Amash answers questions in Town Hall at library

Roughly one hundred people gathered at the Grand Rapids Public Library for the Tuesday evening town hall meeting with US Representative, Justin Amash (R-Cascade Township).

During the hour long question-and-answer-style meeting, Amash discussed his first year in Congress where he prides himself on being present and active in all 948 floor votes. He gave an explanation of each vote posted to his Facebook page. Recently, Amash voted against the Debt Ceiling Compromise and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) because, he said, they are more like "political deals than compromises."

Amash estimates his independent/non-partisan vote to be "about 75% Republican." In regard to Congress, he would like to see an end to the partisan deadlock, finding that amongst Congress "the most principled are the least partisaned."

He believes the national debt, which is presently equal to the gross domestic product, should be a non-partisan issue as well as the main priority of Congress. He proposes that cuts need to made to such programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense spending. Amash criticizes the US defense support of European and Asian countries, claiming it allows these countries a larger budget for socialistic programs because they spend nothing on defense.

Standing for smaller government and strict adherence to the Constitution, Amash believes "what occurs in our daily lives and private lives" should be left to state and local government to decide. This includes such decisions as gay marriage, which should be "left to the states to decide," and education, which was the only topic he was challenged on this evening for which he argued that "education is not found in the Constitution."

Amongst the Amash supporters in attendance, there were comments of praise calling Amash "a true statesman" and even one inquiry about possible future considerations of running for President, because "a president should never sign a law that violates the Constitution."