Hageman hosts packed-out town hall

Even after extra chairs were set up in the meeting room at White Mountain Library, the crowds kept coming in until the room was packed with Sweetwater County residents, many of whom had to stand in the back to hear U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman speak.

Hageman explained that she made a promise to host a town hall in every county in Wyoming every year, so her stop in Rock Springs last Thursday night was a part of keeping that promise.

"As your representative, I am committed to not only representing you back there, but also making sure that I am here to talk to you about your issues, about your concerns, and taking your voice back," Hageman said.

The topic of the most local interest that Hageman brought up was the Bureau of Land Management's handling of the Rock Springs Field Office Resource Management Plan Draft.

"We will continue fighting that with absolutely everything that we have," she said.

Hageman added that the Legislature is working on a bill to set aside $15 million to sue the government over situations like the RMP. She also said she is working on a bill to change the Administrative Procedures Act in order to "get control of the bureaucracy in Washington D.C." and "to try to limit the authority" of organizations like the BLM.

Hageman also gave an overview of some of the committees she is on and work she had done with them, including being the only freshman selected to be on the Select Committee on Weaponization on the Federal Government.

"What we have really focused on with that is the violations of our First Amendment that have taken place over the last several years," Hageman explained.

She said that one of the bills she is currently moving forward with is a bill to hold the federal government accountable for violating these rights because right now there is no mechanism for doing so.

"I think it's going to be one of the most important bills we put on the floor this year," Hageman said.

Another main topic Hageman addressed during the town hall was the "catastrophe" and "invasion" at the border. She said that the presidential election in November is extremely important and that "once we get a different president, we are going to have to do mass deportations."

Hageman also said people feel like the current presidential administration is "out of control." She said she believes no single president will ever be able to destroy the country because the rule of law will prevail, but also said that "the one flaw in our constitution is that our forefathers never believed that anarchy would come from the top, they never believed that our separation of powers would not be able to address these trying times that we're living through."

Hageman answered questions from the audience, and expressed her gratitude for representing Wyoming.

"Everybody wishes that they could represent Wyoming, because our state is so beautiful, because when they think about people from Wyoming they think about independence, they think about freedom, they think about family, they think about faith, they think about all the things that make us what we are," Hageman said. "I think when they look at Wyoming, they think about us being the last great chance, the last bastion of what our country has always stood for."