Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Crowd Uses McKeon’s Town Meeting to Lash Out Against Clinton : Economy: About 200 Antelope Valley residents show up to condemn Congress and the President’s tax plan. But the representative also feels their anger.
LANCASTER — If U.S. Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon’s first town meeting since being elected in November to represent north Los Angeles County was any indication, it’s getting to be dangerous for congressmen to go out in public.
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 Antelope Valley residents used McKeon’s forum in Lancaster on Wednesday night to rail against President Clinton’s tax proposals, complain about the continuing weak economy, and savage the Democrat-dominated Congress.
Although the heavily Republican crowd agreed with their new conservative congressman on most issues, McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) still ended up taking the brunt of their palpable anger and frustration during the often emotional session.
“Remember, I’m new,†he reminded the crowd at one point.
“The fervor and frustration was really powerful. The vibes in the room were really something,†McKeon, a former Santa Clarita mayor, said after the two-hour session at Lancaster City Park. “If I were a Democrat, I would have been crucified here tonight.â€
The session was McKeon’s first open-to-all town meeting since being elected to the 25th District representing the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and parts of the northern San Fernando Valley. He has scheduled another town meeting Saturday morning in Newhall and one Saturday afternoon in Granada Hills.
McKeon’s staff and others had figured the Lancaster session might draw up to 80 people on a work night. But it drew nearly three times that many, and emotions ran so high that Lancaster City Councilman George Root wondered aloud whether sheriff’s deputies should have been called.
“Where am I going to pay more? I’m already being taxed into poverty,†said one man, drawing loud applause from the crowd.
“Give us back our government and our country. We’re tired of being squeezed,†said another man who said he worked at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.
McKeon responded by saying he and other Republicans were fighting Clinton’s tax plans, but bemoaned his and the Republican minority’s inability to pass their own proposals in the Democrat-controlled Congress. “You’re preaching to the guy who’s saying the same thing,†McKeon told the audience.
On the subject of government, McKeon said he had supported a failed move to cut spending for congressional staff, but nonetheless said, “I’m not spending all of what they give me.†On jobs, McKeon pushed the Republican theme of less government regulation and tax cuts and incentives for businesses.
A Latino activist in the audience asked whether McKeon would condemn state Assemblyman William J. (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale), a former Palmdale mayor, for recently distributing a poem mocking illegal immigrants that many considered racist. But McKeon sidestepped the controversial issue.
As the crowd booed and people, most of them also Knight supporters, shouted “Don’t worry about it†and “Don’t even bother,†McKeon replied: “I really want to stay out of that. If you have a question about Pete Knight, talk to Pete Knight.†That drew loud applause from the audience.
Despite the often angry audience complaints, McKeon spokesman Armando Azarloza said the town meeting was a big success.
McKeon announced this week’s three meetings in a recent 173,000-piece districtwide mailing, an annual report on federal spending that cost $30,000 in public funds.
On other issues:
* McKeon called Clinton’s deficit-reduction plan that includes the tax increases and spending cuts “a subterfuge,†saying the national debt still would increase from $4.3 trillion this year to nearly $5.9 trillion by 1997.
* The congressman said he is “strongly opposed†to the President’s proposal to end the ban on gays in the military, favors a plan to stop granting citizenship rights to children of illegal aliens born in the United States, and opposes U.S. military intervention in Bosnia.
* However, McKeon, the president of the 47-member Republican freshman class, acknowledged he is at odds with many colleagues in opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement. Although it might prove beneficial in the long run, McKeon said he feared it would cost too many U.S. jobs.
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