Congressman Zinke holds town hall in Libby

United States Congressman Ryan Zinke held a town hall meeting in Libby Wednesday afternoon, with approximately 30 local residents in attendance. At the stop in Libby, part of his “1,000 miles in five days,” tour of northwest Montana, Zinke said America is fixable, but the remaining year and a half of the administration of President Barack Obama is going to be tough.

“I’m an optimist, looking at what we have, what we have been blessed with as a country,” Zinke said. “We just thought, at the end of the day, there was a leader running this country that you could trust, and everyone thought it was being run by an adult. But, when we looked up there was no one in the wheelhouse. So we need to stand up, and it’s us. It’s our responsibility.”

Zinke focused his remarks on the economic condition of northwest Montana, especially Lincoln, Sanders and Mineral counties. He attributed part of the severity of the counties’ economic woes to overly cumbersome federal bureaucracy and regulation and litigation against government agencies.

“I said, when I was running for office, I said that I would emphasize the areas in the state that are the most challenged,” he said. “And this is ground zero. Libby, Mineral, Lincoln County, and it doesn’t have to be this way. But we need to go back and look at how we went awry. And that is why my staff and I put the forest bill in. It passed committee and will be considered by the House next week.”

Zinke’s forest bill, he said, is intended to encourage collaborative efforts with regard to timber and mining projects in the national forests. The collaborative efforts involve stakeholders from varied groups with often diverse and conflicting views of the forest, but which have in recent years managed to come up with compromise-driven solutions.

Part of the bill also requires litigants who are not part of the collaborative effort to post a bond prior to filing suit. Zinke said the Equal Access to Justice Act has created a situation where the taxpayers are paying the cost of both sides of the litigation.

“Montana leads the nation in collaborative efforts,” Zinke said. “But if you’re not going to bother showing up and being part of the solution and you want to sue, you’re going to have to post a bond.”

One participant told Zinke he wasn’t going far enough with the reform bill and encouraged him to work toward the repeal of the Equal Access to Justice Act. Zinke told the assembled crowd that he was focused on incremental changes, things he felt would make a tangible and visible impact on the economic condition of Montana, instead of larger “all or nothing” fights. He compared his strategy to a football game, saying he is working toward organizing the offense and moving the ball down the field.

“Every play can’t be a touchdown,” he said.

Zinke also commented on the burgeoning field of Republican presidential candidates. He said he is encouraged by the candidates and is looking forward to a healthy and vigorous debate on the issues as the campaigns move forward. He said today’s Republican party needs to step forward and provide real leadership.

“Our job is to get things done,” he said. “We have to show the American people that we can govern.”

He wrapped up his stop in Libby by stepping away from partisan politics.

“I’m not really red or blue,” he said. “I’m red, white and blue.”