Eastern Washington’s congressional representative said Republicans in Washington legislation are taking steps to save, strengthen and make sure programs like Social Security and Medicare are available to America’s aging population.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, representative for Washington’s 5th Congressional District, paid a visit to Clarkston to hear from the public on issues impacting the valley. She stopped by Monday at Clarkston High School as part of her Conversations with Cathy Town Hall Series. Rodgers pulled a crowd of around 150 people, who were eager to comment on progress local lawmakers are making during the 2023 legislative session.
An audience member asked Rodgers what congresspeople are doing to make Medicare more accessible to seniors. Rodgers responded this is work legislators are doing at a federal level.
“Programs like Social Security and Medicare are on the path to bankruptcy,” Rodgers said. “They are both on paths where commitments have been made but cannot be fulfilled with the current path. So what the Republicans are saying is we need to take steps now to save, strengthen and make sure these programs are available.”
Rodgers said lawmakers are trying to make Medicare Advantage Plans available to seniors in any state in the country. Medicare Advantage Programs are another way people can receive health care, by Medicare-approved private companies providing insurance to qualified individuals.
She added nationwide, about 50% of seniors use traditional Medicare, and around 50% use Medicare Advantage Plans. And recently, Regence BlueShield of Idaho extended its coverage to Asotin County as part of these Medicare Advantage Plans.
Another member of the audience asked Rodgers about Social Security: If seniors will be able to use money the government “promised them.”
“What the Republicans want to do is actually save Social Security, and make sure we can fulfill the commitments that we have made,” Rodgers said. “Seniors that have worked their entire lives and have paid into Social Security are dependent on Social Security. Congress needs to fulfill the commitment to our seniors through Social Security, and the sooner we start and prioritize it, the better.”
Rodgers said her colleague Congressman Tom Cole has proposed a Social Security commission, which was last used in the 1980s under then-President Ronald Reagan’s administration. Ultimately, though, Rodgers said saving Social Security is going to take both Republicans and Democrats to change the path it’s on.
Rodgers addressed the nationwide debt after an audience member prompted her.
“We (Republicans) are saying we have to reduce spending, and we need budget reforms,” Rodgers said.
Republicans are bringing up a balanced budget amendment, Rodgers said, but it would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. She added she and others have gone to work on an Unauthorized Spending Accountability (USA) Act, which would track unauthorized spending within the government within a three-year period. She hopes it will get included in the budget this year to help the debt crisis.
Rodgers told the audience lawmakers have gone to work making sure the Mexico-U.S. border is secure. According to Rodgers, nearly 5 million people over the past two years have come to America seeking asylum. Many of these people, she added, have taken advantage of a loophole.
A law was passed to allow individuals seeking asylum to come to the border and into the U.S., said Rodgers. This law was made for extreme situations, protecting people fleeing from war, human trafficking, religious persecution or violent situations.
Former President Donald Trump made it so people would have to stay in their country before they could prove they are coming to America for asylum, Rodgers said. But Biden, she added, has made it possible for people to come to the U.S. first before they can prove it’s an extreme situation.
“The border was on the path to being secure,” Rodgers said. “It absolutely is a threat to our security, and (the federal government) made a violation of its constitutional responsibility to protect us. We know there are known terrorists coming across the border, we know there are others that are seeking to do harm. We need to start holding these individuals accountable for actually securing the border and protecting the American people. It’s the number one responsibility of the federal government.”
The audience cheered and clapped after Rodgers made this statement.
A Clarkston High School student asked Rodgers as the final question if it’s hard being a congressperson.
“It’s an honor,” Rodgers said. “There are some hard aspects of it, but you know what, it’s an honor to represent the people of eastern Washington.”
