by Mary Rupert
One of the recurrent themes that came up at the community conversation on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 26, with U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids was a lack of action on the part of the U.S. Senate.
More than 100 persons attended the event, held at El Centro Academy near South 30th and Strong Avenue in the Argentine area of Kansas City, Kansas.
Moderating the questions and answers with Rep. Davids, D-3rd Dist., was former Kansas City, Kansas, mayor Carol Marinovich.
Several times, Rep. Davids told the audience that the House has passed bills that the Senate has not acted on. She referred to health care bills, an election interference bill, a gun background check bill and other bills passed by the House.
“There’s about 200 bills that the House has passed that the Senate has not voted upon,” Rep. Davids said.
Maybe, she said, if the House keeps passing bills to lessen gun violence, they may see some movement on the issue.
Davids supports impeachment inquiry
In answer to a question, Rep. Davids said she supported the impeachment inquiry currently in the House. There were a lot of conversations about the impeachment process that has been going on for a while, she said, but when she saw information the president released three or four weeks ago about phone calls, where he was asking someone in another country to look into a political adversary, she felt that was a line that had been crossed, and that is why she supported the inquiry.
Concerning “Medicare for all,” she said she still has some questions about the bill. She mentioned addressing certain aspects of health care, such as negotiating prescription drug prices, as steps she would support. She was supportive of providing incentives for Kansas to expand Medicaid, and she was in favor of persons still having an option to choose their private company-sponsored health care if they desired.
Climate change
On the topic of climate change, Rep. Davids said all committees should be taking a look at it, and climate change had the potential to cause massive disruptions, such as with the wildfires in California and flooding in the Midwest.
She said she wanted to make sure the nation was building resilient infrastructure and green infrastructure, and a study has found the Kansas City area could be the fifth most impacted metro area if significant steps are not taken on the climate.
During the program, Dawson Sims, a member of the audience wearing a UMKC shirt, stood up and interrupted with a question about climate change, asking Rep. Davids if she supported the Green New Deal, a plan that calls for zero emissions by the year 2030.
However, the format of the program was for the audience to submit cards with the questions written on them to Marinovich, the moderator, who then asked questions. Sims’ specific question was not answered.
“You will sit down or be escorted out,” Marinovich told Sims. A man in the front of the audience, wearing a University of Kansas shirt, told Sims, “You will not interfere with her again.”
Later, Sims told the Wyandotte Daily that he knew the congresswoman was answering a climate change question, but he wanted to mention the Green New Deal specifically, and get a response on that particular bill. Madegan Morrison, at the forum with Sims and others, said the Sunrise Movement wanted Rep. Davids to endorse the Green New Deal bill so it can be passed.
Marinovich said she was using the written questions in the interest of time, as there was only an hour for the program, and sometimes questions from the audience are really more statements than questions, taking up a lot of time.
‘Bipartisanship happens’
Regardless of whether people agree or disagree with her, Rep. Davids said she hopes they continue to show up and have the conversation.
Rep. Davids also said that there is a lot of work happening between Democrats and Republicans on bills, particularly in committees such as transportation, which she serves on.
“Bipartisanship happens, we just don’t see it on TV,” Rep. Davids said.
To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].