Collegian T he Cameron University
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Monday, September 23, 2019
Volume 101 Issue 2 Photos by Caitlin Anders
The community speaks: Congressman Daniel Pae (left) speaks with an area business owner at a Q&A hosted at Cameron University. Community members in attendance discussed a wide array of topics with the congressman over coffee.
Coffee and Conversation
with Congressman Daniel Pae
Payton Williams
community. Pae, who took office last year, Managing Editor spoke in his opening remarks about @YoureSoVanya the importance of communication and cooperation, and how it has helped him On Thursday, Sept. 12, the CU Black see a lot of success in his short time in Students association hosted a Q&A office. event with State Representative Daniel “Because I had interned twice Pae in the McCasland Ballroom of the at the capital before, I knew the McMahon Centennial Complex. legislative process already,” Pae said. Pae, the representative for Oklahoma “And so I could use my time to focus District 62 at the State House of on relationship building. All of the Representatives, began the event with bills I have authored have passed on a very brief introductory speech before a bipartisan basis, and I credit my opening the floor to questions from the willingness to cooperate with my colleagues with that.” Pae also spoke in his opening remarks about his attempts to stay involved in his district, especially noting the time he has spent volunteering as a substitute teacher at Lawton Public Schools. “It was very important to me to get to know what’s going on in the classroom myself, as opposed to reading about it,” Pae said. “I wanted to take the initiative to meet with teachers and staff, and get their perspective.” Pae also touched upon two subjects he wanted particularly to discuss,
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subjects that he stated interested him: Renewable energy’s future in the state of Oklahoma, and prison reform, subjects which most of the questions in the room in some way related to, once the floor was opened for questions. When the floor was opened, however, the first question was not related to either subject. One attendee challenged Pae on Pae’s recent bill relating to raising the speed limit on the Lawton-adjacent part of I-44. “You proposed a bill, that seems about to pass,” the man said, “to raise the speed limit to 80 miles an hour on the highway. What are you gonna do next time when people are now gonna go 85 miles an hour? Or 90? Or 100?” Pae was not taken aback by this line of questioning, even as the man drew attention to Pae’s approval rating. “There are a lot of different polls and rankings out there,” Pae said. “I only focus on trying to do what is best for my constituents.” The level headed, non-combative demeanor that Pae established in answering this first question remained throughout the hour-long Q&A session, where subjects ranged from prison reform, Medicaid expansion and the future of the legalization of marijuana this state. One particular answer that Pae gave during the Q&A proved very effective in grabbing the interest of the room. During the series of questions presented to Pae by the audience on the subject of prison reform, a man in the audience stood up and changed the subject, talking about the issue of suicide prevention and awareness. The man mentioned the high suicide rate in Oklahoma, and Pae connected it with something unexpected. “We also have the second highest uninsured rate in the country,” Pae said. “And healthcare is not a partisan
issue to me. All of you, regardless of political party, get sick. Funding is important, and part of the discussion on that will be about funding for mental health.” Pae said he finds the idea of partisan politics ridiculous. “I am who I am, and I’m nontraditional in a lot of ways as a representative,” Pae said, “and I think that has a lot to do with my age.” Pae, who is a young representative, also expanded a bit on what he meant about his age informing his politics. “People in our generation are a lot more progressive by and large, I think,” Pae said. Pae’s positions on the policies he’d come to discuss established seemed to support this, especially in his opposition to the private prison business, which was at the heart of his discussion of prison reform. “For private prisons, their goal is to maximize profits,” Pae said. “And so the more people incarcerated, the more profit you can make, and that is a concern I have.” He also spoke about renewable energy, and Governor Kevin Stitt’s plan to make Oklahoma a top ten solar energy state in the coming years. “I think that’s entirely possible,” Pae said. “Not immediately, certainly, but within my lifetime, I believe it will happen. Pae spoke about the importance of relationship building, and of crossing party lines, and on that subject, when questioned on whether or not there was a place for anger in politics, Pae spoke about the importance of temperament in his work in the State House. “I’ve always found that, in life, when you act out of anger or raw emotion, things don’t tend to go well,” Pae said. “If you take a deep breath, take a step back, and reflect on what’s happening, you can make better rational decisions.”
Wellness Center
Runners take first
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