NEW GLARUS — More than 40 people were in attendance as U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan fielded questions and comments on issues from infrastructure to gun reform during the last stop in his six scheduled Town Halls at the New Glarus Village Hall Oct. 7.
In particular, Pocan focused on both impeachment and trade.
The House of Representatives is currently pursuing an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump based on the president’s request of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in exchange for military aid.
“We have a motive. We have a crime. We have a confession. We have evidence,” Pocan said, contrasting this situation with the Mueller Report, in which Trump denied having any involvement in any Russian meddling in U.S. elections.
“We all are going through this together,” said Pocan of the impeachment proceedings. He noted that he didn’t have additional information other than explaining the process.
“What I do think is the timeline is going to be not prolonged,” he said in reference to whether or not the House would choose to impeach. “You’re probably going to see something resolved by Thanksgiving or Christmas at the latest.”
Another major item of discussion was the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, sometimes referred to as “NAFTA 2.0,” in reference to the 1994 trade agreement it would replace.
Pocan cited a few concerns with the agreement, two of which he thought, if addressed, could get “390-plus” representatives voting in favor of USMCA.
One of those, he said, was the enforceability of labor and environmental provisions in the agreement; currently that language is outside the agreement itself. If moved, those things can actually be enforced.
Pocan’s second concern was what he called “a big wet sloppy kiss to Big Pharma,” specifically that Canada and Mexico would have to abide by a 10-year extension for protection of biologic drugs, which they don’t currently.
The congressman spoke passionately about prescription drugs and the pharmaceutical industry within this country as well, including the exorbitant cost of Gilead’s Hepatitis C drug and the fact that drug companies will “[buy] generic producers and [have] them not produce.”
According to congress.gov, H.R.3, called the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019,” was introduced in September by Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ-06), a bill Pocan said the National Progressive Caucus, of which he is a member, put a lot into. Pocan himself is not a cosponsor of the bill, but said he has a “glimmer” of hope because this is an issue on which President Trump has been consistent.
“[Infrastructure] is the second area I think I could see some potential with the president in getting something done,” he said. Pocan noted that they had common conversation values on the issue, but also that the president has not helped in figuring out how to fund it, something for which the upcoming election year might provide an incentive.
In 2017 the American Society of Civil Engineers said that $4.59 trillion would be needed by 2025 to get American infrastructure back up to an adequate grade.
The third issue in which Pocan saw hope for common ground with the president — albeit to a lesser extent than the first two — was gun reform.
On that topic, Pocan said that there was no bill introduced to take away someone’s handgun or hunting rifle, nor did he know of anyone at the congressional level who was suggesting it.
“That’s often the bogeyman that gets put up there and it’s just not true,” he said.
During the open question and answer period, Susan Meier, Blanchardville, asked about checks and balances, wondering why often one person was making all of the decisions.
“Our powers we’ve given away too often to the White House,” Pocan said. He cited the Authorization for Use of Military Force given to President George W. Bush following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. But after that, Pocan noted, that authorization has been misused by presidents of both parties.
Congress can’t just give up power, he said, but that they’ve done it in more than one area.
“That is something we have to reclaim, and that’s a bipartisan issue,” said Pocan.
The congressman also took out some time to address the recent visit of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, who was at the World Dairy Expo in Madison Oct. 1 and made comments doubting the future of small family farms.
At last Monday’s Town Hall, Pocan called Perdue’s view “ridiculous.”
“The single backbone of our rural economy is agriculture,” Pocan said. “And the fact that he said that, coupled with the trade policies of this administration which don’t seem to have any logic or continuity, make it really hard to understand how they understand farmers.”
Mark Pocan was elected in 2012 and represents Dane, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Sauk Counties, as well as parts of Rock and Richland Counties.
Pocan, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, said that since Democrats won the House, they’ve passed 247 bills, of which the Senate has passed 38.
“And they’ve only passed 63 bills themselves in the Senate,” he added.
The congressman reminded attendees that one of the purposes of his office is helping people navigate the federal government, from veterans having trouble recouping their benefits to vacationers who forgot to renew their passports.
“Please utilize us,” he said.
The number of Pocan’s office in Madison is 608-258-9800 and his website is pocan.house.gov.