20060419 Chris Cannon Meeting

There were about 40+ people in attendance at this meeting. Representative Cannon covered a number of issues, including immigration.

7:43:02 AM Introductions Chris Cannon “Here are a couple of ideas of where we are going. You were not born Republicans. We decided to be it because it is closer to what we think. You decided to participate and a few of you are first time delegates. You went to your meeting because you care about where the country should go. You are activists. You have to ask whether we are going the direction that you want us to go.
I vote consistently conservative and I have a number of votes that you can check.
You also have to ask if the candidate is the most effective person to actually accomplish something in DC. If you decide that you want to support me, then I need to know that. We can become a partnership versus me just framing answers. As a partnership I am able to generate some laws because of your suggestions. You then get some feedback on what is happening in DC. We have an advisory group on Immigration right now that is a terrific group of people and will come up with a great report.
With each of you I can take your calls as suggestions rather than having to win your vote. Corey Norman works our Provo office. DeeDee Rose works in our provo office. Ryan Francis is here and Josh Dunn as well. They help me get your ideas through to law. You are welcome to call me if you have a question on my cell phone. If you have a question I want to answer it.”
7:49:18 AM Information Chris Cannon “I am going to read a list of things that Ivan Keller came up relating to Immigration since everyone will want to know about it. We have just gotten a law through that is tough on the border and internal border. The Senate right now is debating something relating to immigration. I am confident that I will be on the conference committee if they can get something passed.
“”We need to enforce the law and control the border.”” I have a perfect record on being tough on illegal immigration. I like immigration, but not illegal. A caller talked to me and asked me when I had changed my mind from ‘amnesty.’ I didn’t understand her question because I have never supported amnesty. I have been consistent on immigration.
“”Amnesty is compassionate and helps employers but it is illegal.”” So does anyone disagree with this? We agree, but the Senate is debating how many days and how much education for the path to citizenship. That is the concern that most of us have.
I think we will end out with a bill for temporary status for them. I have been pounding on the Democrats because of the Social Security system that will get overloaded as well. 12 million illegals getting 1000/mth means a lot of money out of the system.
I believe that we will end up with a law that says that an individual can stay here and have to put their name in at the end of the line. We will require that those who want their visa need to leave the country to get their visa.
“”The reality should be that illegal immigration does not pay””. Yes. We should streamline legal immigration. The INS works with paper. They lose their paper and the place is a mess and in awful disarray. We need to make them legal faster and in a uniform way.
There will be a future guest worker program.
“”Register every illegal alien by X date.”” I am not sure how we can do that. There could be a point where we decide that if you are illegal after a date, then you are out of the country. We would likely do it on a ‘speeding ticket’ basis. When we see them we send them out.
“”Instant ID for employers”” We have a pilot program today that the employers can use. It doesn’t work all that well, but we can improve it. We need to have some changes made but are working on it. We have something in place.
“”Instant deportation after a certain date.”” We have it now, but we don’t have a certainty of identity. We need to be able to Send prisoners straight there.
“”Control wages.”” If you are a sheetrocker then you might make less and hurt the economy. I don’t know that we agree on this.
“”Health care”” Has anyone visited the clinic in Provo. I was in there a few weeks ago and the wait there was none. They have done an incredible job. The real problem that we have is Emergency Rooms. My wife’s father is an immigrant. There are people that are coming across the border now who have their babies for free and then go back. I would promote Health Savings Account and then you and I would not have to bear the burden. An individual should have to show their insurance card at the hospital.
“”If a parent is deported, deport the child.”” If they are under 18 they should be sent back and by X date should not stay here illegally.”
8:04:26 AM Comment I think the immigration ‘flip flop’ because of the comments at AMLF.
8:05:14 AM Information Chris Cannon “I made a statement at an award ceremony. Many of the Latins are coming and being Republicans. NCLR is welcoming us. You have probably heard a speech. I said “”in Utah we love immigrants. And we don’t distinguish legal and illegal.”” I stand by that statement. I support legal immigration and I don’t think that we should kick out all illegal immigrants. I tried to win their votes.
The recent demonstration was pretty heavy anti-bush and also some heavy communist stuff recently. This is an activity that we need to engage on and win. We should not pander to them but we need to help them understand our position.”
