<p>Sen. Jeff Merkley speaks during a town hall meeting on Monday at Pendleton High School.</p>

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley took a firm stand Monday, advocating Oregon end its ban on same-sex marriage.

The Democrat is campaigning for a second term and holding a series of town hall meetings in Eastern Oregon. He spoke and addressed questions during the lunch hour at Pendleton High School. Vickie Read, a Pendleton activist for marriage equality, asked the senator what he thought of recent federal judge rulings that struck down such bans as unconstitutional.

That is completely consistent with my view of life, he said. Merkley then noted a dying Sen. Ted Kennedy asked him to take up the challenge of passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, a bill to prohibit employers from discriminating against applicants and workers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Merkley carried the bill to a winning bipartisan vote in the Senate, but it died in committee in the House.

Merkley said he wished the president would have highlighted the bill in this years state of the union address and asked the U.S. House to take it up. He also said while Oregon has been a leader in ending discrimination against the gay community, one blight remains: the 2004 clause in the Oregon Constitution that recognizes only marriages between a man and a woman.

I am a full supporter of ending that discrimination and taking that out of our constitution, Merkley said.

Most questioners and attendees were high schoolers, and their big concern was with paying for college. Pendleton Mayor Phillip Houk selected questioners by random numbers, but Merkley also opened it up to questions from the audience, which dwindled from about 80 to 25 as students went to classes.

Merkley said people are worried about having college student loans the size of home mortgages by the time they graduate. He said the Federal Pell Grant Program needs to keep pace with inflation and that student loans should never be a profit center for the U.S. government.

He discussed pay it forward programs as having potential because college students then do not have to deal with choosing an uncertain jobs future over the cost of college. Rather than digging a hole of debt, Merkley said, students under pay it forward would give the state 2 or 3 percent of their income over 20 or 30 years after graduating. The program is an investment in the next generation, he said, but admitted there are plenty of details to work out. Pilot programs could address those issues, such as capping how long someone can attend college.

Merkley met with several local leaders before the town hall, including Pendleton city council members who asked for his help in keeping funds going for rural airport towers. Councilwoman Jane Hill said the Pendleton airport needs its tower as the citys push to attract unmanned aerial vehicle operations gets underway.

And after the public meeting, Merkley talked about the arduous process he went through to enroll his family with Cover Oregon, the states health care exchange, a requirement under the federal Affordable Care Act. He also said he and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, D, want a federal investigation into the botched rollout of Cover Oregon. Monica Wehby of Portland, his Republican opponent in the Senate race, called on him to do just that earlier this month. Merkley said the people need answers to what happened and to make sure no one improperly used taxpayer money.

From Pendleton, the senator was off to another town hall in Imbler then Wednesday in Baker City, Enterprise and Ontario.

Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0833.