White Mountain Independent - Kirkpatrick Talks Veterans, Transportation

News Article

By Sean Dieterich

District One Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick spoke May 3 about what she has been doing in the United States House for the first 100 days of the legislative session, including topics of interest to her district.

Kirkpatrick made a stop at Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon's house to address a small gathering. Away from Washington, D.C., Kirkpatrick spent the week visiting various towns and cities in her district. Before Show Low, she also spent some time in St. Johns and Springerville.

After introducing her staff, Kirkpatrick said in the first 100 days they have opened five offices in her district, aside from the main one in D.C. She said she was also assigned committees in the House addressing veterans and transportation issues. Kirkpatrick kicked off her talk with veterans issues.

"We may have more Native American veterans than any district in the country," she said. "More retired veterans than any district in the country."

One of the main issues she tackled, Kirkpatrick said, was the backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She said some veterans in her district have been waiting upwards of two years for word on their claims.

Kirkpatrick, with Mike Coffman, R-Colo., introduced the VA Claims, Operations and Records Efficiency (VA CORE) Act to address the backlog. The bill, she said, directs the Department of Defense to provide the service records of veterans to the VA in an efficient, electronic format.

"We found much of the backlog is transferring the records from the Department of Defense to the VA," she said.

The VA also announced in late April it was going to expedite claims decisions for veterans who have been waiting more than one year. Kirkpatrick encouraged people who knew veterans to have them contact her if they had any issues.

Kirkpatrick also addressed transportation during the meeting. She said she had introduced a transportation plan that would fix roads in the district and provide jobs.

"My vision for the district is a strong, stable economy, so we need to build up our infrastructure, try and make sure transportation funding makes its way to the district," she said. "We still have a jobs deficit in this country, especially in this district."

Kirkpatrick also talked a little bit about U.S. 89A, which collapsed earlier this year. The road stretches from Fredonia to Bitter Springs, en route to Page.

Kirkpatrick said there were a couple injuries as a result of the collapse, when a couple cars passed a snowplow and fell into the hole created. However, she said the snowplow and an oncoming semi saw what happened and blocked the road, so no more vehicles would fall in.

Federal funding has been procured, Kirkpatrick said, to address the closure. She said $2 million was obtained in federal highway funds to create an emergency route for first responders. And last week, she said $35 million was obtained from the federal Department of Transportation to pave an alternate road from Bodaway Gap to Page. However, she said a long-term solution would be needed to ultimately reopen U.S. 89A.

Kirkpatrick spoke about other issues, such as the fate of four coal-fired plants in her district given new Environmental Protection Agency regulations. She said she wants to work with the regulators to strike a balance between clean air and jobs, as she said many jobs would be lost if those plants closed.

Kirkpatrick said she also talked with the Apache County Superintendent of Schools, Barry Williams, and learned that budget cuts have made it hard to recruit teachers and possibly keep some schools open. She added federal sequestration, which went into effect in March, is tough on District One, since much of the district is federal and state land and is not subject to property taxes that help fund school districts.

"We can cut spending, but it needs to be targeted, not a meat axe across the board," she said.

On the bright side, Kirkpatrick said she believes there is more bipartisanship in Congress this legislative session. She said she has even worked a lot with her one-time political rival, Republican Paul Gosar. She said she attributes that to the voters sending a message that they want the two parties to work together.

Kirkpatrick took some time at the end of her talk to entertain questions from the audience. The questions focused on a variety of subjects, including immigration and education.

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