Oregonians are desperate for a return to economic prosperity and opportunity for everyone willing and able to work. Oregon’s official unemployment rate remains above 10% and in many communities real unemployment exceeds 20%.

The Obama Administration and the Reid/Pelosi Congress have relied on massive spending and bailouts of failing businesses and bankrupt state governments to revive the economy. Their approach has failed.

Government does not create jobs. Entrepreneurs and private businesses create jobs. But the private sector will not invest in economic growth and job creation without reasonable certainty. Governments’ responsibility is to establish and maintain a climate in which private enterprise can succeed, and individuals have incentives to invest.

This means fair and reasonable taxation, sensible and predictable regulation, and respect for the essential economic liberties on which a market economy depends.

- Permanent extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, including permanent repeal of the death tax.

- Fundamental reform of federal tax laws to create a flatter tax system. Unless most Americans are expected to pay federal taxes, we can expect a continuation of the culture of wealth redistribution that now dominates our public policy debates.

- Review and reform of a federal regulatory system that increasingly stifles business investment while inviting special interests to manipulate government to their advantage.

- Federal investment in the infrastructure required for Oregon to compete in a thriving interstate and global economy.

Federal spending is out of control. Both parties share responsibility for a decades’ long escalation of spending that has driven the national debt to unprecedented heights. Republicans lost control of Congress after failing to adhere to basic principles of fiscal responsibility. Now the Democrats have brought fiscal irresponsibility to a new low. In the current year alone, the national debt has increased by $1 trillion.

The current spending spree is built on the disproven theory that government spending will stimulate the economy. While spending on needed infrastructure can have short term, job creation, benefits, most of the over $1 trillion spent since the end of the Bush Administration has served to bailout fiscally irresponsible state and local governments and to fund preexisting government obligations.

Since 1980, when Ron Wyden was elected to Congress, the national debt has risen from $930 billion to $13.3 trillion. Unfunded entitlements add trillions more to the federal government’s obligations. This rampant spending is not sustainable and it is unconscionable that we would burden our children and grandchildren with these obligations.

• A balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

• Curtailment of federal programs that can be better provided by private enterprise or by state and local governments.

• Elimination of all earmarks and pork-barrel spending.

• Repeal of all special perquisites for members of Congress.

• Extension of the ’01 and ’03 tax cuts and regulatory reform, both of which will stimulate the economy and increase federal tax revenues for debt repayment.

Health care in the United States is among the very best in the world, but it is too expensive. The 2009 health care law does nothing to reduce health care costs. Indeed it has already caused those costs to rise.

The key to reducing health care costs, while improving the quality of health care services, is greater competition in all segments of the health care industry. That will only be accomplished by repeal or major reform of the 2009 law, which was passed without bipartisan support and without the support of the American people.

Without repeal or major reform the future of American health care is bleak. We will experience a rapid decline in the supply of health care professionals as demand for their services increases and rates of compensation decline.

Furthermore, I believe there is a better than fair chance the 2009 law will be invalidated for exceeding Congress’ constitutional power.

AS YOUR UNITED STATES SENATOR, I WILL SUPPORT:

- Repeal and/or major reform of the 2009 health care bill, and I will oppose creation of a single payer national health care system.

- Reform of employer provided insurance so that patients have incentives to economize in consumption of health services.

- Tort reform to reduce the costs of defensive medicine practice.

- Interstate competition in the health insurance industry and the portability of health insurance policies.

- Fair and adequate compensation for doctors providing services to Medicare and Medicaid patients.

- A more expeditious and humane process for the approval of life saving drugs and medical devices.

The Founders of the American nation believed in limited government and individual liberty. The Constitution they adopted is designed to guarantee those ends. Although the United States Constitution remains a model for the world, it has suffered serious erosion as federal power has expanded over the last several decades.

Expansion of government power necessarily limits personal freedom. Growth of federal power limits state and local authority. The relentless extension in the scope and reach of federal regulations and programs threatens both our federal system and the rights of individuals.

National health care legislation, government takeover of auto companies and banks, and ever more intrusive regulation of our day to day lives all combine to constrain state powers, burden state budgets with unfunded mandates, and threaten the individual freedoms essential to a prosperous economy and a free society.

