Tough To Be A Proud American In Oregon

Rep. Sal Esquivel

On April 25 the Rules Committee headed by co-chairs Rep. Andy Olson and Rep. Dave Hunt held a hearing on HB 3604 – a bill requiring every public school, including public charter schools, to display the United States flag, to have the United States flag in each classroom and for the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited once a week led by a staff member, a teacher or a student.

Rep. Dave Hunt

Rep. Dave Hunt, D-Clackamas, will not agree to give the bill a work session, claiming first that there “are not enough votes to get the bill out of committee,” second that the bill would “not bode well with my caucus,” third that “the financial impact is too great to place on the already struggling public schools” (there is NO financial impact) and the fourth excuse is that “it is Rep Olson’s fault as he did not explain to me that HB3604 is a priority bill.” Rep. Olson is a sponsor of the bill.

None of the other three Democrat committee members – Rep. Paul Holvey, Rep. Phil Barnhart, or Rep. Chris Garrett – has been courteous enough to answer a hand written note requesting a courtesy YES vote out of committee.

Chandler Cort, a sophomore from Rogue River High School, came to Rep. Hicks and me requesting assistance after having gone to great lengths at his local school to get the principal to display the American flag and then allow students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. He strongly expressed the desire to have the ORS 339.875 rewritten to clarify the language regarding reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

HB 3604 should be a slam dunk – flying the flag of the United States of America in public schools., reciting the Pledge of Allegiance – just once a week – in our public schools. One would have to ask the question if Rep. Dave Hunt believes this legislation is just too patriotic, too American for our colleagues across the aisle to get behind.

Whatever the reason, Rep. Hunt is preventing the legislative process to play out. Taking a moment with our children to honor our country and teaching them to be proud of it – is that too much to ask these days? I will not let this die in committee if I can help it as “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.”

It is my hope that you will take just a moment of your time and contact these individuals and let them know how you feel about America.

How’s this Rep. Sal Esquivel

May 25, 2011
Representative Dave Hunt
D – Clackamas County
District 40
Representative Hunt;
My name is Edward Snook, representing the U.S. Observer newspaper, and the political group “Wake up America”. Our political group is from Southern Oregon, while the US~Observer takes on cases in all fifty states. Our group has been involved with one of our member’s causes, as a group project. The issue is the “Pledge of Allegiance in public schools”.
We have been working with, and supporting Chandler Cort of Rogue River High School in getting his school back to good American values by allowing the Pledge to be said at a weekly minimum. This is current ORS (339.875) and we have been successful with this locally, and now Chandler has been working with Oregon State Representative Sal Esquivel and Wally Hicks to draft and pass a just and good bill to clarify the current Oregon Law. This bill is HB 3604.
As you are aware, Chandler and his family traveled to Salem to testify in front of the committee that you co-chaired. The bill has a lot of support both here and in Salem. Our understanding is that you, personally, are impeding the progress of this bill through the process. If this is true, and our research seems to point this out, we find this both irresponsible and reprehensible. Our group has had discussion in meetings about this and feel that this is wrong and we are formally requesting that you push this bill along. Mr. Cort has e-mailed you requesting comment, and your office has chosen to not even give him the courtesy of a response that he requested. This is not behavior expected from an elected Representative of the great State of Oregon!
The US~Observer takes a much different approach to this issue than that of Wake Up America Group. Acting on behalf of the US~Observer I demand a response to this emailed letter by the end of this week. I am demanding that you allow this bill to move forward in a timely fashion so that it will have enough time to make a floor vote in this session.
Should you choose to not move forward on this request I will consider you an enemy of patriotism and therefore an enemy of the US~Observer. I will then proceed to end your political career by exposing your unpatriotic and un-American part in the destruction of our Pledge of Allegiance.
I will start this process by investigating every aspect of your life, both past and present, in an effort to find and then expose wrongdoing – reasons why you should not be representing a freedom-loving people.
If you are either anti-God or anti-American in any way, shape or form, I will do my level best to ensure that you will be black-balled to the point of being un-electable, even for dog-catcher.
If I am in any way mistaken about your position, please let me know immediately and above all, do not underestimate my abilities to make good on my threats. It would behoove you to do a little research on the US~Observer and our many accomplishments before making a final decision.
Sincerely,
Edward Snook
Chief of Investigations
US~Observer
Representative Dave Hunt failed to respond to the US~Observer’s letter (above). Now we will keep our word and prove to Democratic Rep. Dave Hunt that we don’t make idle threats. We will show this unaccountable Rep. that there are still those of us who demand accountability.
The US~Observer’s investigation of Dave Hunt is now officially underway. If you have any information about Hunt, either past or present, please call Edward Snook at 541-474-7885 or email him at ed@usobserver.com. All information is strictly confidential. Also contact Representative Dave Hunt at 503-650-9434 or at his Capitol #503-986-1440 and inform him that you don’t appreciate any government official messing with our Flag or with our Pledge of Allegiance…period. This is an issue that should be important to every American, not just those who happen to reside in Oregon.