A
Message from
Representative
Whitsett
HB
2988 - Registering
16-year-olds to Vote
Tuesday March 26th
provided the second
Minority Report Vote
of the session for
Republicans in the
House of
Representatives. It
was defeated so that
the original HB 2988
was passed to the
Senate.
The original House
Bill 2988 allows 16
year olds the
opportunity to
register to vote
when they receive
their Oregon
Driver’s licenses.
While it is laudable
to engage our youth
in civics, they
should also have
had, at the very
least, a formal
scholastic course in
government to
understand the
positions and duties
of the offices they
would be voting for,
as well as the
general functions of
city, county, state
and Federal
government.
The
Republicans offered
amendments which
were rejected that
would have protected
the privacy all of
the state’s 16 and
17 year olds if they
did decide to
register to vote.
Oregon law presently
allows 17 year olds
to register to vote
(they may not vote
until they are 18).
For many of us,
there is a world of
difference between a
just-turned 16 year
old and a 17 year
old in terms of
maturity, general
responsibility and
intellectual
development. Would
we consider allowing
a 16 year old the
right to sign up for
the military? For
the draft? I don’t
think most 16 year
olds are ready to
make those decisions
yet.
The bill that passed
the House floor,
with all Democrats
voting for it, will
allow any
individual,
corporation, or
religious
organization to
purchase the
personal information
available through
the Secretary of
State’s Office
regarding any 16 and
17 year old that
will now be
registered to vote.
Attached to this
list will be names,
home addresses, and
their private
telephone numbers.
This will
subsequently allow
Facebook searches by
ANYONE (read:
pedophiles ?), and
letters or perhaps
in-person visits to
our young teenagers
from anyone who
finds their
information
“interesting”. They
will be subjected to
a constant stream of
politically
motivated materials
which will
undoubtedly be
tailored to future
promises by the
political parties
who wish to register
them. I would like
to afford our youth
the opportunity to
grown up
unencumbered by an
onslaught of
political and/or
religious materials
from who knows what
groups that have the
money to seek them
out.
Parents should be
very alarmed and
frustrated by a
legislature that
allows this
manipulation of our
young citizens. I
was a firm no vote
on House Bill 2988.
Why I
Voted Against HB
2902 - Physician
Extenders
HB 2902 would allow
physician extenders
(Family Nurse
Practitioners and
Physician
Assistants) to
receive the same
reimbursement rates
as physicians. I
asked the
representatives from
the Oregon Nurses
Association (ONA)
who visited my
office to amend this
bill so that it
would only apply to
rural and frontier
communities. They
flatly refused to
make any amendment
to HB 2902; because
of this, I did not
vote for this bill.
Best regards,
Representative Gail
Whitsett
House District 56
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