Congressman says political activists from Indivisible have organized to disrupt events and make them unworkable
By Buffy Pollock, Rogue Valley Times
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz told the Rogue Valley Times this week that he’s ready to return to in-person town hall sessions if a level of decorum — and safety for his staff — can be assured.
Bentz, R-Ontario, Oregon’s only Republican member of Congress, traveled to Southern Oregon this week to meet one-on-one with local media, government officials and local hospitals administrators on issues ranging from cuts to SNAP and Medicaid programs and his lack of in-person town halls in recent months to concerns about climate change, free speech and a shortage of living-wage jobs.
Bentz has represented the sprawling 2nd District — which encompasses Eastern Oregon plus Jackson and Josephine counties — since 2021. He spoke candidly about ongoing heightened political tensions regionally and nationally. Bentz ended in-person town halls in late February and has pivoted to virtual tele-town halls, prompting criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. He defended the decision in an interview with the Portland Tribune in recent weeks, saying that it stemmed from “increasingly hostile disruptions at town halls.”
On Wednesday, Bentz told Rogue Valley Times Editor Troy Heie that growing hostility from protesters at his in-person events prevented an “interchange of ideas or that opportunity to do my best to respond to questions.”
Bentz’s lack of in-person public appearances has been a focal point for the left-leaning activist group ORD2 Invisible, which Bentz said assembled in large numbers, practicing ways to disrupt town halls and ultimately preventing live, in-person events from being conducted. The group recently released a rap video on YouTube mocking Bentz’s lack of public appearances.
Asked when he would resume in-person town halls, Bentz said he would do so “about the time that Indivisible steps (up) and says they’ll help police the crowd and keep it quiet.”
“When they reach out and say, ‘Here’s how we’re going to make sure you don’t get hurt, that your staff doesn’t get hurt, that you don’t have to bring in police and rob the community of their protection,” he said. “When they step up and actually take responsibility for what they’re creating, I’ll be happy to show up. I would love to show up.”
Bentz added, “I don’t have any problem with protest. I really don’t. But when it interferes with our ability to accomplish the purpose of a town hall meeting, which is to exchange ideas … it’s not to give somebody an opportunity to stand up and film themselves as they yell rude and crude and demeaning and threatening things to a congressman.
“That’s not what they’re about, but that’s what they were making them into.”
ORD2 Indivisible co-leader Eric Lindquist responded to claims that his group caused an end to in-person town halls. Lindquist told the Times that growing hostility at town halls were “a result of Bentz voting for things like the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that cut $880 billion from services Oregonians depend on, services like Medicaid healthcare, SNAP food assistance, income contingent student loan repayment, and environmental protection are being cut.”
“Indivisible advocates for non-violent action for political change. We do not threaten anyone,” Lindquist said. “We have been congratulated by the Medford Police Department on multiple occasions for holding protests with thousands of people in attendance while remaining peaceful and keeping everyone safe,” he said, noting that his organization has a trained Safety and De-escalation Team on hand for events.
“Bentz is using us as a scapegoat so he can avoid having his constituents ask him meaningful questions and holding him accountable for consistently voting against the interests of Oregonians,” he added.
“It is not a problem with Indivisible’s behavior, it is a problem with Bentz and other politicians voting against the people of the United States in favor of billionaires, oligarchs and the Trump administration’s fascist agenda,” Lindquist said.
SNAP and Medicaid
Other topics addressed by Bentz during his interview with the Times included cuts to social service programs including SNAP and Medicaid. Bentz said Oregonians should focus on supporting a healthier economy and increasing the number of living-wage jobs to reduce dependence on social service programs.
“One-third of Oregon is on Medicaid. What does that tell you about Oregon?” he said. Nearly 1.3 million Oregonians receive Medicaid benefits today, including about half of the state’s kids, as well as 60% of nursing home residents and 50% of adults with disabilities, according to reporting by Oregon Capital Chronicle.
“Why aren’t people saying, ‘What’s wrong with Oregon, that we don’t have good-paying jobs here?’ Why aren’t people yelling about that?”
Bentz said Medicaid and SNAP programs were crucial for Oregonians who rely on them, but that the Oregon SNAP program was notorious for expensive errors.
“If you look at what Oregon’s done with SNAP, you’ll find that Oregon has one of the worst error rates in the nation, if not the worst, in how they manage the program,” the congressman said. “Two years ago, their error rate cost $244 million dollars. … When we passed the big bill, we said that a state can have an error rate of up to 6% but, if you start going over that, the state has to start picking up a portion of the entire cost of the SNAP program, so each state has some skin in the game.
“I think that’s a really good idea, and it’s one that I hope the state recognizes that it’d be far cheaper to do it right than to pay for part of the program, because we need the program,” Bentz said.
He added, “One thing that has to be understood, Medicaid and SNAP are essential programs. We have to have them. We absolutely have to have them. The challenge is, how do we make sure that they’re handled in a way that doesn’t lose money, that doesn’t waste taxpayer dollars? How do we do it correctly, in a more efficient way?”
Free press, freedom of speech
Asked about how he felt about recent statements by President Donald Trump, threatening to revoke broadcasting licenses for television networks that are “against” him, Bentz said he supported free speech and valued a free press but said Congress’s role is not to pass laws that would restrict free speech.
“If I see the president doing things that actually restricts speech, as opposed to his exercising his right to say things, because he certainly has that right, then we will, as Congress, step in and say, ‘We think this is incorrect,’” Bentz said.
“If the president is violating the Constitution, then of course, we’ll do all we can to try to remind him of the fact that he can’t do that. … It’s really the court’s job to call balls and strikes on the constitutionality of things.”
Bentz said he keeps in close contact with hospital officials in his district to assess ongoing needs and concerns and to assess any legislative changes. As to the nursing shortfall, Bentz said he was working to support an increase of trained nurses to address a shortage of nearly 100,000 nurses nationwide.
Climate change
Bentz touched on a need for increased electricity production in Oregon and his work to protect Snake River dams and the electricity they generate. He called the Snake River dams issue one of his biggest accomplishments in Congress.
He also spoke of his concerns about potential energy shortages, saying, “We’re that close to rolling blackouts.”
Segueing into the topic of climate, Heie prompted Bentz for his response to Trump’s recent statement before the U.N. General Assembly that climate change is a “con job.” Bentz said climate change was on his radar, noting, “It is getting hotter, it is getting drier, and we need to be adapting better to it. That’s the truth. And we know it’s getting hotter and drier because of the forest fires that we’re suffering. … The issue is one of how do we properly adapt?”
Bentz added, “The reason he says it’s a con job is because the focus, sadly, has been on reducing carbon emissions in the United States, while turning a blind eye to what’s going on in China, or India, for that matter, but really China.”
Bentz said China had “backed up” on its promises regarding reduced coal burning and was far ahead of the U.S. in electricity production and development of AI.
Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.
