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Mooney holds telephone town hall

WASHINGTON — Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) held a telephone town hall Monday, answering questions on an array of issues. This includes the future of the Affordable Care Act, coal mining and the possibility of a congressional investigation of President Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia.

The town hall comes after a recent string of demonstrations at town halls across the country. Some elected officials have claimed attendees are being paid to protest at these meetings. Trump said Feb. 21 on Twitter the crowds were “planned out by liberal activists.” No evidence so far has proven this argument.

Mooney answered questions from callers, as well as questions submitted online.

One issue Mooney discussed significantly was “Obamacare,” and what congressional Republicans plan on doing about the law.

Mooney said his goal is to repeal the law, but also keep certain parts of the health care policy.

Mooney is co-sponsoring House Resolution 1072, also titled the “Obamacare Replacement Act.”

“Children up to 25 will still stay on (their parent’s) health care,” Mooney said Monday. “You still have to, obviously, sign up like you have now, and you’re going to have at least a two-year window to sign up. It’s going to be better, actually. I think you’ll have more choices. Your costs will go down. I’m confident things are going to be better off.”

H.R. 1072 would repeal the individual and employer mandates and help individuals purchase insurance from numerous states.

“Americans should be given more choice in health care and at a lower cost,” said Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., in a Feb. 16 statement. “Simply put, this bill accomplishes that by encouraging a more competitive marketplace and expanding options.”

Mooney also touched on the future of the Miners Protection Act, which is funded through the Abandoned Mine Lands fund. In December 2016, funding was extended through a resolution, but that money is only in place until April.

“There’s kind of an agenda — a pretty extreme agenda — that’s being used to attack coal mining,” Mooney said. “President Obama made it clear he was going to bankrupt the industry as best he could.”

Mooney answered several questions submitted online, including one regarding the idea of investigating Trump over connections between him and Russia, including how much Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“I’m not going to support those efforts,” Mooney said. “I think they’re misguided and wrong. I don’t think that there’s evidence for that, and I think frankly President Trump won the election fair and square. At this point, we should support him and try to work with him as much as possible.”

One caller, Timothy from Charleston, later asked about conducting an investigation, connecting the current situation to the multiple House investigations about the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

“Is not the integrity of our nation more important than political parties?” Timothy said. “I don’t care about parties. I care about the United States and my grandchildren and my children’s lives.”

Mooney responded by saying the election was over.

“The voter’s have spoken, and I think we just need to work together as best we can in a bipartisan fashion when we can,” Mooney said. “Supporting the coal industry, again, for the sake of your children and grandchildren, particularly here in West Virginia. We need jobs. We need good employers.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has previously said he will continue investigating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure leading the State Department.





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