6th District Congressman Ben Kline talks re-election plans

TO Jacqueline Dobrin October 21, 2024, 10:51 am

HARRISONBURG, Va. (Rocktown Now) – The following is a transcript of an interview conducted by WSVA and Rocktown Now with Congressman Ben Kline. The full interview with Clyne, as well as opponents Ken Mitchell and Robbie Wells, can be heard here.

Question 1
Why do you think you should be re-elected to represent Virginia’s 6th Congressional District?

Ben Kline: “Growing up in the Valley, the values ​​of faith, family, community, public service that were instilled in me motivated me to serve the district, not only working for my predecessor, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, but also serving in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, and also in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office when I graduated from law school, working for Marsha Garst, prosecuting domestic violence cases and other cases, but making a difference and giving back to the community. The opportunity to serve in Congress in a different way has been the honor of a lifetime for the past six years, and we have fought for values ​​that have been under attack not only by Nancy Pelosi in a Democratic-controlled House, but also by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in a Democratic Administration . So, although we now have a majority in the House of Representatives, that is not a guarantee. We have to keep fighting the inflation we’re seeing, the open borders we’re seeing, the crime we’re seeing, and I’m eager to get back to fighting in two more years, if the voters send me away, I’ll come back and keep fighting.”

Question 2
What do you think is your greatest asset as a congressman?

KLINE: Well, I think it’s the experience of growing up and living in the valley, raising my children here, you know, finding my wife here. We’ve really invested a lot in this place, this special place and the special people who live here. You know, for me, it’s personal when the constituents that I’m representing are my childhood dentist or my, you know, my Boy Scout troop leader or the neighbors who maybe taught me how to drive when I was in high school. These are people that I have lived with my entire life, and my service to them is very personal to me, and I really want to continue to serve the community and the people that I grew up with and lived with almost my entire life. life.”

Question 3
Based on feedback from voters in the 6th District, what issue or issues are most important to them in this election?

KLINE: Well, you know, the cost of living has been number one on voters’ minds for the last four years because the Biden Harris administration’s policies have led to the worst inflation we’ve seen in the last 30 years. So, cumulatively approaching 10%, it is now over 20%. Inflation has fallen, but pressure on prices has not changed. Prices have not decreased. They’re just stuck at this high level. So, whether it’s a grocery store or a gas station, or if you’re a farmer and you have production costs, or if you’re in a job dealing with energy costs, you know, all of this is affecting you and your paycheck isn’t going up. commensurate with inflation. So, we have serious problems with families in the 6th District, and the very first thing we need to do when we win the White House, when we win the House and the Senate and on November 5th is to get spending back under control.”

Question 4:
Many believe Washington is broken. After several years in Congress, are you more optimistic or pessimistic that the serious problems facing this country can be solved in Washington?

KLINE: “You know, I’m a happy warrior, so I’m always optimistic about the future. When I interview kids for our teachers, they are some of the best and brightest in our country, and that gives me hope for the future. But I’m also a realist, so I see that there are others who want to take our country in a different direction, who want to take away the freedoms we love, who want to turn us into some socialist supposed utopia. . But we see what happens around the world when other countries try to adopt these socialist policies as Kamala Harris proposes, it leads to higher inflation. This reduces the value of the dollar and creates a shortage of money for people. So we have to fight these radical leftist policies, and whether it’s in the White House, the House or the Senate, we need a Republican majority to get this country back on track, secure our border, reduce inflation and keep our communities safe. And I will continue to fight for it.”

Question 5:
If you are re-elected, what will be one of your top priorities in the next Congress?

KLINE: “Well, I’m honored to serve on the Judiciary Committee under the leadership of Chairman Jim Jordan, which deals with a lot of different issues. But immigration is one of those issues, and securing our border has been a priority for me since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took the oath of office and rolled back over 90 different Trump administration policies that kept our border secure, but reversed it and opened the border to what we have now. That’s why we passed HR 2. Once Republicans took control of the House, we passed aggressive conservative legislation to close the border and put Trump’s policies back into effect. But to actually reform the asylum process, to stop people from crossing the border, to force them to stay in Mexico, to put these policies back in place – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have fought this every step of the way. It was on Chuck Schumer’s desk, but Joe Biden told him not to act on it. And you know, Kamala Harris was a self-proclaimed or supposed border czar who did absolutely nothing except encourage more people to come here, cross the border, and now every community like ours is a border community, so working on the Judiciary Committee is honored and I’m going to continue to fight with Jim Jordan and other members of Congress to ensure that we close the border, solve the problem of inflation and hopefully can make our communities safer and better places to continue to make it a great place to be. can live, work and raise a family.”

More information about Ben Cline can be found on his website www.bencline.com.