Congressman, students tackle wide array of international, U.S. issues

Given the opportunity Friday to hear from U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., Flathead High School students in government classes were able to ask him questions on Syria, refugees, gun control and marijuana use.

Zinke, who is from Whitefish, first talked to students on these topics in addition to ISIS, federal government oversight and economic growth followed by a question-and-answer session Friday morning.

“After a year in Congress I haven’t seen anything that isn’t fixable — that’s a good thing,” said Zinke, who is running for re-election to the House.

Then he talked about where he stood politically.

“I’m really not hard right or red. I’m really not hard blue or Democrat. I’m red, white and blue. I don’t really care if you’re Republican or a Democrat or an independent,” Zinke said. “All I really care about is number one you are an American and you understand the American values that we have and why we’re a great country. And I don’t think we should apologize for being great.”

He touched on U.S. world leadership.

“I can tell you the world is a lot more stable with the United States leading and being active then when we retreat,” Zinke said.

He later added, “When [the] U.S. doesn’t lead, no other country can and we see what’s happening overseas,” he said noting China expanding in the South China Sea (potentially impacting U.S. exports) and the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacting the U.S. in trade in matters of trade.

When it comes to Islamic State, Zinke was staunch in his stance: “They’re evil. You’re not going to reform ISIS. ISIS wants to destroy you. And they’re a threat. The U.S. has to step up help to eliminate that threat.”

This comment tied into a student’s question on whether Zinke thought ground troops should be placed in Syria.

“In Syria either we take a stand or we accept that the Islam terrorist organizations are going to expand, and when they expand and take root we’re going to have the potential of having a catastrophe of tens of millions of people leaving their homes all the way across the Middle East and Africa — a scale of exodus that’s on probably [the scale of] World War II,” Zinke responded.

“I do think we’re going to have to put troops there. Now my daughter is a Navy diver and my son-in-law is a Navy SEAL and you’re going to find that I’m probably the last person that wants to go to war. I’ve seen it. I think war is a horrendous experience ... but there are times when you have to fight and when we do fight as a country.”

Answering another student’s question about Syrian refugees coming to the United States, Zinke said it was appropriate for the short term following the tradition of this country as a “safe haven,” but not without a thorough vetting system he didn’t believe was currently in place.

“Before we take refugees in, let’s take a pause and do a vetting process so we have a degree of assurance people are not here to do harm,” he said.

On the subject of the federal government and oversight, less is more so innovation is not stifled, according to Zinke.

“When we are given the opportunity to innovate, think outside of the box, America stands alone,” Zinke said, adding that he sees a threat in Washington with the government becoming “one-size-fits-all and too powerful.”

Reducing big government is an avenue for expanding the economy and job growth, Zinke said.

“Growing the economy is getting the government out of the way to allow your generation to innovate and think outside the box and you can ‘t grow when you’re being told what to do,” Zinke said. “When you graduate high school if you want to get a job it should be available — or a track for you to either go to college or vocational school.”

Federal oversight and management of natural resources also concerned Zinke.

“When Washington decided that they can manage our water in Montana better than we can, I ask why,” Zinke said. “Water and issues of the environment are better when they’re managed locally,” Zinke said.

He also cited last summer’s Glacier Rim Fire and the costs to manage it. Zinke was a cosponsor of the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 with the goal to increase harvest and fuel treatment on federal forests.

“What I fight every day is that Washington knows better. They don’t,” he said.

Students also posed questions on marijuana and gun control.

“I think there probably is a place for marijuana,” he said, referring to medical usage.

“As recreation, do I think it is as bad as alcohol? It certainly isn’t good. You’re not a genius when you smoke. You may think you’re a genius, but the fact is, it dulls your senses and it dulls your mind,” Zinke said. “I think you have to be careful. It’s not the great panacea.”

He added that using marijuana for recreation is probably not a path to great achievement.

“You can’t join the military and smoke pot. You can’t be in athletics and smoke pot and you can’t really study and raise your academics smoking pot,” Zinke said.

A student then asked Zinke if he agreed with President Obama placing more restrictions on gun sales, he answered with a quick “no.”

After an hour had passed, the session concluded and students rose to shake Zinke’s hand. One student, standing up, remarked to her friend about the discussion: “That was good.”

Also during his Kalispell visit on Friday, Zinke toured Applied Materials and stopped by the Winter Warm-Up event at Gateway Community Center.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.