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Congressman Tom Reed was in Lansing Saturday to answer questions and hear residents speak on national issues of concern when about 30 people came to talk to him at the Lansing Town Hall.  Reed covered issues as diverse as the highway bill, the new Speaker of the House, international trade agreements, climate, power generation alternatives and fiscally responsible budget.  He started with a tribute to veterans, noting that another 'Honor Flight' had brought veterans to Washington last week.  He went on to talk about the ISIS attacks on Paris that left at least 129 people dead and hundreds of others wounded.  One resident complained that a day after President Obama declared ISIS contained the violence erupted in Paris.

"We all condemn that type of barbaric action," Reed said.  "We obviously stand with the people of France, and we will continue with our solidarity against this extremism that is driving this violent behavior.  What we need is strong leadership on this issue, and we need firm and consistent foreign policy.  What we're seeing here is the result of inconsistency on display.  When you make statements and you're not willing to have conversations about the root cause of extremism and religious radicalism, that is problematic.  We need to make sure we are speaking with a united voice saying this type of extreme behavior is unacceptable.  And have a policy that backs that up, not just have the rhetoric."

Talk quickly turned to federal impact on local issues including the still unresolved fate of Lansing's Cayuga Power Plant (see accompanying story) and the federal highway bill.

The highway bill is of special concern for New York and Tompkins County specifically.  Under a formula proposed in the current draft Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) would lose more than $200,000 a year or $1.2 million over six years in federal funding.  New York State transit agencies combined would lose almost $95 million a year or a total of $570 million over the next six years.  TCAT officials say the funding is crucial at a time when the transportation agency is struggling to keep up with local ridership demand.  Reed was optimistic that the funding may be restored as the House and Senate negotiate the final bill.


"It looks like we're going to be able to bridge our differences with the Senate, and there are some differences," Reed said.  "Obviously there are some transportation issues in the House bill that we're very concerned about.  We are united as a New York delegation in regards to restoring those provisions in that formula.  I think what happened was that this is a regional issue.  It's become a west coast / east coast situation.  Jaime Herrera Beutler (R- Washington), who is the author of the bill was obviously advocating for her district, but I think at the end of the day we're going to be able to bridge our difference.  I think even she realizes that the unintended consequences of what she did with that formula causes some issues that have to be addressed.  We're hopeful that we'll get there."


Reed said he would announce his opposition to the 12-country Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) when he got back to Washington last Monday.  The TPP is a proposed trade agreement with mostly Asian countries.  Reed said he supported the Trade Promotion Authority legislation, a procedural vote that opened the path to discussing the TPP, allowing Congress to retain the authority for up or down votes on trade agreements.

"TPP needs to be negotiated at a much higher level than what they have negotiated," Reed said.  "That does not mean I am opposed to trade.  I'm not opposed to forcing the Administration to go back to the table and say this isn't good enough, because there are some very key provisions in there that are unique to our district that I am very concerned about.  The dairy provisions, the currency manipulation provisions that affect our manufacturers, as well as our intellectual property provisions.  The provisions that are in the TPP as negotiated a few months ago are not strong enough for us to be supportive of it."


Cayuga Trails Club and Finger Lakes Trail Conference board member Roger Hopkins asked Reed to support some rerouting of the National Scenic Trails.  Reed was also asked about 'the fair tax', the sustainability of Social Security, and the budget.  He pointed to $229 billion of interest payments on a budget chart.

"This piece of the budget, interest... This is the bomb that's ticking," Reed said.  "If we don't get that under control it is going to be devastating for all of us.  It's already having impacts today.  How do you solve it?  you get people back to work.  It's not a political statement.  It's got to be a goal to solve these problems."

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