A letter to Chairman Neal Smith of the Subcommittee on State, Justice, Commerce, and Judiciary, from several US representatives advocating for the Western States Information Network (WSIN) to be included in the fiscal year 1982 federal budget following the news that the Reagan Administration planned to eliminate monetary support for the organization. The letter was dated June 18, 1981, and was signed by Norman Mineta, Les AuCoin, Ronald V. Dellums, Augustus F. Hawkins, Jerry M. Patterson, Robert T. Matsui, Daniel K. Akaka, Bobbi Fiedler, Vic Fazio, Tom Lantos, Mervyn M. Dymally, Cec Heftel, Pete Starke, Julian C. Dixon, Robert J. Lagomarsino, Ron Wyden, Glenn M. Anderson, Pete McCloskey, Edward R. Roybal, Joel Pritchard, and Tony Coelho. The WSIN was designated by the letter's authors as crucial in supporting "local law enforcement narcotic investigations in the states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington by providing analytical, financial, and equipment services."
A letter from US Congressman Les AuCoin to a congressional colleague advocating for HR3595, officially titled A bill to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to provide a uniform time for the closing of the polling places in all elections of the electors of the President and Vice President of the United States, to prevent the release of election results before polling places have closed, and for other purposes; on June 11, 1981. This legislation was notably introduced following the 1980 presidential election, when Jimmy Carter conceded the election before polls closed on the West Coast.
A letter from US Congressman Les AuCoin to a congressional colleague advocating for a proposed bill that encouraged gleaning. Gleaning is the process of collecting leftover crops from a field that has already been commercially harvested. The proposed amendment aimed to encourage more farmers to donate gleaned crops by offering them a 10% tax credit against their income taxes for contributions of crops to charitable groups, which in turn could be used to feed the hungry, particularly low income, elderly, and disabled Americans. Congressman AuCoin described how Oregon was a pioneer of modern gleaning programs.
A letter from US Congressman Les AuCoin to a congressional colleague titled "A Western Solution to a National Problem," dated April 1, 1981. In his letter, AuCoin advocated for legislation that would allow states to choose for themselves when to open polls, count ballots, and disclose local results, with all polls closing no later than 11 p.m. EST and prohibiting the release of election results of presidential elections until all polls were closed. As he noted, this legislation was notably written following the 1980 presidential election, when Jimmy Carter conceded the election before polls closed on the West Coast.
A letter from US Congressman Les AuCoin to Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-MA) regarding the delay of the nomination of John B. Crowell, Jr. as Assistant Secretary to the Department of Agriculture. In his letter, AuCoin advocates for Crowell's nomination, describing Crowell as a "man of integrity, intelligence, and achievement."
A letter from US Congressman Les AuCoin to a congressional colleague advocating for the proposed Continental Airlines purchase by employees in April 1981, describing it as solving "two of the most acute problems facing American business and industry today: declining productivity and capital formation." He wrote this letter as the Chairman of the House Task Force on Industrial Innovation.
A letter from US Congressman Les AuCoin to staff contacts on the House Task Force on Industrial Innovation and Productivity regarding a briefing on a Continental Airlines purchase by employees of the company, dated April 16, 1981. In what he describes as "the fight for airline deregulation," AuCoin points out "the unique plan of Continental Airline's employees to buy controlling interest in their company and the plan's implications for industrial productivity and capital formation."
A clipping of a Corvallis Gazette-Times op-ed article titled "Quit making tritium, redirect spending" by US Congressman Les AuCoin, published on December 30, 1991. In the article, Congressman AuCoin criticizes the Department of Energy's then recent decision to restart the Savannah River K reactor to produce tritium for nuclear weapons, and instead calls for arms control in the context of the fall of the Soviet Union four days earlier on December 26, 1991.
A clipping of an Oregonian newspaper article by staff writer Les AuCoin covering the defeat of Howard Morgan for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 US Senate primary election in Oregon. The article's title is cut off from the clipping, but it may perhaps be "The Annoucement of Defeat" or "The Statement of Defeat."
