Congressman David McKinley, right, speaks at a town hall meeting held in New Martinsville on?Feb. 24. (Photo by Amy Witschey)

Congressman David McKinley (R-Ohio County) visited New Martinsville Feb. 24 in an effort to learn his constituents’ concerns and inform them of what is taking place in Washington, D.C.

At 7 p.m. a town hall meeting was held in the New Martinsville City Building council chambers, with only approximately 20 people in attendance. “I’m just trying to do what I don’t think was happening in the past,” said McKinley, explaining that he wants to let people know what’s happening and see what they think.

He touched on many issues including the highway bill that will cut the money allotted for West Virginia and be funded in part on the backs of federal workers, the payroll tax cut extension which he said was a one-year temporary extension that only creates more uncertainty and hurts seniors, and the jobs bill.

McKinley thinks the U.S. economy has bottomed out and things will be getting better. “I just think we could be doing better,” he added, saying this is the worst recovery coming out of a recession since World War II. The country is currently seeing a one-and-a-half percent growth and the average growth for this period in the cycle would be five percent.

The national debt is also a concern for McKinley. The burgeoning debt is at approximately $15.5 trillion dollars (for a real-time figure visit www.usdebtclock.org), or over $49,000 per citizen. To put this in perspective, McKinley said the financially troubled country of Greece has a lower per capita debt, $38,937.

He said even $1 trillion dollars is nearly impossible to comprehend. He used an illustration once given by Ronald Reagan. If $1,000-bills totaling $1 million were stacked, the pile would be four inches high. It would take a stack 64 miles high to create $1 trillion. “We’ve got to stop,” emphasized McKinley.

Someone asked why Congress hasn’t passed a budget. McKinley gave a brief civics lesson to make sure those in attendance understood that Congress is made up of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Measures must be passed by both bodies.

The house has passed a budget, but the senate hasn’t passed one in over three years. “The budget tells your priorities and (in creating and passing one) you tell the American public what your priorities are. If you tell the American public what your priorities are, you might not get re-elected.” He said they have found they can operate with continuing resolutions, a situation he says is frustrating.

A local resident asked why gas prices are so high and what can be done about it. Unfortunately McKinley said he thinks gas prices will only get worse. Citing the age-old economic law of supply and demand, McKinley said, “We’re trying to increase the supply.” The House has passed several bills to increase supply, he added, “I know they’re controversial.”

Approximately 20,000 American jobs could be expected from the Keystone Pipeline that would bring oil into the U.S. from Canada. That project has been denied by President Barack Obama. Another possibility to increase supply is drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)-an idea Obama rejects. McKinley said the Alaskan Pipeline was a big controversy during its idea and creation, but it was unfounded there have only been two minor leaks in its lifetime. He further added that now the steel and various construction techniques are even better.

McKinley said the House of Representatives has passed 31 bills in an attempt to try to create jobs, they are awaiting action by the senate. At the meeting McKinley said the house has held 950 votes compared to the senate’s 235.

“You see the power in a split government?” asked McKinley. “Nothing wrong with that, but if you have Republicans and Democrats, then you need a strong President to be an arbitrator.”

“This President is bypassing Congress. He’s making you irrelevant. I think you’d better start standing up to him while we still have a nation,” warned local resident Niles Hissom.

“Watch this year; you’re seeing these freshmen stand up with a little more gusto now,” replied McKinley. “We’re all getting a little more angry.”

Another comment from the public was that Obama is using the Environmental Protection Agency to implement laws he can’t get passed through Congress. “Absolutely he is,” said McKinley. “The EPA is a rogue agency as far as I’m concerned. They just need to play nice in the sand box, but they’re not. They’re bullies.”

Of course as a representative of West Virginia, McKinley takes particular issue with measure that threaten the coal industry. “The President has been very clear that he has no interest in promoting fossil fuels,” explained McKinley. “We need all of (the forms of energy creation) if we’re going to provide the energy needs of this country.”

Relatedly, McKinley has a particular burden for the issues surrounding fly ash. The unavoidable by product of burning coal has been buried in impoundments for 100s of years until scientists discovered way to reuse the ash. Having many chemical properties of cement, it is mixed into concrete. It is used in making dry wall and used in many other ways. “It is all across our nation in a whole variety of uses,” said McKinley, who added there are 316,000 jobs associated with the recycling of fly ash.

But now the EPA, according to McKinley, is being pressured to not allow its use anymore. Two studies done by the EPA conducted during President Bill Clinton’s terms in office, said fly ash was not hazardous. “About 2010 Obama said they didn’t care, but thought it was a hazardous material,” said McKinley. “Science says it’s not. They’re using it as a way to stop burning coal. They’re trying to make it so punitive that we just give up.”

McKinley sponsored House Bill 2273, the “Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act”, that passed by a vote of 267-144 on Oct. 14, 2011, with all three House members from West Virginia voting for it. Now he is working to get it through the Senate.

In conclusion of the meeting, McKinley said, “I want you to feel comfortable with interacting with us. We’re just people-I’m an engineer from Wheeling, W.Va., and I’m proud of our state.”