Delgado Holds Town Hall At HFCS
By Doug La Rocque
19th District Congressional Representative Antonio Delgado took questions from an audience of slightly more than 50 people on Monday evening, April 22, as he held his second Rensselaer County Town Hall session in the auditorium of the Hoosick Falls Central School. Mr. Delgado opened the meeting by expounding upon his reaction to the recently released Mueller report on Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential election.
He called it very troubling that the report found “a foreign adversary conducted a systematic and sweeping infiltration of our election process, and that it has sadly become a partisan and not an American issue. He also said he joins with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for the full report, not a redacted version, to be released. As to any possible classified material it may contain, he said the full report can be released to members of Congress who have the security clearances to review it.
Health Care
The Congressman also returned to one of his priorities, which is some form of universal healthcare. He has sponsored legislation, called Medicare X, that would open up Medicare to those under 65 who would like to pay a premium to join the Medicare system. His proposal would allow people to keep their private insurance if they so wish. When asked by The Eastwick Press, if this might be an incentive for employers to offer their workers only the Medicare option and not offer private health insurance plans, Mr. Delgado admitted that might very well happen. But he also said he didn’t feel that was really a bad thing, indicating private insurance costs are about seven times higher than Medicare, and the cost savings to participants would be significant. He noted that a public option with a private choice does not introduce a new player into the health care field, and could move the country closer to universal health care without a disruptive period of changing over to a new system.
Climate Change
The first question the Congressman took was about his feelings on climate change. He indicated he is worried about the impact of fossil fuels, making note of conversations on the subject he had earlier in the day with students at a Delaware County high school. He said it occurred to him that today’s youth are really not seeing the four seasons of the year that he grew up with, but instead just two, elongated summers and winters. He called upon the federal government and states to stop investing in and providing tax credits for fossil fuel corporations, and to instead look toward investments in renewal energy.
Water Contamination
It would not be a meeting in Hoosick Falls if the issue of PFOA contamination were not discussed. In this case, he talked in particular, about the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Mr. Delgado expressed his extreme frustration with that agency, for not yet setting Maximum Contamination Limits (MCLs) for PFOS contamination, a category that includes PFOAs.
Earlier this year, the Congressman penned a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler asking that the issue be expedited. The EPA has previously released information indicating it would set levels by the end of the year, but the Congressman said Monday evening, he now hears it will not happen until 2020. One of the biggest drawbacks to not having these MCLs, according to Mr. Delgado, is that it does not allow the EPA to act on its own to bring about remediation efforts on Superfund sites, instead putting all the onus for any action squarely on the polluters. He admitted to those gathered, it is an uphill battle.
Immigration
When asked about what some called the illegal immigration crisis, the Congressman answered back with a question of his own – “how do we get by the hysteria of ‘build a wall versus open borders.’” He said in his conversations with his colleagues in Washington, most are trying to find a way to face the issue. He also said that we are a nation of laws, so how do we “make it so people can work here legally, while pursuing a path to citizenship, and not live in the shadows.” He also said he feels there is an economic side to the issue, noting many businesses, particularly those in agriculture, rely on immigrant labor.
The Hoosick Falls session is the start of the Congressman’s second go-round of town hall style meetings in all 11 counties in his district.