For Immediate Release
Contact: [email protected]
Portland, OR – The Democratic Party of Oregon called on Oregon’s Republican member of Congress to return federal dollars his office used to pay for his staff to attend Trump’s inauguration. Rep. Bentz outspent every other member of the US House for this event.
The DPO’s Executive Director, Candy Emmons, said Rep. Bentz should spend federal dollars allocated to his office on things that benefit Oregonians — like holding town halls with his constituents during the August recess — rather than lavish trips for himself and his staff.
“Representative Bentz won’t find a Trump Hotel to spend $700/night on in Pendleton, La Grande, or Baker City like he does in DC, but he could be spending that money doing his job, which is to hear from Oregonians about the catastrophe he’s created in rural communities by ripping away funding for hospitals, low-income Oregonians, law enforcement, and increasing the cost of groceries.”
Emmons noted that Rep. Bentz currently has $1,176,054.63 in his campaign account, and called on him to pay back the tax dollars he wasted for the inauguration.
“Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on a luxury trip to Trump’s inauguration, Rep. Bentz should use that money to pay down the national debt he and his fellow Republicans voted to increase — or better yet, to fund Medicaid or support rural hospitals. Families in his district are struggling because of his support for Medicaid cuts and hospital closures. They deserve a representative who invests in them, not one who gives tax cuts to billionaires while stripping jobs and basic services from his constituents.”
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