Several dozen people filled the seats at the Lowell Performing Arts Center last night for a town hall meeting with Justin Amash. The Congressman, who has represented Lowell in Washington D.C. since 2011, was on hand to discuss his recent votes as well as hear constituent concerns.
Amash Shares Views on National Debt, Asset Forfeiture
After a brief introduction from his staff and an overview of his office’s constituent services, Amash started the town hall with an update on his recent votes. Up first were spending bills that included hurricane disaster relief and suspension of the debt ceiling. “There were good points in them and plenty of bad,” Amash said. He voted no.
Chief among Amash’s concerns is the idea that current spending patterns in Washington unfairly push off the country’s debt problem to future generations. While he supports hurricane relief, he argues the money included in the spending bill needed to be offset with reductions elsewhere in the budget.
Similarly, he voted no on increased defense spending. Although national defense is a natural function of government and should a priority, “Nonetheless, we need to be responsible with our spending,” he said. The recent defense bill increased spending $70 billion above previously mandated spending caps. “That’s more than the entire budget of the state of Michigan,” Amash noted.
While Amash voted against the defense spending bill, he did get an amendment added to prohibit civil asset forfeiture. This practice allows the government to seize a person’s assets if they are charged with a crime, regardless of whether they are actually convicted.
The practice was discontinued under former Attorney General Eric Holder but current Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated he plans to reinstate its use. The Amash amendment, should it remain in the final version of the bill, would prohibit that practice. “That was one win we got at least,” he said.
DACA, Deportation Bills Explained
Amash also briefly touched on a bill entitled the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act. “It presents itself as a bill to deport people who are lawfully here but believed to be part of a gang,” he said.
While that sounds like a good thing, he says the bill was so poorly written that it could result in some people being deported even if they aren’t doing anything wrong. He argues the bill language could result, for instance, in an immigrant minister being deported for working with ex-gang members. “As drafted, I couldn’t support it,” he said.
The Congressman also shared he had co-sponsored the Bridge Act which would give Congress three years to devise a solution to address those currently affected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Known as DACA, the program allows those who were brought to the United States illegally as children to remain in the country and obtain work permits. Amash noted he is sympathetic to children who are brought into the country illegally through no fault of their own. However, he wants to create a solution to the problem that won’t incentivize people to bring in additional children illegally.
Citizen Concerns: Gerrymandering, Immigration, Health Care and More
When it was time to open the floor to constituent concerns, the first few comments were about gerrymandering, a practice that involves drawing legislative districts in such a way to favor a particular party.
“I would certainly prefer to take it out of the hands of partisans,” Amash said of the redistricting process, which is currently overseen by the Legislature. “The most important thing is that the districts look more like the communities.” He favors keeping counties together whenever possible.
There was also some discussion on the national debt in which Amash said he might be in favor of raising taxes but only if it were “part of some grand compromise” that included spending cuts from both sides of the aisle.
He also said he thought border security should be tightened although the bigger immigration issue was people overstaying their visas. Amash noted a wall would not solve that problem. He also said that should a wall be built along the southern border, taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill. “It’s not acceptable for American taxpayers to pay for it when [President Donald Trump] said Mexico is going to pay for it,” Amash said, referencing a common promise made by Trump on the campaign trail.
The topic then turned to health insurance premiums and costs.
“We have an immediate need in health care that is not being addressed,” said one man in the audience. Amash agreed and didn’t think the current approach to reforming the system by amending the Affordable Care Act was productive. “I have long held that we should start the whole discussion over,” he said.
Amash added he thought the federal government should bow out of issue completely and give states the freedom to find the solution that would work best for their residents. He supports expanding Health Savings Accounts and allowing them to pay health insurance premiums.
He also thought it would be best to move away from an employer-based health care system. The free market should be allowed to dictate what types of coverage insurers offer rather than having them mandated by the government. Amash doesn’t support a single payer system, and says the European model of health care would not work in the United States because of our country’s size.
Son of a Refugee Who Believes in the American Dream
Although elected as a Republican member of Congress, Amash described himself as a “constitutional conservative and libertarian” to the crowd. Later in the evening, he shared that he was the son of a Palestinian refugee and that helped form his political beliefs.
“A lot of what my dad went through impacted how I see the world,” he said. “I believe in the American Dream. I see that as what opened up opportunity for my dad.”
When a member of the audience expressed her concern that people have forgotten how to talk with one another about the issues, Amash seemed to agree. He said most people, including many of his colleagues in Congress, are trying to advocate for what they think is best for the country. However, everyone has different opinions about what is best.
“It doesn’t make people good or bad,” he said. “We just have different experiences [and] that’s ok.”
Leave a Reply