Newly re-elected Syracuse-area Congressmember John Mannion says he’s ready to get things done after sitting through the most unproductive Congress in a century. There’s a long list of priorities as Mannion tries to steer clear of political partisanship.
“We need to lower gas prices and home energy costs…we also have major concerns around data centers and AI…we have to restore accountability around DHS and ICE…we need serious anticorruption legislation…a ban on trading stock…pardoning reform," Mannion said Wednesday at a press conference where he ran down a long list of priorities.
So, where to start? Mannion said now that Democrats will have majorities in the house and senate, they have to deliver for the people.
“We need to protect Social Security. We need to make sure that there's affordable health care for people. We have a homeless crisis. We have a mental health crisis. And we are not focusing on those things," he said. "I just watched two years of priorities not being advanced.”
But he said he’s encouraged by President Trump stating that he accepts the results of the election.
“That was a moment that we needed, right? And I'm glad that it happened," he said. "That gives me more hope than I had before that we can actually come together and get things done.”
Concurrently, Mannion said, Democrats are also preparing to hold the president and his administration accountable for numerous indiscretions.
“We don't need a retribution or retaliation campaign, but what we do need with the gavel with the hearings is the truth being told to the American people," he said. "This war in Iran, there's a reason the press are being boxed out of the Pentagon. The cost of the war. the depletion of weaponry and the damage to assets and the casualties of individuals. We are not getting that full story. And the American people are demanding that.”
Mannion said what we saw on election night is Americans seeking transparency about the war and so much more.
