BY SCOTT LEFFLER
scott.leffler@allwnynews.com
NEW YORK — U.S. Rep. Chris Collins declared his support for Meals on Wheels and distanced himself from the White House Budget Blueprint issued today, but gave President Donald Trump “a solid A” on CNN’s “The Messy Truth” with Van Jones.
Questions from Jones and the audience covered healthcare, immigration and drug abuse — a topic Jones seemed quite passionate about, as was one of the studio audience members allowed to ask a question of Collins.
On healthcare, Collins continued his assertion that the nation languished under Obamacare and said the GOP plan will fix that and give people more options. The statement was in response to a man who said he voted for Trump but had been helped by Obamacare and was worried the GOP plan would hurt him.
On immigration, Collins said the president is rightfully concerned about national security but has no plans to round up and deport otherwise-law-abiding illegal aliens. He also explained that many of the undocumented workers in his district are doing work that needs to be done — specifically on dairy farms — and he’d like to see them transitioned to being here legally.
On opioid drug abuse, Collins said the nation must stop the flow of drugs coming in and agreed with Jones that much needs to be done to help drug addicts. He then said that treatment is largely a “states issue” and asked the audience member who had asked him about it to contact Governor Andrew Cuomo.
One of the studio audience members allotted a question was a self-described Canandaigua resident who expressed her displeasure with the congressman for holding a “town hall” outside of the 27th district — and more to the point, refusing to hold one in the 27th.
Collins reiterated his viewpoint that public forums are a poor use of his time, adding “I meet with hundreds of my constituents every week” and inviting the woman to sit down with him one-on-one to discuss her concerns.
Collins: “I have never seen the value” of town hall meetings.— AllWNYNews (@allwnynews) March 17, 2017
The Collins segment took up about 2/3 of the hour-long program. Jones second guest was NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
