Oregon Rep. Andrea Salinas talks state mental health crisis, immigration debate and more

Editor’s note: This segment was recorded prior to President Joe Biden’s announcement he was ending his re-election bid on Sunday.

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Andrea Salinas is almost through her first term in Congress. The Democrat from Lake Oswego is running to keep her seat in Oregon’s 6th congressional district, a new district formed in 2022 due to changes in Oregon’s population.

It covers all of Polk and Yamhill counties, as well as parts of Clackamas, Washington and Marion counties, including Salem and Oregon’s wine country.

Before being elected to congress, Salinas was in the Oregon legislature. Before that, she was a lobbyist and congressional aide.

Rep. Salinas returned to Eye on Northwest Politics, reminiscing about former Senate President Peter Courtney, who passed away this week .

“He was somebody who understood the institution and what it meant to be bipartisan, to reach across the aisle, to bring differing perspectives into policymaking,” she said. “And he understood the importance of all of those relationships around the entire state. He will be missed. I know I’ll miss him.”

As an advocate for mental health and a member of the mental health caucus, Salinas noted they have started up “Mental Health Monday” in effort to spread awareness. Further, she stated the caucus has been reaching across the aisle to make sure bills are introduced where people in different parts of the country are facing mental health challenges — including Oregon.

“Oregon faces some of the highest rates of mental health, substance use, behavioral health challenges, but yet some of the lowest rates in terms of accessing the care that they need,” Salinas said. “So I’ve worked with different folks on the Republican side to figure out how do we provide telehealth mental health services nationwide? How do we make sure that peer support specialists are part of the equation?”

Republicans have made border security a top issue this cycle. Salinas, the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, said we need to “give certainty” to immigrants, as well as pay more attention to the “humanitarian crisis” at the border.

“I went in May of just 2023 and saw what’s happening and Border Patrol told me they need more agents, first of all. They also need more technology,” she recalled. “My Republican colleagues aren’t willing to put up the dollars needed to fund that kind of work. We also need, on the actual immigration side, more asylum attorneys and more court services to make sure that those who are coming across seeking refuge from some of the harm and dangers from different nations are able to get processed.”

Salinas also noted abortion rights, in-vitro fertilization and reproductive healthcare overall are already being revisited nationally during this cycle. This is particular apparent in the outline of Project 2025, an initiative with the aim of promoting conservative and right-wing policy proposals.

“It is an extreme agenda that is coming out from former Trump officials who I expect some of whom could be in the administration should Trump get that essentially takes a radical view of what government should look like,” she said. “[My district wants] somebody who can work across the aisle, make sure that we’re listening to all sides and make reasonable decisions on these things. None of that on Project 2025 is reasonable. And I know my opponent, Mike Erickson, has not come out and basically said, ‘This is a bad agenda.'”

Regarding whether President Biden should drop out of the race in favor of another Democratic candidate, Salinas noted he needs to take all of the variables into account and make that decision on behalf of the American people. However, her priorities lie with moving Oregon forward.

“We have so many needs, whether housing costs right now, healthcare costs, gas, groceries. That’s what I’m hearing from my folks,” she emphasized. “My folks aren’t really coming to me and talking to me about the discussions happening in the Democratic Party. They want Andrea Salinas, their representative, to move forward and move them forward. And that is what I’m laser focused on doing.”

Watch the full interview in the video above.

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