A standing room only crowd greeted Congressman Bill Flores at his town hall meeting Tuesday night in Bryan.
Flores first gave a slide presentation that included budget information. That included telling the audience action had been taken to restore money removed by sequestration to allow members of the military to continue going to college.
Topics during the question and answer period included immigration. Flores called on developing a comprehensive set of solutions that creates a path to legal status that does not involve amnesty. Flores supports reducing the time it takes to become a naturalized citizen, which currently ranges from 7 to 11 years, down to 2 to 4 years. And Flores talked about a workers visa concept that is based on the domestic labor supply.
Flores doesn’t expect Obamacare to return to the U.S. Supreme Court. He says “it’s going to take the American people telling Washington they’ve had enough of this.” Flores showed a copy of the paperwork that will have to be filled out and talked a new tax on real estate transactions to help fund Medicare.
Another item related to sequestration was keeping the control tower open at Easterwood Airport. Flores says after temporary state funding ends in July, staffing could be at risk until the new federal budget year starts October 1.
Regarding gun control, Flores opposed Senator Dianne Feinstein’s proposal. He repeated his desire to get to the underlying causes of what makes someone pick up a gun or any other weapon.
Flores says he disagrees with the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low, because when rates return to normal that will triple the government’s debt payments from $300 billion to $900 billion a year. But Flores also said in some ways, the Fed is “acting like the only adult in the room to help avoid having an economic calamity but by doing do they’re building in one for the future.” Flores called on growing the economy by reforming tax and regulatory structure among other things.
Asked about a United Nations treaty to regulate the global arms trade, Flores doesn’t think the Senate will ratify it, adding “if the Senate did do something stupid and ratify it, we’ll be trying to undo that in the House as quick as we can.”
The final question was about recent actions by North Korea’s President. Flores said he wishes the Unted States “would deliver a consistently tough message to let them know if you mess with us or you mess with our ally South Korea, there will be heck to pay.” Flores says he’s worried about what Kim Jong Un is “trying to do to win the hearts and minds of his citizens and show how he’s the bully of the world.” Flores says Kim is “crazy”, “nuts”, and “really dangerous” with the missiles and nuclear program in North Korea.
Congressman Bill Flores’ closing comments in his presentation then answers questions.