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Grace MacMillan Ebbtide Reporter He had a quality reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln. He stood tall, with a slight lean and soft-spoken humility. Jay Inslee is this district's representative in Congress, with 600,000 constituents in the surrounding vicinity that stretches across the water to parts of Kitsap County. Representative Inslee spoke at Shoreline CC campus on Monday, March 10. His introduction included a litany of his many interests in Congress: financial policy, homeland security, technological innovation, education, and foreign policy. But environmental issues top his list of concerns. As bad as things are looking under the Bush administration, he indulged the audience with a few stories from the 70's. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was once so polluted that it caught on fire. That's right. It was so full of chemicals it was a river of flames. And our own Mt. Rainier on many summer days was not visible because of air pollution. Insley became impassioned as he spoke on global warming: "Science has become absolutely compelling on the reality of global warming." "This generation, your generation," said Inslee, "will be forced to deal with global warming." He pointed to science revealing melting in the Alaskan tundra, and in seventy years, there will be no glaciers in Glacier National Park. "Dead Inuit Indians are popping to the surface of graveyards because the tundra is melting." According to Inslee, there is also a second type of pollution. "There is political pollution on the shores of the Potomac, in Washington DC." He also talked impassionately about measures the Bush administration has taken to rollback environmental protections. He pointed to the fact that Bush has refused to deal with global warming issues and has taken steps to reduce protections for clean air laws and clear-cutting restraints. Inslee says, "Bush has the worst environmental record of any President in our history." Inslee is designing the Apollo energy project and is making inroads towards clean energy. "No American should end up with a different climate than what they were born into." The third part of his Apollo project is to focus on growing jobs domestically. Inslee is also in favor of the Roadless Rule that prevents clear-cutting in national forests and keeps 50% of the forest protected. On education, Insley says the entire school system is in jeopardy, from Head Start programs to graduate school. The administration wants to give tax cuts to Enron-type executives instead of helping kids go to college. He says it is fiscally irresponsible to put money in the pockets of the rich before providing education for America's children. The states are getting reductions in federal assistance and "...education is grossly under-funded. While Bush crows about his 'no child left behind' policy, states are not receiving money to make any improvements in education." Insley is working to get improved student loan programs and is pushing for a program that would forgive student loans if a graduate teaches for five years. On the federal deficit, Insley also had sharp words for the Bush administration. "This generation should worry about the $300 billion deficit, and you are paying a secret tax on every $100 of income taxes paid to the IRS, $14 goes towards paying interest on government loans. The fiscal irresponsibility of this administration has put the burden of this debt on your shoulders. We will have debt for generations to come." About the war in Iraq. Insley agrees that, "Iraq is a country that has been under the heel of a tyrant for a long time." However, he also says that, "America should work with the international community so he cannot threaten the world and threaten the peace." Inslee does not believe that Iraq is as much of a threat as Iran, Al Qaeda and North Korea. He is also concerned about "the potential loss of American leadership in the world community." He said we have a unique mission in the world, "...to spread democracy and high moral conduct." It is important that we maintain our moral leadership and not act contrary to the will of the world. "I hate to think we could lose our greater mission... I am hopeful that we can contain this thug rather than lose our leadership in the world." With those parting words, Representative Jay Insley took questions from the audience. Students and instructors lined up to address the issues he raised. Passions ran high in the audience as well, one woman even suggesting that Bush should be impeached. Inslee remained calm as he delivered thoughtful, educated responses. When questions centered on war with Iraq, he responded clearly. "Until today we have shown important restraint with regard to the power we have - our nuclear arsenal. Generally, it has been our policy that we will not use force except in the direst circumstances." A final question came from the floor: Where is the debate on this issue in the Senate? Our congressman spoke softly but resolutely, "Your member of Congress has spoken on the floor about this issue. Get out and call KIRO, call KOMO. My generation needs your generation. We need you. You are the smartest generation in history." © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |