Letters: Our representative voted to inflict pain on his constituents

On Sept. 30, the last day of the 2023 fiscal year, the House of Representatives voted 335-91 to approve a continuing resolution to keep the government funded for 45 days. It subsequently passed the Senate and was signed by President Biden, thus avoiding a government shutdown.

But Indiana 2nd District Congressman Rudy Yakym III voted “nay.” Had his side prevailed, we would be in a partial government shutdown. Most government workers would have been furloughed. Money for the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program would quickly run out. Military personnel, Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers, TSA employees, and other essential government employees would be working without pay. National Parks would close.

The resolution wasn’t perfect — it included no additional money for Ukraine or border security. But those flaws can be fixed.

Rep. Yakym defied House Republican leadership and allied himself with extremist Matt Gaetz. He voted to inflict pain on his constituents. Given the chaos of the House Republican caucus, he may have a chance to support another shutdown this November. If he does, he’s hoping voters don’t remember it next November.

Stephen Wylder

Elkhart

Support farmers

Indiana farmers have long been resilient in adapting to climate challenges — including this summer facing the haze of the Canadian fires and wondering how the air quality was impacting their crops. Adaptation is synonymous with action in the face of climate change. Adaptation is also a source of hope around an issue that is often couched as hopeless.

I am writing on behalf of a coalition of Catholics from every diocese in Indiana, including universities, high schools and other advocacy groups representing Catholic Relief Services, the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States, in support of poor farmers in Africa and Central America, in particular, places that contribute minimal carbon emissions, yet are suffering in imaginable ways.

Pope Francis has issued a new document this week, Laudato Deum, which means “Praise God,” in which he speaks of “organizing hope” to combat climate issues. We urge our senators, Mike Braun and Todd Young, as well as our House representatives to allocate sufficient financial resources to the Green Climate Fund and other multilateral and bilateral development accounts that support climate adaptation efforts, which will allow communities impacted most by the climate to gain new hope with new farming solutions. People in other continents and regions want to be able to farm and raise their families in their own homes. Our funding along with direct support from agencies like CRS help them to achieve this desire.

Michael Amodei

Lead, Indiana Catholic Relief Services Coalition

South Bend

PR skills

Ohio State coach Ryan Day with his belligerent attitude toward Lou Holtz with his comments after the game had no purpose. After all, his team won the game against Notre Dame although I think it was a fluke. His comments should have been positive and relevant ... like "Notre Dame played a great game, and we could have done better, but I'm proud of Ohio State." Coach Day needs to take a course in developing PR skills.

Wally Simpson

Mishawaka

Our representative

Our local representative, Rudy Yakym, was a questionable choice as his only political comment was that he supports Trump but he ignored the debate between the two other candidates, a Democrat and an Independent. We received no knowledge of his beliefs regarding critical issues such as global warming, guns, etc. People actually voted for him!

I received a request by Yakym for funding to expose the “Biden Crime Spree” that has no evidence but he is unconcerned for all the corruption uncovered regarding the Trump family. Biden is charged with family influence peddling but Yakim is unconcerned that Trump’s daughter and son-in-law were part of his governing body yet had no government experience. He is unconcerned that Ivanka and her husband received billions of dollars from the Saudis but is concerned with innuendos from MAGA Republicans that Biden’s family business (no existence) made “tens of millions of dollars” illegally.

Does he believe I am so naïve as to send him money? What are his efforts to minimize gun violence, global warming or repairing our transportation systems? Did he support Biden’s efforts to lower drug costs for us or to enhance our transportation systems? Is this who we want to represent us?

Tom Nowak

South Bend

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Rep. Rudy Yakym voted for a government shutdown.