Latta shares various updates during visit

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

U.S. Representative Bob Latta (R-5^th District) traveled throughout the Fifth District this week as part of a “district work week,” with stops in Paulding and Henry counties on Monday, Van Wert and Mercer counties on Tuesday, then going east with various stops going into Lorain County the remainder of the week. The district is longest and widest district in the state in terms of mileage, and Latta said he talks with constituents to discuss issues, problems and what’s happening in Washington D.C.

“I find these to be really productive weeks as we go across the district,” he said.

While in Van Wert County, Latta spoke with students at Van Wert High School then stopped at the office of the VW independent and radio stations WKSD and WERT.

Latta said of the top topics he discusses with Fifth District residents is the U.S./Mexico border and illegal crossings. He noted that since Inauguration Day, such crossings have seemingly slowed from thousands to a trickle.

“That’s important for a couple of reasons,” Latta stated. “We want to have legal immigration in this country. You can’t have over 10 million people – that’s like the entire State of Ohio crossing the border in four years. It lets the Border Patrol do what they’re supposed to do and that’s processing all these people and making sure our borders are protected.”

Latta, who made four trips to the border, noted the other problem is fentanyl crossing the border. He said 16,000 pounds of the drug was intercepted at the border last year.

“That doesn’t count what got through because what the cartels would do was send people they were trafficking to one spot and the Border Patrol would have to go there and the cartels would bring the drugs in,” he said.

The other main message Latta said he hears is the U.S. needs to start living within its means.

“When President Biden and the Democrats controlled the House and Senate, we saw inflation go up over nine percent and at the same time federal spending went out of control,” Latta stated. “Today, we’re looking at paying over a trillion dollars to pay interest on the debt this year, so what we’re doing is what we call budget reconciliation because we (Republicans) control the House, Senate and the Presidency. We’re looking at instructions from our Budget Committee and committees are now tasked with finding $1.5-$2 trillion to get out so we can start getting things under control.”

“A lot of people may not realize it but when we did the tax legislation back in 2017 when President Trump was first elected, most of those laws were temporary, so at the end of this year if we don’t fixed and done quickly, everyone’s taxes are going to up and small businesses are going to suffer.”

Other hot topics addressed to Latta include reducing the size of government, finding people to fill available jobs, more domestic energy production and DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and a possible government shutdown on March 14.

“It’s always more expensive to start the government back up after a shutdown,” Latta said. “If you think we’re actually saving money, no, it actually costs more, plus, all the employees that were furloughed during the shutdown – they get paid anyway. What you’re looking at with DOGE is to get the spending under control and I’m not sure if they can do it or not but I know I heard the numbers Elon Musk is talking about – he’s trying to find $2 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse.”

More of Latta’s comments can be heard on 99.7FM WKSD and WERT 1220AM/104.3FM at 8:25 a.m. on Sunday.