Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler talks during a public meeting at the Chehalis Veterans Memorial Museum Sept. 30.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler discussed STEM programs, Internal Revenue Service settlements and the topic on everyone’s mind — presidential impeachment — during a telephone town hall meeting on Thursday night.
“My overall feeling on this is that nobody is above the law and there should be an investigation into the events and circumstances surrounding the president’s call to the Ukrainian president,” she said.
She emphasized the need for the investigation to be impartial and transparent to the American people but said that’s not what is happening right now.
Herrera Beutler was in Southwest Washington last week but is now in Washington, D.C., while Congress is in session. She began the call by talking about a few of the issues she is actively working on, including legislation relating to the G.I. Bill, working to promote S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, math) education for students, and work on legislation relating to suicide prevention.
“You won’t see me take my focus off advancing solutions to help folks in Southwest Washington,” Herrera Beutler said.
Herrera Beutler sits on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and is the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Maternity Leave.
“I am working hard to protect everyone that calls Southwest Washington home and making sure they have the opportunity to live a full life right here whether it’s building more low-income housing, increasing access to formal childcare or lowering the cost of prescription drugs. I want to make southwest Washington livable and affordable,” she said.
Herrera Beutler also said that her office works to help Southwest Washington residents who are having trouble with federal agencies that owe them money such as Social Security checks or a delayed IRS fund.
“So far this year I have helped Southwest Washington residents save or recoup over $1.2 million throught my case work services,” she said.
She encouraged citizens to think of her as their advocate when dealing with the federal government and to call her office with any problems.
Some questions from callers were on the topic of impeachment, endangered salmon and dam removal, the light rail on the bridge over the Columbia River, and the price of medical care.
Herrera Beutler spoke about opposing hydroelectric dam removal as it would have an unimaginable impact on the economy and salmon runs. She said she would like to see salmon production increased on the hatchery side as well.
She also said she does not support the addition of a light rail on the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.
“Both times there has been a vote on it the people have said ‘No’ so that’s a pretty clear message — my people don’t want it,” she said.
Herrera Beutler said she would prefer a bus route as a mass transit option because they can change with the area.
After a veteran told Congresswoman Beutler about how a minor procedure, lancing a boil, cost him the amount of his entire yearly social security amount (about $7,000) she said “This to me is a sham. This is one of the reasons why I think our healthcare system is pretty screwed up.”
She said that one of the ways we tackle the problem is to require hospitals and clinics to post the costs of their most common procedures online so that people can make a more informed decision about where to go which will make hospitals and clinics have more competitive prices.
Herrera Beutler also thanked veterans as Veterans Day was this past Monday.
“I had the privilege of meeting and recording the life story of a WWII veteran for our preservation in the Library of Congress. My office has organized an event in conjunction with the Veterans History Project where we recorded the life stories of a dozen southwest Washington veterans,” she said.
She extended an invitation to all southwest Washington veterans who want to tell their own military story to have it preserved in the Library of Congress for generations to come and asked them to contact her office at (360) 695-6197.
“I feel honored to get to serve the people of Southwest Washington,” she said.
