Sixth District Congressman John Rose came home to DeKalb County Monday evening to conduct his first regional town hall meeting since being elected last November. Congressman Rose, who has a family farm in the Temperance Hall Community of DeKalb County, met with constituents and local public officials at the courthouse to outline his vision for the country and to take questions from the audience.
“I am about 100 days into this job and I am excited about the opportunity to represent you in Congress. I ran for this office after coming to the harsh conclusion that our generation is at risk of leaving this country worse off to the next generation than our parents left it to us. If we do that we will be the first generation in American history to do that and that is not acceptable. I ran for office out of a sincere hope that if we all work together we can turn this around,” he said.
Congressman Rose cited three challenges facing the country that must be addressed including attacking the national debt, relieving burdensome federal regulations on businesses, and renewing respect for the rule of law.
“Today our debt eclipses $22 trillion and to think that we have borrowed that much money for our children, grand children, and great grandchildren to pay back is really stunning. It’s unfathomable that we are doing that to them. That $22 trillion debt is what has been accumulated from the founding of the country until now. Unfortunately almost half of that has been amassed just in the last 10 years and it’s accumulating at a pace which is unsustainable. Just this year alone we will add another $1 trillion to that debt. We have to get control over it but the answer is not easy because frankly we have all come to depend on the federal government for a whole variety of benefits, privileges, funds, and support. If we are going to turn this around we’re going to have to make some hard choices and sacrifices,” said Congressman Rose.
Three areas however that should not be cut, according to the congressman, are national defense and support to veterans and senior citizens.
“There are some areas we can’t afford to make a significant cut. I believe we have a solemn obligation to provide for the defense of this country. I don’t think we can sacrifice there. That doesn’t mean we can’t be efficient and eliminate waste but we have to make sure we defend this country. We also have a solemn obligation to take care of the people who put their lives in harm’s way in the defense of this country and we have seniors who we have made promises to now in the sunset of their life in many cases who don’t have many options. We have to make sure we don’t pull the rug out from under them. But in other areas where we can we need to be more aggressive in cutting back on what we spend,” Congressman Rose continued.
“Another challenge is the burdensome regulations that our federal government places on all of us as individuals but in particular on those people who are trying to do business and create opportunity, wealth, and economic opportunity for all of us to be employed, earn a living, and provide for our families. That imposes on the success of this country”.
“After the 2008 financial crisis the government put in place a whole set of new regulations on banks and other financial institutions. These regulations wind up costing you money because they cost the institutions you’re dealing with an inordinate amount of money and limit what they can do. Some of those regulations were probably called for and needed to be put in place but a vast majority of them did not and believe me you are paying for it,” said Congressman Rose.
“As part of the reform efforts they created an entire new government agency called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and it is completely outside the control of the Congress and your elected representatives. We don’t even get to determine what their budget is. They send a memo to the Federal Reserve Board and tell them how much money they want and that board has to send them the money. That’s how little control there is. The President gets to appoint the director to a five year term and once he is in place he can’t be fired, supervised, or questioned. Its agencies like that which are beyond the control of your elected representatives and I think that is unacceptable,” added the Congressman.
“Another challenge is the lack or declining appreciation for the rule of law. One of the things that defines our country is that throughout its history we have adhered to the rule of law as a founding principle of this country. It is part of what distinguishes our culture and our society from so many others around the world where safety and liberty are constantly under fire. We have begun to let that principal, the rule of law erode. Where it is most dramatic is with respect to immigration. If you listen to media reports you would think we didn’t have immigration laws but the truth is we do have laws that have gone through the arduous process of being enacted. They have passed the House and Senate and been signed into law by the President. I believe once a law has been put in place in that way it deserves to be enforced. Our government officials take an oath to uphold the constitution and the laws of the United States so we shouldn’t have a choice about whether we enforce those. Our elected officials and our sworn law enforcement officers ought to be enforcing those laws but that is under attack in our country. We have to get back to a true appreciation of the rule of law. We have to defend that,” he said.
Congressman Rose began his remarks by talking about his family’s roots in DeKalb County.
“I have spent my career as a farmer and businessman and most of that time as a farmer right here in DeKalb County. My family arrived in the Lancaster community right across the county line in Smith County in 1790. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for me to be the eighth generation to farm that same land which has not been out of the family for 229 years. That is pretty remarkable. I hope to pass that on to my young son Guy who has just turned eighteen months old. Hopefully he will be the ninth generation to farm that same land,” he said.
“The Rose family, relative newcomers to this community got here in 1869. They moved around a little for the first four or five years but bought the Rose family farm which is in Temperance Hall in DeKalb County and that is where I have lived for most of the last 25 years. They bought that farm in 1874 and built the house that my wife and I lived in until about a year and a half ago. I share deep ties to DeKalb County and consider it to be really my home,” said Congressman Rose.
During the question and answer period, Congressman Rose was asked a variety of questions ranging from his views on building a wall at the US southern border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants, to the Green New Deal proposed by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and US Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), and the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).
“I am one who believes we should build a wall along our southern border. We have been facing this immigration problem now for decades. We have had amnesty before and then not dealt with illegal immigration at our southern border. Just in the last month we had 100,000 people come across our southern border who were not authorized to come,” said Congressman Rose.
“It’s important to note that in the history of the world there has been no country that has accepted more legal immigrants than the United States. We are a country of immigrants and today we accept more legal immigrants than any country in the world. Don’t let anyone shame you into believing that this country is somehow not keeping up its obligations in terms of providing a home for the world’s refugees and those who yearn for freedom because we are doing that but what we cannot continue to do is allow people to come unabated across our southern border into the country. We have to deal with that. Building a wall is not the only answer but I believe it is a critical first step and our experts at the border agree. The customs and immigration folks and border enforcement people all tell us that it works. In San Diego where we have put in place an effective wall illegal immigration is down by more than 90%. In the Rio Grande Valley where we have put in place a wall it’s been more than 95% effective in curtailing crossing at those spots. It won’t be perfect and we have to do other things like employer verification and things like that to make sure that those folks who do make it into the country are found the dealt with effectively but I believe it starts with a border wall. Going back to my farm upbringing my dad once said good fences make good neighbors. We need to enforce our laws and if anyone wants to come here to avail themselves of the freedoms and liberties that make this country so great there is a legal way to do that and that is to get in line and go through the process,” said Congressman Rose.
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