{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/greg-walden-honors-congressman-robert-smith-house-floor", "Greg Walden Honors Congressman Robert Smith on House Floor", "2020-12-03", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "OR", "Greg Walden", "W000791", "walden.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Clickhereor on the image above to watch Rep. Walden's remarks.\nToday, Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) spoke on the House Floor to honor the life and legacy of former Oregon Congressman, Chairman Robert Bob' Freeman Smith. Walden was joined on the House Floor by Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK) who served under then-Chairman Smith on the Agriculture Committee. Clickhereto watch Rep. Walden's remarks on the House Floor. Below are Rep. Walden's remarks as prepared for delivery: I rise today to commemorate and honor the life and legacy of former Congressman Bob Smith. An Oregon native  born in Portland and raised in Burns he had a deep understanding of what it meant to be an Oregonian andknew the needs of the surrounding communities. Bob went to Willamette University in Salem,Oregon and received a degree in Agriculture.He would go on to put that degree to work on the ranch. In 1960,Bob's career as a public servant began when he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives. He served in the state House until 1972.He also was the Speaker of the Oregon House during the 1969 session and the 1971 session.He then served in the stateSenate from 1973 to 1982. All together he ran in 31 elections and won every single one. In the State House,Bob helped pass anumber ofland usebills. He workedhardto provide incentives for ranchers in Eastern Oregon to invest their money in state land and make it better  because at that time there was lots of state land that was in need of proper management. By incentivizing ranchers to take care of the land he helped improve that land for future generations  something ranchers in eastern Oregon still benefit from today. Bob helped lower taxes  especially property taxes. In the state Senate he continued his efforts to lower taxes  which included refunding over $700 million to Oregon's taxpayers. He alsohelped create the state'skickerlaw, which continues to return money to taxpayers. Bob went ontoserve here - in the House of Representatives -for14years,first from 1983 to 1995 and then again from 1997 to 1999. In Congress, he continued to be a champion ofimproving the management of ourpublic lands and naturalresources. He fought hard against a legislative proposal in the early 1990s for a nationalconservation area forSteensMountain.\nBobisalsoknown for his work to gain $19 million in funding for the highway interchangeon the northend of Medford, helping smooth the flow of traffic from I-5 and Highway 62.In 2007, the interchange was named after Bob in appreciation of his efforts. For those of us that fly out of Central Oregon's Redmond Airport  we should be grateful to Bobas well.He ensured that FAA constructeda flight tower at the airport to improve safetyand facilitate the commercial air traffic options we have today. There were two other airports ahead of Redmond,but he convincedappropriators to direct the FAA to construct and operate the RDM tower ahead of the others. Of course, Bob also fought for the health ofourforests and worked to improve forest management to help prevent wildfires. He retired from Congress in 1995 but returned in 1997 after then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called him and urged him toreturn.When he returned in 1997,he became Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. As theChairman of the House Agriculture Committee, he delivered resources for Oregon and the nation'sfarmers and ranchersandcontinued todefendagainst economic hardships that threatened rural communities. Bob always looked out for the farmers and ranchers across America,but especially those in Eastern Oregon. He was known to always fight for ranchers'grazing rights  working tirelessly with the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to protect those rights. In all the public offices Bob held,heworked tirelessly to fight for the needs ofrural Oregon.But Bob was more than a public servant, he was arancherandabusinessmanfirst, and most importantly a friend to all that were lucky enough to know him. Andthanks to Bob, most of Washington D.C. knew abouthis hometown,Burns, Oregon - he never missed an opportunity to teach someone his Burns,Oregon song, or to pointthe rural townout on a globe. He was a strong advocate for protecting property rights, public lands,and natural resources. Our nation, our state, and specifically Oregon's Second Districtarebetter placesbecause of Bob. Bobwas both a good friendand mentor. Following in Bob'sfootsteps in Congressand representing thegreat people of Oregon's 2nddistricthasbeen a true honor. He will be remembered not just for his legislativeachievements,but for thehardworking,good-naturedman he was.Mylene and I will keep Bob and his family in our prayers.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/greg-walden-honors-congressman-robert-smith-house-floor"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6328960191458464, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}