Harlan Kirgan
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson said during a town hall meeting in Eunice that the current House is the most productive in six administrations with 281 substantive bills passed, but only nine to 10 percent of those bills have passed the Senate.
Johnson met for more than 90 minutes with about 40 people at the Eunice Municipal Complex on Wednesday.
The freshman congressman represents the 4th District that stretches across 15 parishes from Shreveport-Bossier City, south to just north of Lake Charles and Lafayette, and west to the Texas line. The eastern border is a jagged line of parishes skirting Monroe, Alexandria and Opelousas.
The 760,000 person district includes Fort Polk and Barksdale Air Force Base.
Johnson opened the town hall with, “I find it effective to spend the first few minutes of the town hall kind of just giving you a report of what is happening in Washington. Most of you may be aware that we are not getting accurate information every day now from the media, the national media in particular. There is a bias, look on both sides, whether you are conservative or liberal it is hard to get really accurate information on what is happening. ”
He added, “I think that is part of the problem with the country right now is that people don’t know who to trust anymore.”
Johnson praised the nation’s economic progress since January without noting that growth is a continuation from the climb out of the Great Recession that began in 2007.
Since January, there have been 48 record stock market highs, hundreds of thousands of new jobs created every month, a 12-year high in consumer confidence, 10-year high in small business confidence and second quarter economic growth of 2.6 percent, he said.
He gave credit for the economic growth on the activity in Washington, D.C., which includes regulatory reform. The Reins Act stipulated for every regulation approved, two others must be eliminated, he said.
“I think if we get tax reform done in September when we go back ... we can really blow the lid off this thing,” he said.
Almost $100 billion has been saved by cutting fraud, waste and abuse since January, he said. “Both sides of the aisle get credit for that,” he said.
The military is receiving tens of billions of dollars, which included a raise for personnel, to rebuild itself, he said.
Johnson said he recently returned from a trip to Israel with 15 other congressmen. Israel stands strong because the U.S. is behind them, he said.
“We are the strongest and last super power in the world,” he said. “We are the most free, the most successful and the most prosperous nation in all of the world and there are reasons for that.”
But Johnson also noted the United States faces a $20 trillion debt that threatens to weaken the nation.
Johnson said he has 120 signatures on a “Commitment to Civility” he composed.
The document directed at House members states that among the United States challenges “... has been an increasing division in and coarsening of our culture fueled too often by the vitriol in our politics and public discourse. One result has been a loss of trust in our institutions and elected officials.”
The document also includes, “We believe that a leader can be cooperative and conciliatory without compromising his or her core principles, and we recognize that our political rivals in Congress are not our enemies — but rather our colleagues and fellow Americans.”
Johnson said 50 of the 55 freshmen representatives signed the commitment after a retreat following their taking office.
Johnson was elected to the House seat in December 2016.
According to his website, he serves on the House Judiciary and Natural Resources committees as well as subcommittees.
He served in the state Legislature from February 2015 to January 2017.
Johnson has a law degree from Louisiana State University in 1998.
Johnson lives in Bossier Parish and is married with four children.