at young families today, trying to start off, build careers and buy their first home, and too often, that is so far out of reach. As a child who came from humble beginnings and has achieved great success, I want to ensure that opportunity remains available, that there is a path to the American dream. As a newly elected Congressman, has anything surprised you about working in D.C.? Not necessarily a surprise, but working in D.C. is a non-stop experience. It is a series of leaving one meeting early to arrive late to another one. You can work all day, every day, and still not accomplish everything. There is always more to be done. I’m used to working hard, and I’ve put together an incredible team to ensure things get done. Even when I’m home in the District, I’m constantly traveling to make sure that I’m doing the District work — meeting with farmers and ranchers, natural resource folks and small business owners — listening and hearing from stakeholders and constituents. What are your thoughts on the direction of the new administration and how it has been to work with President Trump? Trump ran on certain issues that he was very bold about, and many of the issues he campaigned on were also issues that many Republicans, including myself, ran on. For the most part, we’ve been very aligned. I’ve been to the White House a couple of times, and in person, the president is very likable, funny and friendly. I’ve really enjoyed working with this administration. We’re accomplishing a lot for the American people. And, for me, this administration allows me to get policy done that I ran on and promised my constituents. What are the main issues you’re currently working on? Montana is an energy- and agricultural-based state, and I am dealing with a lot of issues that surround those industries. In terms of both of those, I think they’re national security issues. Energy independence absolutely is a national security issue. And when it comes to our farmers and ranchers, if we lose the ability to grow food, that is probably one of our biggest national security issues. Throughout the history of humanity, if you want to bring a country down, you make it so it can’t feed itself. The other issues I am focused on are right-sizing regulations so that we’re not putting bottlenecks on access to capital, so that capital markets are available. We don’t want a weaponized Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that is essentially slowing down the ability of community lenders to provide money to farmers, ranchers and individuals seeking car loans. By reigning in the CFPB, we allow bankers to do what they know best: underwrite the person they know, the business they know, the product they know, the house they know and the industry they know. At the end of the day, whether you’re a family starting out, a small business or an auto dealer, one of the biggest limiting factors in being able to not just survive but grow is access to capital. That’s a big thing that I’m working on in the Financial Services Committee. If people aren’t accessing capital, they’re not buying cars, fixing cars or doing any of those things. So, making sure that, on the financial services side, we are right-sizing regulations and protecting the consumer so they can invest in their family, invest in their future, buy their house and buy their car, is a priority. What message would you like to give to Montana auto dealers? I want them to know that my goal is to make sure that there’s still a path to build that American dream — anything that I can do to make sure that small businesses and auto dealers, many of which are family businesses, succeed. I sit on the Small Business Committee and the Financial Services Committee and I, along with my colleagues, am trying to limit the hurdles that have to be met. I want constituents to build their small businesses and have their family businesses thrive. The other thing that affects everybody, and not only affects the auto dealers, is access to capital. I want the auto dealers who are reading this to know that we’re doing everything we can to ensure that business in Montana and across the country, not just survives, but thrives. 16 MONTANA AUTO DEALER
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