By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Congressman Jim Jordan made his rounds through Bucyrus Tuesday.
Jordan, a U.S. Representative for Ohio’s 4th Congressional District, met with Pat Hord at Hord Family Farms, Dave Williamson of Crawford Works, Gary Frankhouse of the Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development, county prosecutor Matthew Crall, the Bucyrus Rotary Club, and local bank officials. He also made a stop at North Central Ohio Media Group as a guest on Dave Bush’s Spotlight segment where he discussed jobs and healthcare.
“The House of Representatives is supposed to be the elected body closest to the people,” Jordan said of his travels. “If you’re going to be a Representative, you have to get out and talk to the folks you get the privilege of representing.”
Jordan said that was why he took trips across his district when he was not in Washington, D.C.
“Crawford County is what the 4th District is about: agriculture, manufacturing, good communities, good people, good families,” he explained. “We try to get out and talk to folks, hear what’s on their mind, what concerns them, what’s going on in Washington, and what we still need to do there.”
Jordan credited the grassroots efforts put forth by organizations such as The Crawford Partnership and Crawford Works in driving the area forward.
“I think it’s moving very well,” Jordan stated. “One of the things we hear from employers across the district is it’s difficult right now to find people to (work).”
The congressman acknowledged that businesses continue to find it difficult to find people that have the proper skill set despite jobs being available. However, he saw the benefits in showing high school students and young people the advantages that could be found in the local area.
“That’s something that has to happen,” he stressed. “We’re hearing from employer after employer saying, ‘I can’t find employees.’”
He noted the drug epidemic that has spread across Ohio, but praised the work being done in Crawford County to combat that and assisting former addicts in gaining skill sets to land a job.
Jordan also discussed the House of Representatives passing a healthcare bill on May 4, an intended repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act.
“I supported the final version,” Jordan admitted. “A number of us conservatives were opposed to the initial introduced version of the legislation because we just felt it wasn’t a full repeal.”
Jordan believed the healthcare bill passed was “a pretty darn good piece of legislation,” even though he felt it did not fully repeal the Affordable Care Act. According to him, the conservatives supported the legislation because they thought it was the best bill they were going to get out of the House of Representatives.
Jordan listed the changes the new bill would bring about, including the elimination of the mandates, the employer mandates, and the tax increases.
“The thing we conservatives fought for the hardest was the ability for states to seek and get a waiver from some of those key regulations in Obamacare that are driving up costs,” Jordan said.
Jordan believed the bill would have to pass, especially since repealing the Affordable Care Act was an essential element to a number of campaigns.
He maintained the bill protected against people losing coverage due to preexisting conditions.
“We allocated a lot of taxpayers’ dollars for that safety net provision we typically call high risk pool,” Jordan said. “Once you’ve done that and dealt with those tough situations, after that you want insurance to largely be insurance. What we’re trying to do is bring down premiums, bring back affordable health insurance.”
He said it was their belief that once states get those waivers, people will begin to see premiums coming down. Jordan conceded, however, that a large number of Ohioans could lose their healthcare coverage.
“Most of the studies done say, if in fact that you see it increase in people who no longer have coverage, it’s because they will choose to,” Jordan debated, stating they believed it would be healthy 20-somethings making those kind of decisions.
Jordan, who has been a member of the House of Representatives for 10 years, said the job was never easy, but he always strived to do a better job.
“Sometimes we make Congress too complicated. Our goal is real simple, our objective is real simple: do what you told the voters you were going to do when they gave you the privilege to go serve them and their family,” Jordan said. “Do what they sent you there to do. That’s what I try to focus on.”