Womack visits Bella Vista, discusses Russia, immigration
Third District Rep. Steve Womack came to Bella Vista for a town hall meeting where he was met with cheers and jeers Aug. 22.
Womack spoke to the relatively full courthouse about the national budgeting process and divisions along party lines, saying voters and officials alike are bitterly divided to an extent that making a government function is no small feat.
“We’re almost paralyzed to the extent that we can’t even move the most fundamental of our bills,” he said. “We’ve never really had to struggle so hard.”
Womack discussed the budgeting process before opening the floor for questions, which covered a variety of hot topics in the news, including the separation of immigrant children, Russian hacking, free speech, when wars overseas will end, tax cuts, ending abortion and the Mueller investigation, to name a few.
The first question was about Russian hacking. Andra Atteberry said she’s seen reports of ongoing hacking in the news.
“Russia is attacking us … with computers. What are you doing?” she asked.
Womack said he’s visited countries that have been invaded by Russia, including Georgia, Ukraine and Crimea and sees cause for concern.
“They are a clear and present threat to NATO and a clear and present threat to us even without hacking into anything,” he said.
They’re among several “bad actors” he said are hacking the United States on a regular basis. There’s an ongoing investigation, he said, and he’s not convinced that, in the case of the 2016 election, Russian hacking has had any impact.
Moreover, he said, he does not know if they have the capacity to mess with electrical or other infrastructure, but such an act would likely be a threat to the safety and economic output.
“To me, that would be an act of war,” he said. “I’m sure most of my colleagues feel the same way.”
Womack said he doubts Russia has any interest in a direct confrontation with the United States.
But while it has limits, Russia does have an intense technological capability that should not be underestimated, he said.
“Where I’m more concerned is their ability to use artificial intelligence and data … to infiltrate our social media,” Womack said.
He’s concerned, he said, that this infiltration could be used in an attempt to “topple Western ideas.”
Moreover, he said, he believes cuts to military spending have made the United States an easier target.
“We’re spending billions of dollars in the cyber arena.”
Another attendee, Bella Vista resident Lisa Eldridge, asked about immigration policy and said she was particularly disgusted to see immigrant children separated from their parents.
“This administration kidnapped thousands of children — in my name, in your name — and there are still hundreds of children not returned to their families and probably never will be,” she said.
Eldridge said she was also concerned that Womack’s response to a widely publicized comment from the president, which used an expletive describing other countries, came off as racist.
Womack said he did not believe there was a racial component to his response, in which he spoke about “depraved countries” and said the United States should also appeal “to people from other European countries, et cetera, that can come in here and actually fit into the society as we know it,” was not about race but instead suggesting that the United States should have a broad appeal.
“We can’t possibly be the haven for that many people,” he said. “There are seven billion people on this planet, the vast majority of which would love to live here.”
Womack said that he is against separating children, but the border should be secured to prevent this from happening.
“It manifests itself in horrific ways … I don’t think we should be taking kids from their families but you know what? It shouldn’t be happening anyway. We should secure our borders,” he said.
Fayetteville resident Peter Tonnessen said he was upset about illegal immigration because his son could not get a job as a carpenter and instead took on an apprenticeship to become an ironworker — a job he said is significantly more dangerous.
Rebecca Hedges came from Rogers for the town hall and said she appreciated the representative stopping to talk with locals.
She has a more conservative lean, she said, but appreciated that the majority of people who came in with opposing views were respectful.
“I love the way he talks to all of us,” she explained.
“We can’t possibly be the haven for that many people. There are seven billion people on this planet, the vast majority of which would love to live here.” — 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack