Brian Baird will leave public office at the end of next year knowing he has performed his congressional duties at the highest level of service, and to the best of his ability and intellect. That, in fact, will be his legacy.
It will be bolstered by his values, his honesty, independence, courage and hard work. And he will be remembered for the occasions when “doing the right thing” in his mind was not always pleasant. Two examples are health reform town hall meetings and keeping the troops in Iraq.
In more than a decade as U.S. Representative for the 3rd Congressional District from Vancouver, Democrat Baird has operated in local, national and international arenas.
He covered his vast district from Olympia to the Columbia River. It was not uncommon to see him standing on the street corner talking with a constituent during a Farmers Market at Vancouver’s Esther Short Park.
He has visited the schools and all the communities of his district. Many attended his 300 town hall meetings over the years, but his service to individuals is less well known. Baird, with the aid of his staff, helped people cut through the federal bureaucracy, whether it was for veterans benefits or to help a soldier receive a medal earned in the World War II Battle of the Bulge. “I am most proud of the hard work in the district in every community,” Baird said. “We let people know, if they had a problem in the district, they could call our office and we would work hard on it. It was not just me, but my wonderful staff: Kelly Love, Cindy Gibson and the others.”
Baird has toiled effectively on the big projects, too:
Columbia River channel deepening, guaranteeing river commerce to the Vancouver and Portland area, an essential link to a strong economy;
Sales tax deductibility, which means state residents likely will save as much as $500 million in federal taxes next year, according to Baird’s office. The congressman first supported this issue with success in 2004. It has returned about $3 billion to state taxpayers.
Grass-roots achievements
There are less-known achievements the congressmen recorded for his constituents. Early in his career, he secured imported steel that kept some 200 employed at the Kalama plant. He saved a Columbia River barge line from paying a fuel tax in Oregon based on the supposition it crossed the channel to the Oregon side of the river.
Baird’s influence has been felt nationally, particularly in succession planning in Congress in an emergency, and his advocacy for a 72-hour study time for all bills.
Another Baird effort was the introduction of the Chinook Nation Restoration Act, seeking federal recognition of the Chinook tribe of 2,500 members living on the lower Columbia, including 60 in Clark County. “This is really about justice for the tribe,” Baird said. “It’s pretty clear the tribe saved Lewis and Clark’s lives in Dismal Niche” when the explorers were pinned down for six days in 1805 by heavy weather on the Columbia River.
It was the sense of “doing what’s right” that compelled Rep. Baird to support keeping the troops in Iraq. He visited Iraq five times, and recalled: “I’ve seen the faces of Iraqi people. They know what will happen in their ravaged country, and how al-Qaida will retaliate, if the United States abandons Iraq.”
With a keen scientific interest in the world, Baird has also made it a point to find out how the environment is faring. Among his key issues is ocean acidification, which attacks coral reefs. The effects of acidification could be harming plankton off our Pacific Coast. Oceans, he points out, cover 68 percent of the earth’s surface.
When Congressman Baird leaves office next year, he said, “I hope people say I put principle above politics, worked hard, listened and tried to use common sense.”
What’s next? The best thing he could do is to come back to this state and help it become even better than it is. Who knows, maybe governor some day?
“I love this state and the Northwest,” he declared.
Tom Koenninger is editor emeritus of The Columbian. His column of personal opinion appears on Wednesdays. Reach him at koenninger@comcast.net.
