Montana Congressman on Fertilizer, Politics, and Immigration
Montana Eastern District Congressman Matt Rosendale called in to the KGVO Newsmakers Line on Tuesday to discuss several issues he’s working on in the U.S. House of Representatives.
One issue of vital importance to Montana agriculture is the price and availability of fertilizer.
“The fertilizer issue now that we're coming into this supposed springtime weather,” began Congressman Rosendale. “We're really concerned about the inputs for the agricultural community across the State, Peter. And one of the biggest inputs is fertilizer costs. We sent a letter to the administration, trying to get them to do everything possible to help drive down fertilizer costs for the producers.”
Rosendale addressed the issues on both the northern and southern borders.
“We relaxed those ridiculous mandates for truck drivers that required vaccinations before they can start transporting products back and forth across the Canadian border,” he said. “A lot of our fertilizer comes from Canada, and meanwhile, we've got a southern border where they're just allowing literally millions of people to stream across. And then we've got a northern border where we're trying to get fertilizer and other inputs for our agricultural community, and then we can’t accomplish it.”
Rosendale said the Biden Administration is responsible for the massive inflation affecting Montana and the rest of the country and how it will affect the midterm elections.
“It is crippling our country, whether you're looking at the cost of energy, whether you're looking at the economy in general,” he said. “The inflation, the shortages of products on the shelves, our standing overseas, the conflicts that are cropping up everywhere that this administration is drawing us into. It's very problematic. So are we are we optimistic? Yes, but I can tell you right now, I will not rest on any laurels that have been established by the Republicans. We're going to go out there and we're going to fight for every vote.”
Rosendale said he is hoping for a ‘red wave’ to sweep Republicans back into a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, where all budget and spending issues begin.
“We hope to take this budget and have strong enough leadership that we go over to the Senate and say, ‘look, if you try and fatten this thing up, like a big old hog at a luau, we're not going to take it back’. That's where you start directing and funding direct policy and if you if you simply start cutting funding for programs that that are not effective, then that's where we're going to start reeling government back in.”
Rosendale said there are now seven candidates vying for the Eastern District Congressional seat in Montana, and he hopes to prevail for a second term.