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Representative Antonio Delgado holds local town hall

Aug 5, 2019

By Sarah Clark - reporter/photographer

By: SARAH CLARK | DEMOCRAT

Representative Antonio Delgado visited the Catskill Distilling Company last week for his 19th town hall since taking office in January.

BETHEL — On Wednesday at the Catskill Distilling Company in Bethel, Representative Antonio Delgado of the 19th district held his 19th town hall since taking office on January 3, 2019.
Within his time, Delgado has introduced 14 bills, and 10 of them are bipartisan. He highlighted ones he has proposed such as the Farm Relief Act, Green Jobs Opportunity Act, the Service Disabled Veteran's Bill, and Delgado also mentioned a bill for universal healthcare that will allow people to opt into medicare if they wish to do so. “In that same bill we allow medicare to have negotiating power with the pharmaceutical industry,” Delgado said.
The congressman also addressed the current issues at the southern border of the United States with Mexico and the conditions that detainees are living in.
“We have to be able to deal with these issues in a way that is fact based, evidence based, compassionate, empathetic, and humane,” Delgado stated. “It's important that we come together as a country and address these issues in that fashion,” he added.
Climate change is another issue that Delgado addressed at the town hall and how it has had a negative impact.
“There is no doubt that we have hit a crisis point,” Delgado said. He mentions that the high temperatures have a direct affect on the Sullivan County communities in terms of farming and health risks such as Lyme disease. “Climate change is a real issue,” he added.
One idea Delgado proposed is bringing restrictions to the fossil fuel industry, however, he stressed how he does not want to eliminate the business completely.
“We don't have to keep using taxpayers dollars to subsidize billions and billions of dollars of subsidies for an industry that does not need our help,” Delgado said. “We are better off taking those subsidies and those tax credits and investing them in renewable energy sources,” he added.
Finally, Delgado addressed the issues surrounding education. He emphasized how vital it is to invest in education from when children are young, not just higher education. Delgado also states how the interest rates must be monitored and lowered, and how loan forgiveness programs should be implemented.
“There is an opportunity here to keep building on this success, and make sure that we as people continue to stay engaged in our system and give government back to the people, for the people, and by the people,” Delgado said.

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