Dear Representative Bentz,

What were you thinking when you voted for the new federal budget and approved the Department of Government Efficiency making cuts to U.S. government agencies? Were you thinking about the needs of the folks in your district? Look at what your budget will do to us.

Agriculture: Oregon District 2 has 12,780 farms. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) helps farmers with loans, grants, disaster assistance, technical assistance and education, extension services, market access and promotion, rural development programs, crop insurance, commodity price support and more. USDA provides loans and grants to rural communities. Do you really want to cripple the Department of Agriculture?

Air safety: Our district has 5 commercial airports. The U.S. has had two recent crashes with many deaths, and a lot of near misses. Do you really want to fire the most experienced people in the Federal Aviation Administration?

Consumer protection. DOGE has shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB protects against discriminatory lending that hurts Black, brown, and low-income communities. CFPB protects against junk fees on bank accounts and credit cards, against scammers and predatory lenders, and deceptive pay day lenders. Why would you want to close the CFPB?

Health: In our district, 52% of us get our medical care through Medicaid. Our rural hospitals are struggling; eight hospitals in rural Oregon are at risk of closing (according to a 2024 analysis from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.) Health care and social assistance are the largest employer sector in our district, employing over 46,000 people. Do you really want to take away health care and jobs from your neighbors and bankrupt local hospitals by slashing Medicaid?

Hunger: 1 in 6 residents in Oregon receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Over half of these folks are in families with children.  Over a third are in families with elderly or disabled adults. Forty-one percent of people who receive SNAP benefits are in working families. Do we really want to increase food insecurity and hunger by dismantling the SNAP program?

Wildfires: Last year was the worst wildfire season on record in Oregon, with 430,000 acres burned in our district, including the Durkee Fire that burned 294,000 acres. Medford had the unfortunate distinction of being the smokiest city in the United States. The U.S. Forest Service manages 5.5 million acres in our district and employed 3,400 people state-wide before a firing frenzy. It’s crazy to be firing U.S. Forest Service Employees who fight fires.

Education: College gets more and more expensive, and good jobs require more and more skills. The U.S. Department of Education provides student grants, loans, and work-study jobs, funding for higher education as well as vocational and technical programs and adult education, disaster relief for schools, adult education and literacy programs and training for teachers and principals. Do you really want to cut back on student loans and support for our public-school teachers and our community colleges?

Climate chaos: Last year was the hottest on record. In 2021 the entire state experienced overwhelming drought, with not enough water for irrigation. Tourists will not travel to Oregon to see dead forests, dried up rivers and breathe acrid smoke. Do we really want to speed up global warming by increasing production of fossil fuels?

You may want to cut taxes for the richest Americans, but do you want to do this by cutting critical government services for the people of Oregon’s 2nd District? Don’t you want to see your constituents keep their farms, their jobs, their healthcare, their opportunities for higher education, and be safe from fires?  Have the courage to resist political pressure from your party, and vote for your district, not for Project 2025, and not for the chaos and harm from dismantling essential government programs?

Martin Albert, MD, lives in Ashland.