Costello addresses range of issues
Second town hall of season brings questions about Trump, climate change, tax reform, health care
POTTSTOWN » From immigration to innovation, from Obamacare to Medicare, from President Trump’s budget to the president himself, U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello R-6th Dist., fielded and answered questions and opinions for two hours Aug. 7 during a town hall at Pottstown High School.
Outside in the rain, a small group of protesters put together by a coalition of different activists waved signs and chided Costello for a vote on a bill that delays the implementation of air quality standards.
This was the second of Costel-
lo’s town halls since he said a similar event in Phoenixville could have been a “death trap” because of inadequate security. The presence of Pottstown police officers at the event was evident.
Costello held a town hall in Berks County last week and suggested that another would be coming, although he did not announce a time or place.
Although the format was supposed to favor Montgomery County residents, constituents from Chester, Berks and Montgomery all lined up to pepper Costello with questions and opinions — all of which he seemed to take in stride.
North Coventry resident Anne Tomalavitch said, “I am sickened and terrified that the President seems to have no understanding of our Constitution” and had asked if, given there are so many lawyers in Congress, Costello included, if they had plans to “sit down with the President and give him a civics lesson about the three branches of government and the checks and balances.”
“I mean, if he thinks he can pardon himself, we should just close the door on the United States and turn out the light,” she said.
Unruffled, Costello replied “I don’t control his Twitter handle,” and said for the most part, he does not reply to Trump’s Tweets, preferring to focus instead on his responsibilities as a member of the legislative branch.
“I have spoken out once or twice, like with the Billy Bush thing, and I do speak out, and I did with President Obama too when I see what I consider to be an encroachment on the legislative branch by the executive branch,” Costello said further.
“I get criticized by some for not supporting President Trump enough, and by others for supporting him too much, but that’s our system,” said Costello.
A fair amount of time was spent on the environment and energy — a touchy subject in Chester County these days as the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline moves forward in fits and starts.
He said the approval process for pipeline “is opaque” and involves many agencies, few of which are comprised of elected officials.
A member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, Costello said he does not believe the nation should withdraw from the Paris climate accords because it may lose the opportunity to lead energy innovation in the world.
“The most efficient forms of energy, are also the cleanest,” said Costello. “We’re going to meet our goals in that agreement anyway, easily, in a couple of years, but we may not be the innovation leader for that (alternative energy) technology if we leave the accords,” he said.
“I feel like there is an ideological divide on this issue, but there doesn’t need to be,” Costello said of clean energy.
He answered several questions about unpopular proposals in Trump’s budget and said he does not support Trump’s budget, noting “but I also didn’t support President Obama’s budget. Most presidential budgets don’t get adopted, they’re just a way of showing priorities, and how the math works,” he said.
One example was provided Karen Sease, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Pottstown, who said one study showed that if Trump’s proposed cuts to social services were adopted, every church in America would have to raise an additional $700,000 a year to provide those same services.
In another example, Costello also said he disagrees with a proposal in Trump’s budget to cut a program that provides student debt relief for those who take on important jobs in society, noting he is cosponsoring a bill with Democrat Brendan Boyle, D-13th Dist., to expand the program for those who go into education.
He does share some areas of agreement with the administration, Costello said, in the case of sanctuary cities, winning applause when he said he does agree that cities should have their federal funding cut if they will “not even report” when an illegal immigrant has been released from custody.
He won some boos, however, when he declined to pledge to work to keep drilling and mining operations out of the national parks, saying that is a decision for the Interior Secretary to make.
On the subject of the Affordable Care Act, Costello said he would not vote for “repeal and replace” if certain patient protections were not retained, but at the same time said he believes the bar for the “employer mandate” is set too low at 50 workers and prevents small businesses from investing in growth.
However, he said his first priority is to stabilize the health insurance market which has been roiled by uncertainty with the neardaily news reports of conflicting initiatives by President Trump and the Senate.
Health care reform is intertwined with tax reform, Costello told the crowd, because it is taxes that fuel so much of the health care system.
Phoenixville resident Robert Kahn said there is “clear evidence” that Russia meddled in the most recent presidential election. Costello said he supported the hiring of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and believes “he needs to be left alone to do his job.”
And although Costello said he agrees with Sally Trump (“no relation”) that his congressional district is “gerrymandered,” he declined to say if he would support a bill seeking ways to de-politicize it, warning that could get entangled in court decisions requiring equal representation for minorities when drawing district lines.
As the time wore down, Costello quoted Arizona Sen. John McCain in support of bipartisanship — “What do we have to lose by working together? We’re not getting much done by working apart.”
He said he will continue to listen to all sides of an issue and “to plug away in a quarrelsome environment. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt, I hope others will do the same for me and contact me if they have questions or concerns.”
“I will continue to plug away in a quarrelsome environment.” — U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist.