July 30, 2025
Dear Senator Merkley, Senator Wyden, and Representative Bynum,
 On behalf of the Linn County Democrats and the many Oregonians who are grieving the suffering of children abroad while fighting hunger here at home, I am writing to urge you to act swiftly to restore the flow of food supplies and life-saving aid into Gaza, and to use all available legislative and diplomatic tools at your disposal to ensure this restoration is both realized and sustained.
  We are witnessing the man-made starvation of a population where children make up nearly half. In a recent public statement, Doctors Without Borders described the situation in Gaza in unambiguous terms:
  “Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.”
  “Parents are also deliberately skipping meals to feed their children. Even malnourished women, who do receive therapeutic food, end up giving their own treatment supplements to their children.”
  “Mothers are asking me for food for their children, pregnant women who are six months along often weigh no more than 40 kilograms (88 pounds). The situation is beyond critical.”
(Doctors Without Borders, July 2025) 
  In communities across America, we work to feed our hungry, especially children.  Summer food programs, free or reduced-cost meals at school, food pantries, soup kitchens, community meals, Americans help feed those in need.
​  Starving children are not a foreign policy abstraction. They are a moral alarm bell. And the clock is ticking.
  We recognize that aid restrictions and border closures are at the heart of this catastrophe. And while the United States continues to send billions of dollars in support to Israel, we also send a message, through action or inaction, about what we are willing to tolerate from those states we support with military and financial aid. We urge you to make it absolutely clear that the Israeli government’s continued restriction of food, water, and medical supplies to civilians is unacceptable, and U.S. support cannot remain unconditional in the face of such suffering.
  We ask that you push for the full restoration of aid into Gaza, and that you back that by using real pressure, including reevaluation of military and financial assistance sent to the government of Israel, to effect sustained change.
  The supplies we need to get started are there already.  We just need to help open those doors.
  “Just outside Gaza, in warehouses — and even within Gaza itself — tonnes of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched, with humanitarian organizations blocked from accessing or delivering them.”   (Doctors Without Borders, July 2025)
  I believe the people of Oregon expect our leaders to respond not just with words of sympathy, but with action that matches the scale of the crisis. 
  We ask you to stand up for starving children, in Oregon, across the United States, in Gaza and around the world, and use every available tool to demand the unrestricted, immediate and sustained reopening of humanitarian aid distribution to the people of Gaza at the scale needed to reverse this worsening crisis.
  Thank you for your continued service, and for standing up for the dignity of all people, especially those who are in urgent need.
  Sincerely,
  Ben Watts
  Chair, Linn County Democrats

Nancy Greenman, Linn County Democrat and a Neighborhood Leader Program leadership team member, gave the following speech July 26 during the Albany Pride Festival in Monteith Riverpark:

  Hello, it’s wonderful to be here in this day that brings out the best in our community and our country.  Thanks to you all.
  What my bio adds up to is almost 60 years as a community organizer so of course I’m going to start with a question.  Who here has heard of Harvey Milk?  If Harvey were here at the mike today, what would he say? And what did he want to recruit you to do?
  To come out to the people you know and trust. To share your story. To confront hate and ignorance with humanity and hope. And guess what? That message is as fresh and compelling today as it was 50 years ago.
  I sensed that Harvey was right when I first heard those words fifty years ago, but for me their true power crystalized the morning of my father’s 100th birthday.  That morning — June 25, 2011 — the NY morning papers reported that late the previous night, the NY State Senate had narrowly voted to approve the NY Marriage Equality Act.
  The New York Senate at that time had 30 Democrats and 32 Republicans. One Democrat had announced that he would vote no, which meant that in order for the Act to pass Republican votes would be needed. The first to move was Senator James Alesi, who had voted no two years before. In announcing the change of his vote he explained that listening to his constituents had changed his mind. He said,
​  “At this point I am voting from the heart.  This is a matter of equality for people, our sons and daughters, and if we are going to live in a country that’s based on freedom and equality, that freedom and equality has to exist for everyone."
  In the days that followed, three more Republicans changed their votes from no to yes.  What made the difference? The calls, the letters, the visits — the STORIES — of their constituents.
  Harvey Milk was right.  You individually may not have the power to make the change you want.  But you absolutely have the power to be a part of that change. The noise of racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic hatred is loud. But never underestimate the strength of your voice telling your truth to the people you know.
  And if you want to try out your voice on voters you haven’t yet met, you can find me — or Susan or Mark ‚ at the Pride booth during the day. Remember, as long as we persevere, we shall prevail. Thank you again.
***
  Nancy's bio: Now in her sixth decade of social justice activism, Nancy Greenman divides her energy between supporting her immigrant friends, neighbors and community; and organizing volunteers to get good information to voters at election time. Trained as a lawyer, she has worked for the United Farmworkers, school districts, and provided funding and support to domestic and sexual violence services programs in every Oregon County.  She is a proud member of SEIU Local 503 and hopes that among you all here today are past recipients of Albany Peace Seekers Peacemaker awards.

​  Come hang out at the Linn County Fair and help us staff our booth! The fair runs Thursday, July 17, through Saturday, July 17, at the Linn County Expo Center. Play Plinko, give out stickers and buttons, register people to vote! Plus volunteers get to listen to music for free. Check out the lineup! We have nine shifts to staff over the three days and volunteers are needed to take down our booth on Sunday, July 20.  To sign up to help on one or more shifts, click the button below