This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Bishop: Libya Offensive the Right Move

Tuesday night, the congressman visited the library in Southampton Village to talk about issues ranging from the battles in North Africa to battles with the economy at home.

After two postponements, U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop made his annual visit to Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton Village on Tuesday to address his constituents and takes their questions on topics ranging from the recent military operations in Libya to the rise of the Tea Party.

The event was put off due to severe weather the first time, and on the second try Bishop, a Democrat and 12th-generation Southamptonite, said he was stuck in Washington D.C. for a vote to continue funding the government.

After a brief address to the audience Tuesday night, he dove into questions.

Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bombing Libya

“From a humanitarian point of view, I think this was the right thing to do,” Bishop said of the United States’ air campaign in Libya, where dictator Muammar Gaddafi has attacked his own people for rising up against his regime.

Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But Bishop said he is wary of America’s engagement “in yet now a third conflict in the Arab world.” He pointed out that President Barack Obama said America’s involvement would be measured in days, not weeks, and there will be no U.S. grounds troops in Libya. “I take the president at his word when he says we will relinquish the lead role in this endeavor,” Bishop said.

The bombing not only stretches out an already unbelieveable extended military, but it is also costly when the government is trying to slash spending, he said, noting that each Tomahawk missile the United States fires in Libya costs $1.2 million dollars, and as of Monday morning the military fired more than 100.

Spending and the Deficit

Bishop said Republicans have a preoccupation with reducing spending, but “it is not a preoccupation with reducing the deficit.”

Spending cuts made so far this year and cuts being considered on the floor of the House have been limited to non-defense, non-security, discretionary spending, which totals $465 billion annually, Bishop said. “We are focusing 100 percent of our effort to cut spending on approximately 12 percent of the budget.”

If every dime of discretionary spending were cut, the United States would still have a $1.1 trillion deficit left, Bishop said. And some programs that are lost due to cuts will be missed, he said. “Any cut we make will be painful and every cut we make will be difficult to accommodate.”

Congress needs to be wary of making cuts that are destructive, Bishop said, such as cuts to Brookhaven National Lab in Upton that are estimated to cost 1,000 jobs. The cuts would also shut down programs and equipment at BNL that attract 3,300 visiting scientists annually who contribute to local business when they are on Long Island, he said. Additionally, BNL’s work in renewable energy and energy efficiency is important to the future of the country, he added.

One out of every three federal dollars is spent on two programs, Social Security and Medicare, Bishop said. Add in defense, veterans affairs and the interest on the national debt, and those five areas account for two out of every three dollars, he said. To get serious about reducing the deficit, all spending needs to be on the table, he said.

Environmental Protection Agency Powers

One audience member asked if the EPA would be able to implement stricter emissions standards, but Bishop said there is no chance of that happening in the next two years.

“The ability of the EPA simply to do what it has already done is significantly in peril,” he said. Momentum is behind eviscerating the EPA, rendering the agency incapable of enforcing the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, he said.

Gun Control and Gun Sales into Mexico

“The issue of gun sales into Mexico is a serious problem,” Bishop said in response to a question.

He said the proliferation of weapons across the border is exacerbated by the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004, under then-House Majority Leader Tom Delay.

“I don’t contest the Second Amendment, but I don’t believe the Second Amendment contains an unlimited amount of freedom to bear arms,” Bishop said, pointing out that there on limits to the First Amendment right to free speech.

In the wake of the recent shooting in Tucson, Arizona, during which 19 people were shot, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, there is hope that a piece of gun control legislation will be adopted, Bishop said. The legislation by U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-Mineola, would outlaw the sale of high-capacity magazines. The alleged Tucson shooter had a magazine that held 31 bullets, but the proposed law would limit magazine to a capacity of just 10, he said. A similar law is already in effect in New York State.

“If the law was in place and enforced, some people killed in Tucson would still be alive,” Bishop said.

Health Care Reform

Bishop said he has never spent as much time considering the merits of legislation as he spent on health care reform.

He said the legislation is not perfect, but the “immutable reality” is that the current system, pre-reform, is unsustainable.

The most contentious part of the bill, by Bishop’s estimation, is the individual mandate, which requires most people to buy a health care policy, even if they would rather go without insurance.

Bishop said the mandate is necessary to counterbalance the requirement that insurance companies cannot turn people down for existing conditions. If healthy people are not required to have health insurance, then they would just wait until they are sick to buy insurance, Bishop said, the result being that premiums would rise as the risk pool is only full of policyholders at higher-risks.

Unions

“What’s going on in Wisconsin is the best recruiting tool for unions that we’ve ever seen,” Bishop quipped, referring to that state’s recently passed bill stripping public employee unions of collective bargaining rights.

Having worked as a provost at Southampton College, Bishop said he is familiar with the bargaining process and a fan of unions. “I believe that it provides a framework for decision making,” he said. Unions prevent ad hoc decisions and provide protection for the workforce and a roadmap for management.

He said he rejects the notion that America’s problems are being caused by people making $50,000 or $60,000 a year, and he credited the labor movement, along with the G.I. Bill, with creating the U.S. middle class.

Hearings on Islam

Bishop said he is troubled by the congressional hearings on radical Islam in America led by U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-Seaford, but said he has not made a point to speak out against them.

“Members are more effective when they pick their spots and dig in on issues,” Bishop said.

The Tea Party

Bishop said the Tea Party has undoubtedly has an influence on politics, but now that many Tea Party-backed candidates have been elected to Congress, the question is, “Can they govern?”

“I’ve heard them say that they were elected to cut spending, and that if they have to shut down the government to do it, they will do it,” Bishop said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?