Congressman Castro Says Congress Has Chance to Get Things Done in Bipartisan Way

Things don't tend to happen quickly in Washington, Congressman Joaquin Castro says, so he would like citizens to push their representatives to spend more time in Washington so they can get more done. He said he is focused on the many priorities that San Antonio brings to him including water, transportation, cyber issues, the UN designation for the missions, education, labor and workforce challenges and of course our focus on keeping the military in San Antonio and building on their presence.

Castro is now on the Armed Services Committee and is proud to be able to represent San Antonio's issues on the committee. He is the only Bexar County representative on the Committee. He said he has had a conversation with the committee chairman to come tour Joint Base Lackland. 

He said a question he gets asked again and again is if Congress will get anything done this time? Castro told the group that the last two years of Congress have been the least productive in our history. He was optimistic that if things work a little better, you will see some progress, similar to what happened during the Clinton Administration when the Republicans controlled Congress, but the White House had a Democrat.

He first noted that he saw hope on criminal justice reform. When we think of sentencing, we could potentially see some new legislation such as using body cameras on police forms has potential. He also said that we would see some helpful legislation on trade. Japan is one of the countries that is a part of the TPP agreement, and we should be able to see the possibility of the administration being able to negotiate trade more openly. While he said he hasn't made a decision, he is keeping his mind open for the possibility of good legislation being written now.

The third is immigration reform. He said it would be a tough issue. Castro said he supports comprehensive immigration reform and does not know what pieces can be passed, and hopes that adding additional work visas is possible. He said he would be open to piece meal legislation. He especially hopes for Visa expansion for high tech jobs.

Listen to his presentation here.