smith, will come later in the year to speak with Sisters High School students.

"It's important to hear from both parties to see how they differ and how they are similar," Renner said.