In the News

MACOMB — The national transportation bill, the national opioid epidemic and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership are crucial issues for the region, according to U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap.

On Friday, LaHood visited Macomb and met with local leaders with regard to transportation concerns and his role in the legislative process to secure funding for the state from the federal government.

“We talked a lot about Amtrak…what it means for Western Illinois University; what it means for the community. We also talked about infrastructure..roads and bridges. There’s the bypass that’s going around Macomb,” LaHood said. “But we also talked about the FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) Act. It’s a multi-year transportation bill that I supported. I served on the conference committee for it. It’s a $400 billions bill. Illinois gets about $1.5 billion per year over the next five years.”

LaHood highlighted the fact that Amtrak has lines going throughout his district with major communities like Bloomington, Springfield, Macomb and Quincy relying heavily upon the system. He said he will continue to advocate for funding of that transportation. Another transportation element in his sights is how to acquire the funding for the materials and labor to complete the U.S. Highway 336 Bypass project in Macomb. He acknowledged there have been concerns from the public about planning for four lanes, but work only being completed on two for the time being. He also acknowledge there are safety concerns that come with that.

“How do we get the additional funding to complete the four lanes?” LaHood said rhetorically.

“I’m happy things are progressing along, but in Congress I can be helpful by at least advocating to find those resources through the transportation process so we can get that to four lanes. I didn’t come (to Macomb) today to make promises on that, but if I’m re-elected in November I’ll have the opportunity to move on committees, whether that’s the appropriations committee or the transportation committee. if that happens I’ll have an opportunity to advocate and help out with funding.”

Legislation

Looking back on the past year he has served as a representative in Washington, D.C., LaHood said there are a few areas of involvement he’s particularly proud of, those being the passage of the FAST Act in December 2015 and the recent passage of a bill addressing heroin and opioid addiction. With regard to the transportation bill, LaHood said it was about three years since the government had passed such a bill.

As a former state and federal prosecutor, LaHood said he’s proud of the addiction bill, which makes $500 million available.

“It affects lots of people both rural and urban. It transcends socio-economic boundaries. It also transcends ethnic boundaries,” he said of opioid and heroin addiction.

A series of roundtable discussions in the spring yielded information that helped with the passage of the bill. According to LaHood, the bill does four things.

“Really it gives more money to our law enforcement because we’ve got so much heroin coming across our southern border,” he said. “It helps rein in doctors from over-prescribing opioids. That’s a big issue. Thirdly it gives more resources for Narcan (opioid counter-acting medicine) for our first responders…This is a preventable epidemic. The last part is more money going to rehabilitation, which is the most important part.”

Trans-Pacific Partnership

LaHood has established an agriculture advisory committee consisting of 38 farmers (two from each of the 19 counties he serves), and the committee meets quarterly.

“Of the 435 congressional districts in the country, mine is the ninth largest in terms of corn and soy harvest,” LaHood said. “Being a strong agricultural advocate is incredibly important to me. I remind my friends from Chicago all the time that ag is the number one industry in Illinois. It’s not anything up on Chicago. It’s agriculture; agri-business.”

Crop insurance, ethanol, transportation on our locks and dams and trade are the big issues to LaHood.

“We will most likely by the end of the year have an opportunity to vote on TPP,” he said.

“For me, trade done in a fair and transparent way equals jobs and economics opportunities for our farmers and our manufacturers. Let’s face it, we represent 4 percent of the world’s population. We have to have markets. The TPP creates 11 new opportunities by adding that many countries to this trade agreement. For the farmers in McDonough County, 20 percent of what they grow goes to other parts of the world. Under TPP that should grow to 24 or 25 percent. That’s good for prices and more opportunities.”

According to LaHood about 70 percent of the Caterpillar equipment made in East Peoria goes to other countries around the world. Manufacturing also stands to gain ground under the TPP. As such, LaHood said it’s important to create more markets for Caterpillar and John Deere in light of recent news the companies are reporting to cuts in production and labor.

“The number one enemy there is against the TPP is China,” he said. “This is a threat to them. Frankly, we need to talk more about that. TPP is also a bipartisan issue. President Obama has negotiated it.”

Iran Ransom

When legislators reconvene for the remainder of September, LaHood said there are two topics that will be in the forefront. The first is the Zika virus, which LaHood said demands examination and determination of funding. A number of people in southern Florida have tested positive for the virus as it has spread to there, and a person in Champaign was confirmed to also have contracted the virus while traveling abroad.

“We also will have to address this whole ransom payment to Iran,” he said. “We’re going to have hearings on that when we get back. There will be a lot of questions to be asked and answers demanded on that.”

LaHood, when asked his perspective on the White House-directed payment to Iran for the release of American citizens held as prisoners, said he was not in Congress when the Iran Nuclear Deal was under discussion.

“I most likely would have voted against that deal,” he said.

“Iran has a 30-year history with being noncompliant with the United Nations, Western Europe and the United States on all these other agreements. Frankly, I don’t think they can be trusted, and they’re a state sponsor for terrorism.”

LaHood acknowledged that lack of transparency and operating behind the scenes tends to make the public skeptical of their government.

“To find out through a leak that $400 million cash was sent over to Iran and nobody was made aware of that…again, there’s a lot of questions that need to be asked on that. I don’t think we’ve gotten a good explanation on that, and we need further hearings.”