Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers fields questions at public session

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers participated in a candidates town hall meeting last Thursday, May 31, to a packed room at Pullman’s Pioneer Center.

McMorris Rodgers began by listing a range of issues important to her, including her work to protect local dams and improve the hydropower relicensing process, making it easier for medical students in Washington to find residency programs and acknowledging the high employment and consumer confidence rates across the country.

After her initial statements, McMorris Rodgers opened up to questions from the crowd. In regards to her support of repealing The Affordable Care Act (aka, “Obamacare,”) McMorris Rodgers defended her decision, saying it provides consumers and small businesses with more flexible options to meet their healthcare needs.

Next she fielded an emotional set of questions about immigration policy, related to the proposed wall on the Mexico-U.S. border and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

“Now you are separating children from families, that is not border security,” one constituent said. “How do you feel about that as a wife and mother?”

“I have said we are not separating families,” McMorris Rodgers responded. “But our immigration system is broken.” She then stressed the importance of border security to combat the opioid crisis and stop other drugs, such as heroin and fentanyl, from entering the U.S. from countries like Mexico and China.

“It makes sense to have a wall on parts of the border,” she commented.

Addressing DACA, McMorris Rodgers said there is a need for action from Congress. She explained her negotiations with members of Congress on the program, in which she advocated granting DACA recipients legal status to work, go to school, and join the military, eventually leading to granting permanent legal status to those who qualify.

One crowd member was met with applause after asking the congresswoman how she plans to address gun safety in schools and whether or not she will continue to accept money from the National Rifle Association (NRA). “I have accepted NRA money, but I’ve also taken action,” McMorris Rodgers said.

Citing examples of recent shootings at schools in Florida and Texas, she emphasized the need to strengthen federal gun databases to ensure no one “slips through the cracks.”

“We need to make sure this system is actually working, so people who should not have access to guns do not have access to guns,” she said.

Noting the importance of exports to our region, another person in the crowd asked the congresswoman how she plans to protect local farmers from being harmed by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

“I oppose the president’s decision,” McMorris Rodgers responded. “I was disappointed to see him move forward with tariffs on steel and aluminum.” She conceded that tariffs are useful for punishing China for “dumping” practices and stealing American intellectual property, however, she said she does not endorse an “across-the-board” approach to economic sanctions, but rather a more “targeted” strategy.

“In order for us to maintain our competitive advantage – in order for America to continue to be innovative – we need to hold China accountable,” McMorris Rodgers said.

Among other topics raised, McMorris Rodgers discussed efforts to reach out to diverse communities in Washington, protecting workers from job loss due to machine automation and her support of net neutrality