Oregon lawmaker Brian Boquist, a military vet, is under fire for comments related to Republicans fleeing the state to avoid a climate bill vote.
SALEM, Ore. — An Oregon state senator who once worked in the world's hotspots as a contractor and soldier now finds himself under fire over threats he made during a Republican revolt over climate legislation.
Boquist said he would resist any attempt to be forced to return to the state Capitol and advised state police, in front of a TV news camera, to"send bachelors and come heavily armed."The walkout marked Oregon's most rancorous legislative session in memory. Demonstrators, including loggers and truckers who said they'd be financially ruined by carbon cap, protested on behalf of the absent senators. One planned session had to be canceled because of a purported militia threat.
Boquist said in an interview with The Associated Press that state police had no authority to apprehend senators. On the last day of the legislative session last month he was the only Republican to vote for a measure aimed at providing publicly funded, affordable and comprehensive health care to all state residents.
Before that, he helped run International Charter Incorporated of Oregon, or ICI, which flew logistical support missions in conflict zones. ICI's first mission was in support of a peacekeeping force in Liberia in 1996 during a civil war. It was financed with $275,000 in cash that a U.S. official provided in a suitcase, Boquist said. ICI leased three Russian helicopters, flew them to Liberia from Russia aboard Antonov planes, only to see two of them shot up during a rebel offensive.
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