8:08:31 AM Question I wonder about Health Insurance and mental health parity. I know there is a lot being discussed now.
8:09:25 AM Answer Chris Cannon “This issue has come up in many forums and I don’t know my voting record. To the degree that you create federal mandates, you begin to limit the ability to respond locally. It is thought that mental health should be covered like any other disease. If you take Type II, smoking and weight issues, then they are a large percentage of the health issues. I have concerns on how the market versus the government should get involved. I don’t like mandates.
I like Medical Savings Accounts. I have a market adjustment concern about the individual having to pay 5 times what Medicare pays. I am concerned about having a federal mandate.”
8:11:53 AM Question I would lke to hear about how you have moved the conservative agenda?
8:12:27 AM Answer Chris Cannon “Different times in Congress require different qualities. Because of the impeachment I was doing half of all the public appearances on my own. This is because of your support. There are other moderates who think I am a creep because of it.
I would prefer though to get things quietly done. I have helped change the Western Caucus so that it is more aggressive in moving our issues forward. We have public lands that we use unlike the others in the East. We have organized associated groups. Partnership for America has about 1000 organizations that are grassroots users of the public lands.
We used to be called the Western Regional Council and have grown that so that we have private companies that use public lands now. We have been able to do some new things. What is important to me is to organize in the background to build solutions.
We are working on a Wilderness Bill with Bishop. We are negotiating with Matheson on who will introduce it. I have been putting together the partnerships to get some things done. I am working well on helping Congress go where we want.”
8:16:41 AM Question My car was stolen by some illegal immigrants. I think we have a problem while our Congress since 911 haven’t gotten enough done. Why have we put troops in Iraq but can’t do it here.
8:18:09 AM Answer Chris Cannon “We have a law that is so old called “”Quasi Camitatis””. We have voted 5 times to allow troops on the border. I have voted for them every time. The administration has not. We ordered the president to put 2000 new agents on the Border. Instead of 2000 we got 13. We had 200 people leave, so we are -187 agents.
We have had a failure of communication between Congress and White House. We demanded that the budget change to add funding for this program and have finally got a chance to move forward.
Your frustration is grave. My mother was hit by an illegal immigrant recently who had a card and insurance, which meant that it worked out okay. The State of Utah has a policy of wanting to solve crimes and not INS problems.
If we federally pass the bill that we want, then the Federal assistance can help. The Sherriffs in rural counties take a car load of illegals with drugs. They call ICE and the Sheriff says that they are illegal. ICE says that they are illegal and they aren’t able to do anything. The talk goes back and forth. The Sheriff is told to prosecute them and jail them?”
8:23:42 AM Question This past week you received an endorsement from a group who is an illegal immigrant group. The award was supporting instate tuition for illegals.
8:24:45 AM Answer Chris Cannon There is a federal mandate that says that the state can’t charge out of state tuition for illegals children.
8:26:06 AM Question Someone had mentioned that at the end of a fiscal year if an employee does not have a number then the employer should have to pay the employees taxes.
8:26:53 AM Answer Chris Cannon That could work. It puts a burden on business. I believe that the I9 form already should resolve that issue and we don’t need another program. We have a pilot program that is going forward to help assure social security checks. There were 3 GAO reports that say we can’t get it done with what we have right now. However an employer can do a check right now slowly. Every business gets a list of false SSNs. The employer has the responsibility to follow up.
8:28:52 AM Question I want to ask about the most likely bill that would come out of Congress. This idea that someone has to go out of the country and then come back?
8:29:23 AM Answer Chris Cannon “We don’t have the infrastructure to do it. I suspect that it would be a combination of working with the other country where they could apply here and then pick up there. The mechanics of this is pretty amazing.
The difference between 1986 and today is that we have a significant fingerprint database for crime.”
8:31:33 AM Question I have a question about federal involvement with transportation. How about no interest loans, grants etc so that we don’t have years of study?
8:32:13 AM Answer Chris Cannon “Why is it that we have US dept. of transportation. We created it because of the military being able to get around the US. One of the areas that my committee covers is interstate compacts. I oversee all the agreements.
FEMA didn’t function well but our compacts and agreements worked in helping in Katrina. Anyone not concerned about FEMA? You should be very concerned.
We should have a standard compact then you wouldn’t have to have 2 taxes for fed and state. Most states only get back 2% of what they give to DC.
