7 Things We Learned From Sens. Wyden And Merkley's Visit To OPB

Oregon Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined OPB's Weekend Edition to talk about a range of issues, including the conflict in Syria, LGBT equality, the costs of college tuition and gun control, among other things. You can hear the entire conversation with the senators through the attached audio player, but here are seven key takeaways from the discussion.

Oregon’s Senators Want President Obama To Come To Congress For The Military Campaign In Syria

Sens. Wyden and Merkley didn't go as far as their caucus colleague, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), and call current U.S. action in Syria an "undeclared war." But the two Oregon senators do agree that the president needs to seek congressional approval immediately before sending more military advisers into Syria.

"The administration needs to come to Congress to get a new authorization for the use of military force," Merkley said.

"I don't think you can put off and just pretend that somehow this has already been authorized," Wyden added. "That just doesn't wash."

“Mission Creep” Is A Real Concern For The U.S. In Syria.

Opponents of military intervention often use the term "mission creep" to argue against U.S. involvement in conflicts. But now, even right leaning institutions like the Cato Institute are voicing concerns about "mission creep."

"I think that's a fair way to describe it," Merkley told OPB. "The fact is we do not have an authorization for the use of military force in Syria. There are so many different factions … you have almost block-by-block with continuously shifting alliances. You can certainly describe it as a hellacious battle among numerous groups."

"I think the United States has a very substantial responsibility to work with allies so what is taking place there does not continue," Wyden added.

Key Allies Are Facing Their Own Syrian Problems

One key U.S. ally is having it's own Syrian crisis: thousands of refugees are fleeing Syria and the Middle East for safe haven in the European Union. And that's causing big problems in the EU. Coming off a financial crisis that left the Europeans deeply divided, Sen. Merkley said the refugee crisis is further fraying the EU.

"This is an enormous stress on the European Union," Merkley said. "In many cases, this is going to feed the fury on the right, which could translate into governments which do not support involvement in the European Union. And so all the work that's been done over decades to try and create a more coherent European entity to work in international affairs … it's a big deal."

"And it's a particularly important time to get this right," Wyden said. "(German Chancellor) Angela Merkel for example … this looks like the defining test for her leadership."

Federal Gun Control Legislation Will Focus On Strengthening Existing Laws

Less than 48 hours after last month's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Congressional Democratic staffers told OPB that a bill would be introduced addressing gun control.

Sen. Ron Wyden said coming legislation will focus on strengthening existing laws.

"I believe the real question is whether we as Americans are going to shrug our shoulders and say 'this is the way it's going to be' and that's it," Wyden said. "I defined our challenge as trying to create a ground swell of urgency for common sense reforms … In fact, I've had many individuals who own guns who come and say, 'if you're talking about background checks, to make sure people who have a record of mental impairment and have been convicted of domestic violence, let me know what I can do, I'm there.'"

Confusion After The Shooting Made It More Difficult For UCC Survivors

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, parents, relatives, and friends in Roseburg were desperate to find information about their loved ones on the UCC campus. That included Jessica Chandler, the mother of UCC shooting victim Rebecka Carnes. Chandler spent much of the afternoon trying to find her daughter at the Douglas County Fairgrounds before she was told her daughter had been shot.

"I can tell you that everything about that day was horrific," Merkley said, a distant cousin of Carnes'. "Then, of course, the worst was the end of the day to get the news. That Rebecka (Carnes) was indeed one of the victims. Imagine the family that goes to the fairgrounds where all of these parents are and these busloads of students are being brought from the campus.

"And you keep thinking your child is going to be on the next bus, you're trying to call the cell phone and there's no answer on the cell phone.  At that setting, after the buses arrived, the families were informed there were going to be two more buses coming.  And everyone goes, 'oh! Thank you!' That was simply not true," said Merkley.

"It's a hellish situation. I felt that the local officials did an incredible job of trying to figure out a lot of things very quickly. There's going to be a massive amount of confusion in that setting," said Merkley.

Lowering College Tuition Is A Centerpiece Of Wyden And Merkley’s Domestic Priorities

While Oregon is offering free community college for eligible students, tuition rates in the state have still increased almost 20 percent in the past five years; that's on pace with the national average.

"The real challenge of course is that for families, students, college costs are hitting them like a wrecking ball," Wyden said. "(We) have been working on a number of projects and the reason that we focused on it is before long the Senate will turn to the Higher Education Act. In particular, an area I've tried to focus on is legislation that would have the federal government create an incentive for states to freeze tuition or lower tuition. This is important because the states have done quite a bit less on trying to help students with devastating costs. The legislation is called the Partnership Act, to highlight the relationship between states and others."

Money In Politics A ‘Deeply Concerning Problem’

OPB looked to Twitter for suggested interview questions, and Portlander Jim Sandberg asked this question:

"I share a lot of his concerns, I think the thing I'm most concerned about is the massive role of money in politics," Merkley said in repsonse. "The Citizens United Supreme Court decision unleashed hundreds of millions of dollars of money that can be spent secretly on campaigns and what we saw in the last election cycle is of grave concern."

"And you cannot understate how damaging and flawed this Citizens United case (is)," Wyden added. "In effect, what the Supreme Court has said is that the rich person's checkbook is really exactly the same as the poor person's soapbox. When you think through those kinds of implications, it ripples through in our political system. I'm very much for taking away major tax breaks that these powerful interests have and (using) that money for tax reform, where we can have a progressive system and hold down rates for the middle class."

"We saw the Koch brothers do a meeting with billionaires with the goal of raising $300 to $500 million to take control of the Senate," Merkley added. "They raised the funds, they held a vetting conference for Senate candidates down in Texas. Candidates knew if they came and said good things about Americans for Prosperity that there would be a third party campaign. We saw the money spent in state after state. That Koch money influenced the outcome in Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina … and North Carolina is not a big state but it became the most expensive Senate campaign in U.S. history, over $100 million. Can you imagine an ordinary candidate calling up people saying, 'can you contribute $100 dollars, $500 or a thousand to my race?'"

"So the Koch brother presence, then they announced in January of this year that they were going to spend nearly a billion dollars in the next campaign cycle to control not only the Senate, the House, but also buys the presidency. This is a deeply disturbing problem that takes on the core of who we are."