Earl Blumenauer, the Congressman from Oregon's 3rd District, won't be attending the president's State of the Union speech next week, but he will be sending a message, and a stand-in, in his place.

In early January, Blumenauer announced he wouldn't be attending the annual address, saying on Facebook "(h)earing from Oregonians and working together to protect our values and advance policies that actually strengthen our communities is a more productive use of my time."

On Monday, Blumenauer took to Facebook again, to announce he'll be sending a DACA recipient, or DREAMer, to "remind Trump that these are real people with families and jobs, who are vital to our communities."

Blumenauer has been an ardent and vocal opponent of many of Trump's policy proposals, perhaps none more so than this canceling of the DACA program, which allows children of undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. if they were brought to the country before the age of 16 and meet certain other qualifications.

In social media posts, the congressman has called the president's actions, specifically his use of a vulgar term to describe some countries in Africa, "shameful," "disgraceful" and "racist."

Last year, he introduced legislation called the "No TRUMP Act" after reports that federal officials spent taxpayer dollars at Trump-owned properties. Additionally, he introduced a bill that would make it easier to remove the president via the 25th Amendment, which allows cabinet-level officials to declare the president unfit for duty. Neither bill was likely to pass, but Blumenauer taking direct aim at the president should surprise no one.

You can read his full post on the State of the Union below.

Like many of you, I am frustrated by Congressional inaction on the federal budget and the lack of progress in protecting... Posted by Earl Blumenauer on Monday, January 22, 2018

-- Kale Williams

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