{"id":140051,"date":"2021-02-09T03:06:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T08:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=140051"},"modified":"2021-02-09T03:06:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T08:06:07","slug":"latta-talks-capitol-break-in-impeachment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/02\/09\/latta-talks-capitol-break-in-impeachment\/","title":{"rendered":"Latta talks Capitol break-in, impeachment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DAVE MOSIER & CHRIS ROBERTS\/<\/strong>Van Wert independent<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Representative Bob Latta (R-5th District) visited the area on Monday to discuss Washington, D.C.-related issues, including the break-in at the Capitol on January 6, as well as local issues such as the proposed FEMA flood plain revisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latta said he \u201csaw the entire thing happen\u201d from the vantage point of his office, which overlooks the west face of the Capitol, as people broke into the Capitol building for the first time in more than 200 years. Noting he was a history major in college before going on to earn a law degree, Latta said the last time anyone broke into the Capitol was August 24, 1814, when the British briefly captured Washington, D.C., and burned the Capitol and the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. Representative Bob Latta is shown in Van Wert. VW independent file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe never want to see anything like that ever happen again in America,\u201d he noted, \u201cit was a travesty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latta added that he feels those who participated in the incident committed crimes against the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBreaking and entering — I\u2019m an attorney by training — they broke into the Capitol,\u201d he said, despite \u201cDo Not Enter\u201d signs everywhere and other warnings not to trespass on federal property. \u201cIt\u2019s almost as if people didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also because of his background as an attorney, Latta noted it\u2019s crucial that those who committed crimes be punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a country of law and we\u2019ve got to enforce that; it\u2019s very, very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congressman also was not happy about the fact that the area around the Capitol is now \u201can armed camp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want that; it\u2019s \u2018The People\u2019s House\u2019,\u201d Latta said of the situation, while also noting that he is ready to move on. \u201cThe sooner this is behind us, the better for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is especially true for former President Donald Trump\u2019s impeachment trial, which opened on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Noting his Constitutional viewpoint as a strict constructionist, Latta said he agrees with the 45 Republican senators who tried to throw out the trial as being unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re absolutely correct,\u201d he said, noting that the only other time a federal employee was impeached after leaving office, back in 1876, the man was acquitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you read the Constitution, it all says one thing: you\u2019re removing someone from office,\u201d Latta stated, adding, \u201cit\u2019s almost like a moot point, a show trial for Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congressman said, in his opinion, it\u2019s time to move forward and deal with issues he feels are more important: COVID-19 and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Republican now in the minority, although not by much, with a 50-50 tie in the Senate and just five seats needed in the House for a GOP majority, Latta took a swipe at President Biden\u2019s first days in office, noting his displeasure at the more than 40 executive orders issued, as well as scrapping the Keystone XL pipeline. \u201cWe\u2019re going backwards,\u201d he said, stating his opinion that the pipeline was needed to maintain the country\u2019s energy independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congressman was pleased with the progress made in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine, saying he was encouraged by the 42 million people who have received the vaccine as of Monday — including 6 million just over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, he was quick to give credit for the speed of vaccine development to former Vice President Mike Pence efforts during the Trump Administration\u2019s Warp Speed vaccine initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latta did note that more needs to be done, especially considering the coronavirus variants now showing up across the globe, as well as here in the U.S., while urging caution on Americans who feel getting the vaccine completely protects them from COVID-19 and its variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust because you received the shots doesn\u2019t mean you can go out and do anything,\u201d he said, while urging all Americans to get the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locally, the 5th District representative said he was in the area to assist local governments on issues related to proposed flood plain revisions that could negatively affect local property owners, as well as COVID-19 issues in Paulding County, before heading back to Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER & CHRIS ROBERTS\/Van Wert independent U.S. Representative Bob Latta (R-5th District) visited the area on Monday to discuss Washington, D.C.-related issues, including the break-in at the Capitol on January 6, as well as local issues such as the proposed FEMA flood plain revisions. Latta said he \u201csaw the entire thing happen\u201d from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 20:24:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}