NORWICH – From student loans to the Iraq War, 24th District Congressman Mike Arcuri addressed a range of issues Saturday – receiving both cheers and jeers from a packed house at The Coffee Connection in Norwich.
Arcuri (D-NY), the former Oneida County District Attorney, told the crowd that the first three weeks of his inaugural term have been incredible.
“At 47, I figured out what I want to be when I grow up,” he said, drawing laughter among the roughly 75 supporters and constituents. “It has been incredible.”
Arcuri cited early success in helping pass a decrease in student loan rates, and gaining bi-partisan house – but not senate – approval for an increase in the federal minimum wage. He also garnered applause for contending that alternative energy legislation would be a top priority in Congress when it reconvenes.
However, the pleasantries subsided when questions shifted to Arcuri’s position on the war in Iraq and President George W. Bush’s use of executive power.
“Philosophically I do not support the war,” the congressman said. “But I have a real problem saying that I won’t support funding.”
Arcuri said he’s not a military expert, and argued he doesn’t want to make a decision that could expose soldiers to further danger. When asked why a full military withdrawal was not an option, Arcuri responded, “I don’t know that it’s quite that easy,” resulting in pockets of disdain from within the audience.
The Utica native said he’s open to supporting a phased withdrawal, adding that National Guard troops should be the first to come home.
“I believe we are dramatically over-extending ourselves,” Arcuri said. “He (Bush) presupposes that we have no other options. That’s not the case.”
As to questions of Bush’s use of power, historically Arcuri said allowing exceptions to the rule is not unusual.
“It is not all that unusual in our history to give the executive branch some extra power,” he said, citing Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson as examples during the Civil War and World War I.
Morris resident Irving Wesley Hall told Arcuri that Bush has thus far supplanted the legislative branch’s authority, and is going to “force Congress’ hand” to either accept it, or begin impeachment proceedings.
“The problem, Mr. Arcuri, is the president has said to you, ‘I don’t care what you do,” Hall said. “You (congress) are the only people in the world with the power to stop him – you must step up to the plate.”
Arcuri did not agree.
“I would not support impeachment,” he said, arguing that Bush only has two years left in office, and his actions have not yet warranted such proceedings. “That would be the worst thing for this country if we do that. If we try to do that to Bush, we will continue to divide this country even worse than it already is.”
At separate points in the meeting, members of the crowd compared Bush’s and America’s actions to those of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s.
“Speak for yourself,” Arcuri said to one gentleman.
Locally, the house representative said the New York Regional Interconnect power line is not a forgotten issue, but rather one that hits close to home – literally. He said the line would run just a stone’s throw from his residence in South Utica, from where it would then extend 190 miles to New Windsor; cutting through 44 miles of Chenango County.
“This whole process has caused a feeling of disenfranchisement,” Sherburne resident Rose Tenney told Arcuri. “Where do I go? What do I do? People along this route have spent their whole lives undertaking to build their homes.”
Arcuri said the issue has to be approached from an alternatives-to-the-project standpoint. He added that he and several colleagues from in and outside of New York state have also discussed introducing stricter eminent domain legislation on the federal level, and as a member of the house rules committee – the repeal of the 2005 Energy Policy Act that calls for National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.
“There is no reason we can’t do it in alternative ways,” he said. “We have to get them (downstate) to think about alternatives. We have to tell them that ‘if you want any cooperation, you need to think about other options.’ This is unacceptable the way it is proposed right now.”
Two members of the audience proposed developing laws that would require NYRI to provide federally approved health and economic impact studies – pushing that the Albany company be held to stricter corporate standards and practices laws regarding health problems that they argue could arise as a result of the line.
“There are alternative ways to transmit electricity,” Tenney said, referring specifically to super-conductive technology being developed in Japan, that she said is more efficient, and allows the lines to be buried. “People are missing it.”
Arcuri asked for more information from constituents regarding what they want examined during the upcoming farm bill debates. He also asserted – with a resounding positive response from the audience – that implementing universal health care will be one his crusades while in Congress.
“We need universal health care,” he said. “I’m so tired being told it can’t happen in America.”
Hall said foreign policy issues need to be taken care of first.
“You can’t spend $10 million an hour in Iraq and address these domestic issues we all agree on,” said Hall. “We can’t finance the war and the domestic progress he supports.”