George Powell introduced the day’s program and speaker our US Congressman from Michigan’s 1st Congressional District the Honorable Jack Bergman. Bergman is a second-term Republican Representative in Washington. He is a United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General. He served as commanding General of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North. He also served as a naval aviator flying rotary winged and fixed-wing aircraft.
Elected to the US House of Representatives in 2016 he is currently serving his second term. According to Wikipedia, Bergman is the highest-ranking combat veteran serving in the United States Congress. Having received his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, he also earned his MBA from West Florida University. He splits his time between Washington DC and Watersmeet, Michigan, where he lives with his wife, Cindy.
Bergman took the dais and spoke fairly briefly about a few subjects before he opened it up for questions. He kept the tenor light and upbeat as he spoke of the better side of Washington politics and with a politician’s savvy avoided some of the more dangerous and shark-infested political waters of the moment. And despite what we see as gridlock and divided government Congress does get things done every day.
There was a point where he suggested that politicians sitting around working together in a bipartisan way every day out of the sight of media and public making things move forward wasn’t exciting. Thankfully there was immediate disagreement with this sentiment among our Club members, and like the politician that Mr. Berman is he quickly spun around to agree that, yes, indeed this “was exciting.”
Unfortunately the two ways in which he exemplified this “bipartisan working together” was not about a unique way to address the looming and significantly rising deficit nor was a means to address the underlying issues we encounter with mass shootings, but rather it was about raising $1.3 million dollars playing baseball together recently, however, and he was rather excited about this, when they reconvene following the summer recess they begin practice for the biannual Congressional Bipartisan Football Game! I think this speaks volumes about Washington…but I digress if I go further.
Once Bergman got beyond this, he spoke about his own efforts with committee work and Veterans Affairs, he touched briefly on some items of import that concern all of us. Here he is making some inroads and appears to be doing some good work on behalf of our Veterans, though much more is needed to be done, and he acknowledges that.
He spoke about the State of Michigan in general and working well as a state first. He acknowledges the incredible difficulties Washington faces in the current political climate. Then he opened it up to questions. Surprisingly even the questions were not particularly hardball, but neither were the answers. All in all it was a cordial meeting. An opportunity for a face to face with our Representative.
These are some of the areas covered by our Representative and Rotarians:
A starting date for work on the Sault locks? No…but…money has finally been appropriated…maybe sometime late 2020.
The National deficit. Whassup with that? Do you actually talk about it and what to do about it?
Short answer – Yes. 70% of federal spending is on autopilot! Not even addressed. Discretionary defense and non-defense is all that is negotiated on. No one is willing to sacrifice their political life…that’s the nub. Sidestepped the military budget (700 Billion Dollar question) somewhat…of course there is no easy answer. Shifted it to a cyber issue.
Does Justin Amash’s defection from the Republican party matter? Not really…he’ll run as an Independent.
Our bitterly divided nation
Yes, our country is…we need to be civil. When fishing the key is “don’t be the fish!... Don’t take the bait.”How to tackle the Mass shootings that are petrifying parents daily…are there substantive discussions? Short answer…Yes. We’re on recess…this will ramp up when we get back to DC. No more was said, unfortunately. That may also be true when they all get back to DC. I’ll believe it when I see it (please excuse the editorializing!). Bergman steered away from anything that might lead him into controversy, ultimately sidestepping the issue due to being on recess. Asserting it would be top of mind as soon as Congress returned, all the while remaining non-committal as to his position or where he felt the constituency currently stands.
Inefficiency in government
Bergman gave a few examples of ‘small’ (a relative) dollar waste: $150 Billion in “improper payments” not fraud just waste. There is no incentive to reduce waste within the bureaucracy.
There is a need to incentivize reduction. It’s a challenge.
The Great Lakes: How do we protect them as the treasure they are? The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a key element. It has been zeroed out and restored a number of times. We cannot lose the battle for the Great Lakes. This is a $300 million dollar appropriation with some 3500 line items.
Rotarian George Powell giving the Wheels of Hope certificate to presenter US Congressman Jack Bergman