Congressman Cole visits Ada
Aug. 17—U.S. Representative of Oklahoma's fourth Congressional District, Tom Cole, recently stoped in Ada as well as many other cities in Oklahoma. We at The Ada News were lucky enough to have a small conversation about what he is up to in congress as well as discussing the state of the Republican Party.
Cole made the trip from Washington D.C. to Oklahoma where he has been traveling to different cities in the area to answer any questions that citizens or chamber members may have about what's going on in Congress. Before stopping in Ada, Cole said that he had already visited, Pauls Valley, Sulphur, Lawton, Norman and many more. During these visits, Cole said a few questions really got his attention. "People are very concerned with inflation," Cole continued, "Very concerned about the southern border, quite a bit about that."
Cole went on to say that despite The House passing the Border Act of 2023, it has made little progress in strengthening the security of the border. "The problem is the democrats in senate won't pick it up," Cole explained, "This is the president that on his first day, ended the wait in Mexico policy which basically said you had to stay in Mexico while we judicature your claims of asylum." On top of that, Cole said that Biden has also halted construction on the border wall and flat funded the border patrol. "He is now asking for a supplemental, but the supplemental is not designed for more security just to process people faster...It's been a debacle."
Cole also discussed the state of the Republican Party and how it differs from when he started his political career. "It's a lot stronger than it was when I first got involved," Cole said. When he first started, Cole said that there was one republican congressman out of six but now all five congressmen are republicans as well as one of the two senators in Oklahoma. Cole credits this growth in popularity to the more progressive ideologies of the Democratic Party driving out any conservatives. "You can't be a democrat if you're pro-life, pro second amendment...so it's made the two parties much more competitive," Cole explained
The polarizing state that both parties are in has been quite a problem not just for congress but for individuals as well. "It's made it very hard on people who are willing to compromise because I think they are treated as a sellout by each side," Cole said. Cole continued to say that with a country as big as ours, compromise is needed and that it should be celebrated instead of hated.
Despite the state of both parties, Cole believes we will eventually get to a point where both parties will be at peace with each other. "The country tends to go through cycles...politics waxes and wanes quite a bit," Cole continued, "We are certainly not as divided as as we were in 1850's." Hopefully soon we will see the country be united as Americans and not as republican or democrats but only time will tell. In the meantime, Cole says, "We've handled these things in the past, I think we can handle them again."
