U.S. Rep. John Faso touts his 35 years of experience in the area
Faso set to challenge Antonio Delgado Tuesday night for 19th Congressional District seat
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> U.S. Rep. John Faso on Wednesday touted his 35 years of experience in the area and his bipartisan efforts in Congress, while also distancing himself from President Donald Trump and calling on people to tone down the rhetoric.
“I’m running on my record,” Faso, R-Kinderhook, said during a wide-ranging interview at the Daily Freeman office in Kingston. “My record is 35 years living and working in this district. ... And in the time I’ve been in Congress, in the last 22 months, I’ve worked hard to forge a record of bipartisanship.”
He said the Lugar Center has ranked him 18th out of 435 members in the House of Representatives for being bipartisan and that he rarely will introduce legislation without a Democratic co-sponsor.
Faso is seeking his second two-year term representing New York’s 19th Congressional District in the Nov. 6 election. He is being challenged by Democrat Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck, Green Party candidate Steve Greenfield of New Paltz and independent Diane Neal of Hurley.
The 19th Congressional Dis- trict comprises all of Ulster, Greene, Columbia, Sullivan, Delaware, Schoharie and Otsego counties; most of Dutchess County; parts of Rensselaer and Montgomery counties; and a small section of Broome County.
During the hourlong interview, Faso fielded a number of questions on such topics as health care, immigration and his voting record, among others. He also made a call for civility in the country.
“I hope also that we can tone down the rhetoric and improve the tone for civility and mutual discourse in our country,” he said. “I think that, all too often, people have allowed their rhetoric to get out ahead of them, including the president and others at the national level. And I’m working hard to make sure that I comport myself with the dig-
nity that the people of our district would expect of me as their representative.”
Faso said he only can control his own actions and, at times, has disagreed with Trump when asked about statements or comments the president has made. Faso said, for instance, that he did not think Trump’s response to the white supremacist rally that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va. last year was “at all appropriate.”
Faso recently was endorsed by Trump in a statement the president posted on Twitter.
The congressman also notedthatads criticizinglyrics Delgado used as ahip-hop artist werenot createdbythe congressman’s campaign. He said he thought the ads were provocative, but sowere thewords Delgado used in his music.
Faso also criticized Delgado for moving to the dis-
trict last year and immediately filing to run for Congress without having any experience here. He said he moved to Kinderhook 35 years ago and waited 3½ years before running for the state Assembly. Faso said reports stating he moved to the district specifically to run for the Assembly were wrong.
Delgado grew up in Schenectady and is married to a Woodstock woman.
On the topic of health insurance, Faso said he supports keeping parts of the Affordable Care Act that work and fixing what does not. He said the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus he is part of in Congress has suggested two proposals, one to create a reinsurance fund and the other to increase the employer mandate from 50 to 500 employees.
Faso, who voted last year in favor of repealing and replacing the federal health care law, said he also would support providing tax incentives for people in the individ-
ual insurance market to get private insurance. Additionally, the congressman said he supports protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
“I support that despite all the money that’s been spent against me on this and the false rhetoric,” Faso said. “I support that.”
On immigration, Faso said Trump cannot change the 14th Amendment through an executive order, as the president has said he would like to do. The congressman said, though, that the amendment, which grants so-called birthright citizenship, “merits reconsideration.”
Faso said it does not make sense for a woman from another country to come to America, have a child here and then return to their own country, thereby ensuring the child has American citizenship. He said the issue becomes more complicated when an undocumented immigrant comes to America, has a child and remains here.