Congressman David Valadao talks health care, immigration, Washington, D.C., and Donald Trump
He's fine talking about legislation, the turbulent world of
But even his staff couldn't talk him into bragging on himself.
"I don't seek out the cameras," he said.
Which makes him a bit of an odd duck out in the nation's capital, where the tempest of controversy, toxic debate and social media fireworks seems to churns perpetually.
"I do my best not to get involved in it," Valadao said. "I will get involved when there is a substantial discussion" of how to get things done.
But Valadao is far from an anonymous figure.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- the main powerhouse for electing
Valadao nearly laughs when he's asked if he has a safe seat.
In 2016, he said, his district was the "second-worst performing
But Valadao has won comfortable victories in each of the last three elections, weathering challenges from
Next year, he knows, he will take heat for voting in favor of the American Health Care Act, the bill passed by the House to repeal the ACA.
Valadao said his vote came from a desire to create action that might bring both
"I had to choose to move the debate forward," he said.
He knows the hospitals in his district -- from
But, he said, "people aren't happy on Medicaid. My hospitals are saying they're losing specialists. People go to the emergency room because a doctor won't see them."
There are things in Obamacare, Valadao said, that worked.
But it's far from perfect.
Republican bills aren't perfect, either, he said.
But
"There are a lot of things where they could have said, 'Get rid of that (provision) and we'll give you 30 votes so you don't have to worry about those 30 votes over there."
Immigration is another critical issue in his district, a largely Latino area that stretches from east
"I agree that we have to secure our border," he said.
But he also supports a way to get the children of immigrants who've been in the nation illegally "out of the shadows" and make them permanent residents as long as they don't have a criminal record.
He supports a path for their parents to be legitimized as well, he said, though that's harder because they are breaking the law just by being in
What would their criminal record look like?
"Anybody who's ever applied for work on a farm with forged papers is guilty of a felony," he said.
The real solution is to pass legislation that fixes the flow of immigration so people don't resort to entering the country illegally.
As for pot, he is sympathetic to the medical marijuana concept. It isn't a miracle drug, he said, but it does help people and he's known some of them.
But
Mostly, Valadao told the editorial board, he wants
Things in
But things are getting done.
He pointed to a piece of his own legislation that has passed the House and is poised to pass the
The bill requires federal government agencies to remove or partially redact citizens'
Around 24,000 types of mail are sent out by the government with full
And some of them are postcards -- with the number printed in plain site for anyone who sees the mail to photograph and steal.
That's a fraud risk for people, Valadao said.
So how about President
"I have personally not met the president," he said.
He thinks the administration knows where he stood last year, Valadao said, but he hasn't gotten any "blow-back" from the
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