An essay by former US Congressman Les AuCoin titled "Don't Get Hosed by Political Firefighters: How Political Framing Influences Fire Policy," likely written sometime during the second term of the George W. Bush Administration. The abstract for the essay states "The Bush White House carefully chose the phrase 'healthy forests' to characterize its effort to increase logging in the public's national forests. It was a masterpiece of political 'framing' -- the art of creating a central organizing idea or context for an issue through use of selection, emphasis, exclusion, and elaboration. 'Healthy forests' evokes a sense of environmental protection and personal safety at a time of deep fear of wildland fire." Former Congressman AuCoin's essay also centers around the Yellowstone fires of 1988.
A lecture by US Congressman Les AuCoin titled "Who Sends America to War?" delivered to the "Leadership and Public Policy" class at Pacific University on February 4, 1991. The class was designed to have Congressman AuCoin meet with the students for one and a half hours each month to "try to see how America works-- examining the distinctions between democratic governance in theory and as it is practiced by real people with real passions, feares, prejudices, principles, cynicism, and idealism." Discussing the Persian Gulf War, Congressman AuCoin states "The United States has unleashed the most powerful air campaign in military history and is posed for the largest tank and infantry battles in history. I find disturbing flaws in our policy. But I [sic] what I find more disturbing is President Bush's view that he, alone, has the power to wage this war-- notwithstanding the terms of the War Powers Resolution or Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution....What we have here is a President who refused to follow the law. His Administration went to ridiculous length to define 'hositilies' so as to avoid sending a report to Congress that would have triggered the War Powers Act and required an affirmative vote by Congress in order to maintain the troop development."
A statement by Oregon House Majority Leader Les AuCoin regarding his previous affiliation and employment with The Oregonian newspaper. AuCoin states that he had worked during for The Oregonian for a short time in 1960 during a strike, "having no comprehension of the real meaning of a strike," before being employed again by the newspaper after the strike had ended in November 1965. A handwritten note on the front page, which was presumbly written years later, states: "During first primary, Demo [sic] opponents used my Oregonian employment against me."
A memorandum from Oregon House Majority Leader Les AuCoin to news media executives regarding Oregon's then recently passed subdivision law, the Land Development Consumer Protection Act (HB 2607), which was due to go into affect on January 1, 1974. A news release statement by State Representative AuCoin stated that "Specifically, the Land Development Consumer Protection Act: (1) insures that prospective purchasers of land development interests have all pertinent information concerning conditions on and in the vicinity of the property; (2) places the buyer and seller on an equal footing regarding the transaction; and (3) registers land developments, particularly promotional land sales."
A statement and accompanying receipts provided by US Congressman Les AuCoin and his office in response to the 1992 House banking scandal. In 1992, an investigation discovered that hundreds of members of Congress had overdrafted their House bank accounts numerous times, although it was found that the vast majority did so unintentionally -- as the House bank system did not properly alert members of their overdrafts and delayed processing deposits -- and did not break any laws. AuCoin himself was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the US Department of Justice. The receipts provided by Congressman AuCoin in this document include an official account statement from the Sergeant at Arms, a sample check, a list of checks identified as "overdraft" by the House bank, a list of ending balances from monthly statements received from the Sergeant at Arms, a letter from Merrill Lynch Consumer Markets, a Washington Post article titled "House Bank Records Hampered Probe" by Guy Gugliotta, a letter regarding information on withdrawals from the Congressional Federal Credit Union, and a letter from the Bank of Astoria.
An AuCoin Report letter titled "Update: Social Security" published by the office of US Congressman Les AuCoin on August 18, 1982. In the letter, Congressman AuCoin advocated for protecting Social Security benefits from cuts by the Ronald Reagan Administration. Attached to the letter is a copy of a speech by Congressman AuCoin found in the Congressional Record titled "An All-Out Campaign to Cut Entitlements," delivered on the same day.
