Les AuCoin: Not your ordinary Congress member

The Jefferson Exchange

Former Oregon Congressman Les AuCoin shares his experiences from 18 years in Congress. Unlike your typical member of congress, Les offers behind-the-scenes insights from meetings inside the Kremlin, how he helped rescue a Jewish family from the former Soviet Union, the role he played in opening up China to the world during the Nixon administration, his experience visiting a nuclear war bunker deep beneath a Colorado mountain and why he was compelled to get into the ring with a professional wrestler, a woman.

He wrote about it all in his memoir, "Catch and Release: An Oregon Life in Politics." Pacific University, AuCoin's alma mater, is naming a building in his honor. The dedication ceremony is Sept. 27 at the campus in Forest Grove.