The National Environmental Protection Act would then be negated.”
8:34:44 AM Question Utah is now only #3 in bankruptcies. Ohio is moved up and this is because of manufacturing being lost. Can you talk about Trade and Deficit.
8:35:26 AM Answer Chris Cannon “It is a complex set of issues. The bankruptcies are down because of the new bill that my committee got out. The problem in IA and OH is not the jobs going to China now. Manufacturing jobs are disappearing to technology. The Chinese lost 6 million manufacturing jobs because of technology. Each of the companies that I looked at here in Utah had a lot of projects that were converting from people to machines. The payback was going to be less than 6 months. Each of the companies had to save their bottom lines during the recession though, so they had to let people go faster than they planned.
The jobs have been lost to technology. Up to the year 2000 we were working on the fear of Y2K. Every company invested in computers. The companies then all had to cut their spending because they had surplus. The market responded and created a glut of technology and we have used it accordingly. ATT has revenues that are 1/3 of the amount they should have had if the economy had not fallen. We have had amazing change and it’s hard to identify who is doing well and who is not doing well.
Some would have argued that NAFTA wasn’t good. They don’t argue against it now. Mexico has doubled from 25million to 100 million people but their birth rate is flat.
If you want further information on why this works and why our economy is stronger than we think then please contact my office. In a world of radical change it is hard to measure what we have and don’t have.”
8:42:47 AM Question Does the 100 million include the babies coming from Mexico?
8:43:32 AM Answer Chris Cannon If the children have an anchor baby then they are not counted in the birth rate population in Mexico. They would count here and that explains our growth here.
8:44:22 AM Question How will we be notified and work against the Avian flu?
8:44:39 AM Answer Chris Cannon “How many are concerned about this? You really should be. The committee that I chair deals with tort reform. We had to deal with the vaccine manufacturers recently.
The only way that we will be able to deal with AI is to isolate it. There is some technology being built here in Utah that is being tested now. These guys will be able to test quickly.
China had to kill 1 billion birds because of SARS. When we get a virulent process of passing this around then we have to control it quickly.
We would need to identify people before they get on planes and share with others. We don’t have any really good answers of dealing with this to cure it.
With our Vaccine bill we allow the companies to test with synthesized DNA so that they can do faster testing.”
8:48:45 AM Question I understand that filter masks help?
8:48:55 AM Answer Chris Cannon The major company that makes masks has gotten out because of liability. Many of you know Cleland Skousen. He lived through the Spanish flu. He didn’t leave the farm for 1 year.
8:50:10 AM Question One of the issues that we should be concerned about is energy. We will be double the cost during the summer for gas. What are we doing to expand our energy?
8:50:51 AM Answer Chris Cannon “We have 3 nuclear power plants to be built in 7 years. The new gas is coming from Alberta Canada. The western provinces of Canada may secede because Alberta is sending 12billion per year to their head government and they want to keep it.
The key to future energy is oil shale. We have 2 technologys, one is by Shell where they inject freezing element and then reheat it. By year 4 and 5 they claim 1 billion barrels of oil from 1 square mile. The military wants to move to oil shale derivative. Shell company is not investing because the money they can make NOW. We have another group that is trying some other technology. They are about to build their plant. By then end of the first quarter of next year they will compete or not.
These guys think they can produce at $20/barrel. You know that we have oil in excess of Saudi Arabia if we develop it.”
8:55:37 AM Question Isn’t a lot of our oil in Clintons reserve?
8:55:58 AM Answer Chris Cannon That is mostly coal.
8:56:03 AM Question I know a lot of immigrants that believe that they are here to restore the country back to Mexico?
8:56:26 AM Answer Chris Cannon They call this Outslaw. If you become an American citizen and take it back to Mexico then you should lose citizenship. I don’t know that they understand what they are thinking. They are generally communists and statists. They can not improve the way things are being run. Corruption is Mexico is huge.
8:58:24 AM Question Alternative fuel question. What is holding this up?
8:58:42 AM Answer Chris Cannon “Alternative fuel is becoming more available but there are not countries that are doing it. The problem with Hydrogen is how you store it.
There are a few breakthroughs on solar power now with technology. We believe that we could bring solar power down to coal price. There are a number of ways that we can improve.
Sinclair has prices lower than some of the others because he knows how much money he makes.
