McMorris Rodgers visits Rosalia for Town Hall event

ROSALIA - Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers met with several citizens of Rosalia at the Rosalia Community Center to have a discussion about current issues that locals have questions about.

McMorris addressed many topics, including the fentanyl crisis, the border, reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other topics.

"I'll just say again it's really an honor to represent you in Congress. I look forward to hearing what's on your mind, and answering your questions to the best of my abilities," she said.

"We've held hearings around COVID origins," Rodgers started out with, adding that it is probably one public health question that they need to have answers to from the FDA, CDC, and NIH directors.

McMorris Rodgers stated that these questions need to be answered, because trust has been broken in the public health agency.

Rodgers explained that she was headed down to the border this week to hold a hearing to talk about the border, Wednesday, Feb. 15.

She explained that they want to address the record amount of Fentanyl coming into the United States.

"It is making its way to Spokane and Eastern Washington. It's heartbreaking the stories that I've heard," she said, noting that many young people who buy it don't know what is in it.

McMorris also stated that Spokane is currently number one for child exploitation in the entire country, and that she is working on holding Big Tech accountable.

A member of the crowd had the question of how Rodgers intended to deal with the amount of people that were crossing the border. He stated that 250,000 alone crossed the border in December, and that as a bipartisan bill writer if Rodgers knew of any changes to the Democrats view on the subject.

"That's a great question," Rodgers stated, "The number one responsibility of the federal government is to keep us safe and secure, and if you have an open border we're not safe and secure."

Rodgers stated that the homeland security administrator testified before congress that the border is secure, and yet hundreds of thousands of people are coming across the border illegally.

"We know that there are known terrorists that are coming across the border because it is open," McMorris Rodgers said, "The amount of fentanyl that is pouring into this country with it. Human trafficking, sex trafficking, so that's part of why I'm going down to the border this week."

She added that her visit to the border is to highlight, and bring attention to the issues and to continue to urge her colleagues, especially on the other side of the aisle, in securing the border.