Category: Washington County

Congressman Chris Gibson was recently sworn in as Huletts Landing’s new congressional representative. I thought he would be an interesting person to interview, so I contacted his staff and they were able to accommodate my request. Today, I had a chance to interview Congressman Gibson by phone. Below is my interview with him.

The voters spoke very loudly on November 2nd. What would you say is the message they wanted to convey by electing you?

“I think the message the voters wanted to send was really quite simple, and I break it down into three categories:

1.) They want the focus to be on creating jobs. They want Congress to be empathetic to those who create jobs and they want the impediments to growth removed. The election was also a clear repudiation of health care reform.

2.) They want to balance the budget and rein in spending.

3) They want to protect our freedom. They know that the United States is different. We’ve always been the “land of the free,” and they want the United States to stay this way. This protection not only means from foreign enemies, but it also goes deeper in that they want protection from laws that take away our freedoms.

I must also say that the election was a testimony to the over 1200 volunteers who worked so tirelessly to bring about this result. We overcame a significant spending disadvantage because so many volunteers knocked on doors, made phone calls, and spoke to neighbors.”

For the record, what committees have you been appointed to and what are the important things that these committees will be doing over the next few months?

“I have been appointed to two committees; Agriculture and Armed Services.

In regards to Agriculture, I may be biased, but I believe the farmers in the district are the hardest working, most honorable farmers anywhere. Their issues regard profitability. Taxes, regulations and healthcare costs are driving their profitability way down. I have spoken to Chairman Lucas of Oklahoma and, during the next 6 months, the committee will conduct oversight hearings into the impediments farmers face. We are going to look at how specific EPA regulations are affecting farmers. I love to go for climbs in beautiful bucolic upstate New York. However, I think we can all agree that “spilled milk” is not “spilled oil.” The EPA now wants to regulate dust levels on farms. This is part of life, and these regulations are now completely out of balance. We’re going to be looking at these things over the next 6 months.

Looking beyond that, the Agriculture Committee will be doing the Farm Bill Reauthorization in 2012, and I’ll be reaching out to farmers throughout the 10 counties that the 20th District covers to see what advocacy they need. I’ll have an advisory committee made up of farmers from every county in the district to hear their concerns.

In regards to the Armed Services Committee, there are three issues that we’ll be looking at closely. First, we’ll be conducting oversight to support of the wars we’re involved in, while also bringing these wars to a rapid and successful conclusion. Secondly, we’ll be having hearings on the existential and ongoing threat posed by al-Qaeda. We have to always protect our cherished way of life here in the United States. Finally, we have to look 15 to 20 years from now and see that our military is organized in a way consistent to a Republic. We are not an empire, and our military needs to reflect the characteristics of our Republic.”

Now that the House has voted to repeal Obama-care, what are the next votes you would like to make after the repeal vote?

“I would like to vote quickly on two measures. The first one is one I have co-sponsored called the “REINS” Act. Any time a bureaucratic agency makes a new federal regulation that has an annual cost to our economy of $100 million or more, that regulation needs to go to the Congress for an up or down vote. Right now a lot of people are frustrated by agencies that have no accountability. Congress sends them letters but they’re not accountable. If a regulation is going to place costs on our society, why not have Congress vote on it? I think it’s a good idea and I would like to see it voted on quickly.

The next vote I would like to see is a repeal of the 1099 requirement for small business. We need to repeal this requirement and get it to the President’s desk quickly.”

The citizens of Washington County are toiling under some very burdensome property taxes right now. Medicaid is the largest driver in the growth of state spending and new federal mandates will expand Medicaid eligibility. What will you try to do on the federal level to help rein in these costs and help taxpayers toiling under such a heavy burden?

“To begin, we need to repeal the current health care law and replace it with a more patient-centric option. The current law is going to drastically increase Medicaid enrollment. We also need to have comprehensive medical liability reform. It’s an issue where health care impacts property taxes because the states pass it down to the counties.”

Your military service to our nation is well documented. What have we done well in Iraq and what should we be concentrating on doing to win in Afghanistan?

“That is a very good question. To begin, we need to look at why we succeeded in Iraq. The reasons are all inter-related and the individual reasons can’t be isolated from each other. But I would say there were three reasons why we succeeded in Iraq. To begin, we committed the resources to win the fight against the insurgency. This began to allow the civil institutions to take root. Secondly, the Suni’s realized that it was in their best interests to work through the institutions of civil society and the government began addressing legitimate Suni concerns. Finally, the joint special operations task force targeted al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the people really began to see a clear distinction. There were areas in Iraq that al-Qaeda controlled and the people saw what that would bring. For instance al-Qaeda controlled the Dil’al river valley and they instituted Sharia law there. This brought with it things which people abhorred. Cutting off people’s fingers who smoked, making 14 and 15 year old girls join harems. Stuff that gave the people a clear choice: you could stand with the government or stand with al-Qaeda and the people turned against them.

Going forward in Afghanistan, there are some things that are similar and some things that are different. To begin, Iraq had a middle class and some sense of nationalism. We need to train the Afghanistan security forces and partner with them to help them secure their country. They will have to be responsible for their own security at some point. We have to also cultivate civilian agencies to build efficacy and legitimacy and the government has to implement strong anti-corruption measures. It’s a fight that can be won and Iraq, in some ways, can serve as a guide.”

Finally, I would like to extend an invitation for you to visit Huletts Landing sometime during the summer. Please feel free to bring your family and stop by for a visit.

“Please tell everyone that I have heard so much about beautiful Huletts Landing and I will really try to stop by in the summer.”