Indifference to the fundamental values of the Constitution combined with a blatant lack of transparency, backroom deals and abuse of basic principles of good legislative practice, have caused the vast majority of Americans to lose confidence in Congress. It is past time for members of Congress to take seriously their oath of office to support and defend the Constitution.

• Vote for legislation only if it comes within the enumerated powers of Congress and does not violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

• Demand transparency in all legislative processes and refuse to vote on any bill I have not had the opportunity to read.

• Support judicial nominees committed to constitutional government.

Oregon is endowed with spectacular landscapes and vast natural resources. Since the middle of the 19th Century those endowments have attracted people to the state with the promise of a good life in a beautiful place.

During my nearly four decades in the state, Oregon has been a national leader in environmental protection. Many good things have been accomplished, but often at the expense of the natural resource based industries on which the state’s economy depended for most of the 20th Century.

Rural communities have suffered, and efforts to develop alternative sources of jobs and local community revenues have often fallen short. In the process, urban and rural Oregon have become increasingly divided economically and politically.

It is long past time to bridge the urban-rural divide and recognize that wise use of Oregon’s natural resources is compatible with responsible protection of the state’s environment and natural beauty.

AS YOUR UNITED STATES SENATOR, I WILL SUPPORT:

- Fundamental review and updating of the laws and regulations governing management of federal public lands, which constitute 53% of the state.

- Elimination of unnecessary restrictions on economic use of public land resources including timber, water, minerals and grasslands.

- Reform of administrative and judicial appeal processes to expedite decision making and provide greater certainty.

- Review and reform of federal laws affecting water use with full deference to the state’s core responsibility for water allocation and a respect for state sanctioned private water rights.

- Active management of national forests to provide a sustainable and reliable supply of timber and to minimize the risk of wildfire that threatens many Oregon communities.

America is a land of immigrants. My grandfather arrived at Ellis Island in 1910 at the age of 17 and found his way to eastern Montana where he made a good life for himself and his family as a farmer. Most Americans have similar family stories.

The United States is also a nation founded on the rule of law. Generations of immigrants, like my grandfather, entered the country in compliance with federal immigration laws and became productive citizens. Many lawful immigrants continue to come, but far more enter the country illegally.

Congress must demand that the government enforce existing immigration laws, provide adequate funding for effective border security, implement a nationwide system for verification of legal residency of individuals seeking employment, and develop an immigration policy that serves the interests of the United States.

• Adequate funding for effective security on every American border.

• Development and funding of an electronic verification system to assist employers in assuring that employees are legal residents.

• Cooperation with state governments in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

• Legislation requiring the President to take action against states and localities purporting to create sanctuaries for illegal aliens or otherwise acting in conflict with federal law.

• An affordable and efficient guest worker program to assure a reliable and timely supply of workers to American agriculture and other industries.

• Legislation allowing permanent residency leading to citizenship for those with skills needed by the U.S. economy.

The most important function of the federal government is national defense. Although the President has primary constitutional authority for defense and foreign policy, the United States Senate has a critical advice and consent responsibility. I will take that responsibility seriously.

American foreign policy must always serve American interests and reflect the values embedded in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Central among those values are individual liberty and national sovereignty.

The United States should be prepared and willing to cooperate with other nations whenever it serves the best interests of the American people. But we must negotiate with the knowledge that other nations will seek to achieve their own interests, as they perceive them.

AS YOUR UNITED STATES SENATOR, I WILL SUPPORT:

- A strong national defense. Congress has a responsibility to provide adequate funding for the military, and a parallel duty to assure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on unnecessary or ineffective systems and programs.

- A foreign policy that is supportive of our friends, but not our enemies.

- Vigilance and determination in the war on international terror, including prosecution of accused terrorists in military tribunals.

- Free trade with nations that reciprocate in the elimination of trade barriers. Pending agreements with Columbia, Korea, and Panama should be ratified at the earliest opportunity.

- Military interventions only where serious American interests are at stake, and only with the advice and consent of the Senate.

- A strict preservation of United States sovereignty and independence in every international agreement.