An AuCoin Report letter titled "Update: Salmon Seasons" published by the office of US Congressman Les AuCoin in August 1982. In the letter, Congressman AuCoin advocating for more fisheries research on salmon seasons in Oregon -- the limiting of commercial and recreational fishing for coho salmon when quotas allowed by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Pacific Fisheries Management Council were exceeded -- and the Oregon Production Index (OPI). Attached to the letter is a copy a speech by Congressman AuCoin found in the Congressional Record titled "Gao Asked to Study Fisheries Quotas," delivered on August 13, 1982.
Extension of Remarks of US Congressman Les AuCoin containing letters regarding the Ronald Reagan Administration's proposal to sell off "surplus" Oregon public lands, published on September 14, 1982. The Extension of Remarks statement includes a copy of a letter which was sent to Congressman AuCoin by one of his constituents, Joe Reinhart of Portland, Oregon. Both Reinhart and Congressman AuCoin criticized the Reagan Administration's plan.
Extension of Remarks by US Congressman Les AuCoin containing an insert of Oregon Business magazine article "The Threat of Waterway User Charges" by Dan Poush. In his Extension of Remarks statement published on September 15, 1981, Congressman AuCoin stated: "I am seriously concerned that [the "user charges"] proposals now being considered will cripple shipping commerce and international trade on the West Coast and in my own state of Oregon."
An AuCoin Report letter titled "Update: Nuclear Power," published by the office of US Congressman Les AuCoin on August 1, 1982. In the letter, Congressman AuCoin criticized the Clinch River Breeder Reactor nuclear project and its $252 million budget proposed by the Ronald Reagan Administration. He also attached an excerpt from the Congressional Record containing his statement that he gave regarding the Clinch River Breeder Reactor nuclear project on July 29, 1982.
Address of US Congressman Les AuCoin delivered before the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) convention in Oregon in 1982. In his address, Congressman AuCoin discussed President Reagan vetoing an anti-recession housing bill, unemployment, and the 1982 midterm elections, stating "This, my friends, is a fight, a fight over who is going to run America. Is it going to be rich men who have never stood in unemployment lines and have no understanding of what it means to be a construction boiler maker, the ranks of whom today are 90 per cent unemployed? Is this country going to be run by rich men and ultraconservatives who have no conception of what Reaganomics are doing to devastate the communities and families across this state and across this country? Or instead, is this great country going to be run by you, and your neighbors, and by workers everywhere...?"
Testimony of US Congressman Les AuCoin before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Assistance and Unemployment Compensation advocating for HR7327 - A bill to increase the number of weeks for which Federal supplemental unemployment compensation is payable. In his testimony delivered on December 8, 1982, Congressman AuCoin described how 11 million Americans were out of work, with the unemployment being higher in Oregon than the national average (11.5% versus 10.8%, respectively). He described how 12,500 Oregonians were expected to lose their unemployment benefits unless further legislation, specifically HR7327, was passed.
Testimony of US Congressman Les AuCoin regarding legislation to resolve the issues of RARE (Roadless Area Review and Evalutions) II in Oregon, delivered before the House Interior Subcommittee on Public Lands and National Parks on December 6, 1982.
US Congressman Les AuCoin's remarks delivered at a luncheon hosted by the Izaak Walton League in Portland, Oregon on October 29, 1982. The League was an environmental conservation organization with a special focus on clean water. In his speech, Congressman AuCoin discussed the state of the timber based economy, his then recent experiences as a member of the Appropriations Committee in Congress, and an upcoming vote for the National Forest Service Budget.
A House floor statement by US Congressman Les AuCoin advocating in support of H.R. 4374, the Shipping Act of 1982. In his speech, Congressman AuCoin described how the bill would address issues pertaining to the high costs of transporting goods from the United States by ensuring competitive rates.
