Representative Bishop speaks on federalism
Utah Congressman Rob Bishop spoke about federalism Thursday at a “Pizza and Politics” event hosted by the College Republicans.
Of his visits to Logan, Bishop said, “It has always been a pleasant experience coming up here, it has been very positive, so it is kind of cool to be back.”
Sophomore Mikey Rodgerson, who is majoring in psychology and is the president of the College Republicans said, “Students are really lucky; politicians want to talk to students. We are a sought after portion of society.”
Bishop said federalism is an idea that many people misunderstand.
“Very few people can define federalism,” he said. “Even fewer people can define civil liberties.”
These ideas are what he said he views as the solution to the nation’s current struggles. U.S. citizens need to come up with how to balance power and protect liberties, and “federalism is the salvation of this country,” he said.
Bishop defined federalism as, “the division of responsibilities so there is greater choice and options for individuals to live life without the federal government interfering,” There is currently an imbalance of power between state and federal government, he added, and federalism should restore the balance.
As a nation, Bishop said, Americans should let either states or the federal government take care of an issue, rather than both.
Bishop said state and local governments are more efficient than the federal government, because a smaller size means more ability to assess needs. State and local governments, he said, “realize unique circumstances to their area that may or may not fit the norm, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Federal government should allow states and local governments to try and experiment with new programs.”
An obstacle to this, he said, is fear by state Legislature of losing federal money if it doesn’t allow the federal government to have its way.
Federalism is not a partisan issue, Bishop said. He said to students that “the increase in government spending happened with Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals.”
Bishop said there is hope for federalism, as long as there are people who care about the Constitution.
During a Q-and-A session, Bishop discussed a bill he is working on to help fund education and allow states to develop portions of federal land, then use the income for an education trust fund.
“Public lands should be serving a public purpose,” he said. “It’s time for a paradigm shift in how we view public lands.”
“I feel like it is really important to be informed,” said Chelsee Niebergall, a senior majoring in journalism. “We have this opportunity to have a congressman come and speak to us — there should have been a line out this door. I don’t care if you are on the far left or on the far right, if a congressman is willing to come speak to us, I think you should go, to be informed and to learn what the people in our government believe in.”
Anna Harris, a senior majoring in international studies who served briefly as the president of the College Democrats said, “He had some interesting points about federalism. It isn’t necessarily a partisan issue.”
Sophomore Aaron Holladay, who is also majoring in international studies said, “I think that there are some things that the federal government should be in charge of, but there are also things that need to be controlled on the state level, but we need to have a better, stronger state government in order to address some of these issues.”
Of the students attending who were not members of the College Republicans, Rodgerson said, “It seemed that federalism was a new idea for a lot of people, people started to see that as a viable option to help save our society.”
Rodgerson said the main goal of the College Republicans is to bring conservative voices to campus.
“Academia tends to be more liberal leaning, so we do what we can to try to teach conservative ideals,” he said.
– kstubbs88@gmail.com