We could develop 100,000 oil wells tomorrow if we had the okay. The untapped resources are not being tapped because the Dept of the Interior is not allowing us to do it. The environmentalists are somewhat are on the run. They have done things that were wrong!”
9:03:36 AM Question I wonder about FEMA and the bodies that we have created over which we have no control.
9:03:53 AM Answer Chris Cannon “A president created them by Executive Order. Every president has added to that Executive order and Congress has let it grow. The only reason they can do what they do is because they have a huge budget.
This is the day of the activist of America.
Endfeded.com is where you should go. Most teachers hate NCLB. There are 2-3 million teachers right now who hate the Department of Education.
The concepts of Compacts run by states versus the Federal government.
I want to change the way we do things in America. In the context of the Internet we can begin to do this better. The Federal government is huge and wants to stay what it is. We need to stop the abuse and waste. $2.8 trillion dollars is being spent. Lobbyists want a piece of the pie. It’s a huge pie.”
9:09:00 AM Question I see federalized education being a dilemma. How do you move resources on a statewide basis in a global economy to help education improve globally. Our competitive ability is very bad.
9:10:18 AM Answer Chris Cannon I agree that we have a problem. I don’t agree that the federal government can. I voted for NCLB because it had flexibility and Title 1 money. Margaret Dayton said that she didn’t want that money. The problem with the DOE is the arrogance that limits the individual states to do what they want. Education is fundamentally difficult.
9:13:27 AM Question I appreciate what you have said about changing the government and reducing its size. What about lobby reform?
9:13:56 AM Answer Chris Cannon “Lobby reform means ethics and larger issues. There are many in jail or on their way. There are laws that are pretty good and are being pursued. We have had these problems since the beginning of the country. The problem that we have is that the companies want a piece of the pie.
We need to therefore cut spending. We need to cut some more and be more thoughtful on how we spend. Is there anyone that believe the DHS is being effective? I don’t think so. The airport wanding isn’t working.
There is a group called the “”Republican Conservative Committee”” that is looking at this.”
9:16:51 AM Question Why has our spending grown when we have control of congress and the president. Each area wants their money. Why can’t we get this done, the line item veto?
9:17:47 AM Answer Chris Cannon “The Supreme Court ruled it out. It might be something that we can review and improve. The Graham-Rudman bill has helped us get the appropriations done. But we have 35 house and 10 senate people who can influence the spending.
We really don’t have a majority of the control when it comes down to it. We have a deficit because of the economy but we are now cutting spending by large amounts so that we can get this back under control. Do any of you think that security is better because of the airports.”
9:20:50 AM Answer Chris Cannon “Lonsberry criticizes me a lot. He got angry about us going on recess without having federalizing our airports. He felt that we were endangering our people.
We have to agree that expanding the State doesn’t help”
9:22:27 AM Question Do you think that choice in education would help? Do you think the academic decline is due to family? I taught in CA in a charter school of arts. It was a top rated school.
9:23:42 AM Answer Chris Cannon The Federal government can’t do anything. They are very bad at implementing programs over time. We have great tools for increasing education without improving real education. I have the youngest district on average in the country. How are we going to educate them. We have to do it differently. We have a crisis here in Utah that I hope people can look to because we are able to solve it. Utah is one of the highest taxed states in the country when you look at household. 3% of our kids are in private schools versus 13% average in the country.
9:27:15 AM Question My kids go to a private school. I don’t want vouchers to have to control the curriculum.
9:27:42 AM Answer Chris Cannon We have article that talks about control that the State has over your child once they get to the age of 5. Your only choice is to withdraw your child from class, but that may be illegal.
9:28:23 AM Question Mitt Romney did some things last week in MA to health care that scare me.
9:28:39 AM Answer Chris Cannon “This is a democrat run state that is lead by a republican. The mandated health insurance proposal is about having everyone with health insurance. It is a ‘statist’ theory and I need to look at it very carefully. I believe that we solve the problem by creating market, but by adding a 3rd level of enforced insurance you may run the limitations of what the companies end out doing with the insured individuals.
If you have Health Savings Accounts then you have personal choice.”
9:30:33 AM Question Thank you. You are an amazing man. Some years ago there was a movement with the Sutherland Institute and privatization. It seems like education solution would be worthy. Is that movement still alive?
