Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is spending his recess like I hope and believe other members of Congress are, visiting with his constituents. Today, his journey around Tennessee brought him to Cookeville, my hometown, right smack-in-between Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
He visited at least 60-70 constituents from Cookeville/Putnam County, and the surrounding areas, at the Baymont Inn just off of Interstate 40. He greeted those who were there, who ranged from members of the Tennessee Republican Party to members of the press to everyday citizens, such as myself. I even got my picture with him from campaigning last year autographed. That was exciting! I got to speak with him for a time, not something that everyone gets to do.
After about 15 minutes greeting those who were there, he spoke for maybe twenty minutes. Issues mentioned mostly focused around his experiences in his new job as Senator, health care, the Senate immigration bill that was defeated earlier this year, and the Energy Bill that was recently debated upon on Capitol Hill.
Then, the floor was opened for questions. This is when it got real exciting. I opened it by asking Mr. Corker's position on the "Fairness Doctrine", and what Washington is doing about it. He told us that he opposes anything that messes around with free speech on the radio. He gets points with me on that. He already had points from me, and from the vast majority of the crowd, for helping to defeat the Senate Immigration Proposal. Another question followed, this one from a parent in Jackson County, just to the north of Cookeville. He told of his son's dire education needs, and how the county public school system only made them worse. He wondered why politicians are always trying to throw money at the situation, while schools continue to falter in the quality of education given. Health care questions were later asked. Mr. Corker said he completely opposes a universal health system like the liberal Democrats are proposing, and considers such a proposal dangerous. He scored more points with me there.
However, the most crucial, and exciting, questions came on the subject of China, and of illegal immigration. On China, one woman let her strong concerns on recalled products, from toothpaste to animal food to tires to recently recalled toys, be known. She let her strong concern for American jobs known, as well. At least two men also joined her in expressing their concerns over the quickly growing Chinese threat. Their comments expressing patriotism in American jobs and the seriousness of the Chinese threat drew applause on several occasions. On illegal immigration, a few people spoke on the importance of American culture, and how it is seriously damaged by the culture clash we are now facing. They spoke on the seriousness of becoming a citizen when you come here. One brought up the stat that 24 people a day are killed by illegal aliens in various reasons. I believe he said that amounted to 50,000 DEAD FROM ILLEGAL ALIENS SINCE 9/11! That is way more than this war in Iraq has killed. On illegal immigration, the comments from people in the crowd again drew applause on numerous occasions.
Tonight, I again saw how important illegal immigration is to America's citizens. Not only that, but I saw how important China is to our fellow countrymen as well. My grandmom told us today that some of the toy shelves in her hometown, and my native city, of Reading, Pennsylvania, are becoming bare after the recalls of toys, particularly by Mattel. In the company's major announcement yesterday, they pointed out that more recalls are likely to follow. This on top of the news that an antifreeze ingredient was found in toothpaste earlier this year, and that pet food was poisoned, and that seafood is treated in raw sewage. These are all products from China that I am speaking of, a supposed "ally". I have not considered China a friend for as long as I can remember, and I think it would be insane to do so. Mark my words, China will become on of the premier issues in the not-to-distant future, and will likely become the primary foreign affairs issue, and threat. It is already shaping up to be a 2008 Presidential issue, and with good reason. We have now come to a dire situation with Red China. If we suddenly and completely pull our economic ties, we risk war. However, if we continue to buy Chinese products, not only do we risk harming ourselves, but we risk creating Red China to be the world's supreme superpower. Then, they will see the world as their playground, and we would risk war. China is a more grave threat than many Americans, and other people of the world, realize. If something is not done, and soon, I see dark clouds ahead for this generation, and the ones to follow.
I want to close this out on a better note. Mr. Corker has already collected a lot of points from me on his stand on the issues. There is no mistake that he is a general, all-around conservative. I believe we are blessed to have someone in Washington who stands against amnesty to illegals, against universal health care, against the silencing of conservative talk-radio, and for family values. I believe, too, that he will be a voice for America in our relations against our most grave outside threat, Communist Red China.
