wenstrupBy Wayne Gates –

Second Congressional Representative Brad Wenstrup is looking forward to the next two years.
Wenstrup spoke to The News Democrat in an exclusive interview on Dec. 15.
He began the conversation by talking about  about how President-Elect Donald Trump is preparing to take office in January.
“He’s working very hard to fill all these cabinet positions and I think he’s doing it with due diligence and good reasoning…I’ve been pleased with the selections that he’s made, and I think it’s the direction that the country wants us to go in based on the results of the election,” Wenstrup said. “You certainly feel good that you’ve got someone in the White House that backs the leadership of your conference on the legislative side.”
Wenstrup also talked about some of the cabinet nominees that appear to be hostile to the missions of the agencies they are being nominated to head.
“I think it’s important in government to be critical of what we are doing.  A lot of times, that can be a great benefit because you are looking at it through a different lens than when you aren’t critical and not taking the time to evaluate things in greater detail,” he said.  “One of the biggest things we need to do is roll back the government overreach that we’ve seen.  I think that affects us on every level..What we’re seeing today are agencies that put out rules that have rule of law and we try to pass something to stop it.”
As far as legislative priorities, Wenstrup said that healthcare is at the top of his priority list.
“(We need to work on) replacing Obamacare and restoring a system that creates more access and affordability for Americans and make healthcare between the doctor and the patient,” he said.
Back home in Ohio, Wenstrup said that he has some goals in mind for the next congressional session.
“On a local level, we are always going to be working towards stable appropriations and cleanup of the Piketon site which is so important to our area,” he said.
“We will (also) continue to work on behalf of veterans and we have plenty of them in the second district as we have a very patriotic and service oriented district.  I want to continue my work on the VA committee and make sure that we are doing everything we can to give veterans access to care.”
Wenstrup said that he is blessed to have a lot of help from people in the second district that want to move the country forward.
“I just want to continue to work with all the good people across the second district that serve us in so many other capacities, to have America be a place of opportunity, I also want to continue to work on poverty issues and try to create an environment where we are not punishing people who want to go to work and let them be a part of the American dream,” he said.
“I just hope that as we go into the holiday season that we take a positive outlook on America, that we take time to listen to one another and then we work towards accomplishing goals that will work for all of America and continue to create opportunity for people so that they can live the American dream.”
And regarding all of the tension that followed the presidential election, Wenstrup asked the following of everyone on both sides of the political aisle in 2017.
“Let’s take a deep breath and get to work and work on behalf of the American people and the future of America.”