9:31:30 AM Answer Chris Cannon I chair the caucus on privatization. We have a caucus of congressmen that are working on this issue. It is not very attractive and sexy, but I believe that it is the future of the society and the world. Public/Private partnerships are built and the private partnership is given long-term interests and profits. They then improve the quality and profitability.
9:33:20 AM Question I agree that it is better to pay for you private education than it is to have government control. I have seen choice work, but it has not been the choice of the other tax payers funding your choice. Most state constitutions are charged with education. Once you get vouchers you get strings. Private education doesn’t always look pretty either because they are aggressive. This is a complex issue.
9:36:27 AM Answer Chris Cannon It is complex. I have pushed for more competition in the system. The stakes are too high to get this wrong.
9:36:58 AM Question Most of us when we spend our money we are careful but when on a business trip we are n’t as careful. In the case of personal savings we are careful medically. How can we change the people who are sitting on medicare for free?
9:38:31 AM Answer Chris Cannon “If you told medicare person that they have a co-pay and have an account with some seed money in it that they can keep if they don’t use it, then there would be a great return.
We have a program that reinforces from the companies and the hospitals to the users. Every lobbyist has a PAC and a lobbyist. I hope that I will have 5000 people with $25.00 each. If you do this, then I will put you in touch with others who are like minded people who want smaller contributions”
9:42:28 AM Question I have been pleased with a lot of what you have said. The Judiciary can strike down what you have done. What can we do to reign in these judges?
9:43:07 AM Answer Chris Cannon One more justice on the Supreme Court is what I ask. States have wildly different agreements and constitutions in place. When the Republicans took over congress we fired all our oversight people and it was a mistake.
9:44:20 AM Question What do you see happening after November for balance of power?
9:44:36 AM Answer Chris Cannon In the House there may be a 3-4 seat shift. There are people who have been Marxist and are becoming more conservative. In the Senate it could shift, but I don’t think we will lose control. Hillary in 2008 is a big concern.
9:45:32 AM Question I think we could solve immigration if we would just sit down for one summer and get it figured out like the Constitution.
9:45:56 AM Answer Chris Cannon “It will take about a month or so, but I think we will come up with the right kind of bill.
I don’t know that we can solve the school issue from the federal government.”
9:47:27 AM Question How difficult was it to come up with legislation that everyone hated in congress?
9:47:52 AM Answer Chris Cannon Jim Sensenbrenner held that position for a political move. He got to meet 500 illegal immigrants just after one of his own town hall meetings. These demonstrations have taken place 4-5 months after we have passed the bill. The intensity is growing for the Senate to do something. Jim is going to win the day in Conference because he has the support. I am staying in line with him and am his lieutenant. We have worked well together and I trust him and he knows what I will do. He understood the problem and saw it in advance. We are seeing some great things coming together. He doesn’t want to lose his good name to some bad compromise.
9:52:25 AM Question “Do you not believe that both parties benefit from illegals? I have been in politics for my whole life. In 1992 we had strong voices. In 1996 they were ousted (Pat Buchanan) because he was warning. [moh note – chris gets pretty worked up here in saying he walked away].
He was foretelling with Power America that we should have been more aware of this problem in advance.”
9:55:34 AM Answer Chris Cannon “Bill Bennett was behind Power America as well. We did not oust him. He left the party. We have become more conservative as a party and nation. We are moving forward on Roe v Wade. There are a number of people who are coming forward who have had abortions.
Bush has encouraged 48 more countries to stop the Sex Trade in their countries. I think we are doing great things there. These issues are really hard questions. I have been trying to get people active in the party because we tend to agree once we get together.”
9:58:48 AM Question I am concerned about the Small Businesses getting benefit from the party because of what you said.
9:59:14 AM Answer Chris Cannon What small and big businesses really want are legal employees. We want a growing work force that is available. Companies generally are paying their taxes because they don’t want to have a problem. They want a supply of labor.
10:00:16 AM Question There is a fair amount of research on who are here. Any idea of who is really getting cash transactions and being paid under the table.
10:02:25 AM Answer Chris Cannon The numbers and the data are not good. You can test this by reviewing real and false SSNs. The amount of money going to Social Security system from illegals was 30 million dollars. They don’t file for IRS refund therefore there is an upside.
10:03:35 AM Adjourn