Collins takes on federal agencies

Tenth District U.S. Representative Mike Collins (R-Ga.) told a crowd in Greensboro Tuesday night that if there’s one message he has, it is that decisions being made by federal agencies under the Biden Administration just “don’t make sense.”

It’s a message commonly used by the political party not in charge at the moment and brought applause from most of the bipartisan crowd at Lakeside Church in Greensboro.

The town hall meeting was sponsored by the Greene County Republican party but a smattering of democrats and independents attended.

Collins, who lives in Jackson where he owns a trucking company, was elected last November, filling a seat vacated by Jody Hice. Instead of seeking re-election, Hice decided to run for Georgia Secretary of State but lost in the Republican primary to the incumbent, Brad Raffensperger.

The freshman congressman was placed on three House committees – Natural Resources, as well as Science, Space, and Technology, plus Transportation and Infrastructure. He used examples from hearings in his first six months to explain his disdain for federal government agencies.

Collins talked about an area of northern Minnesota that has large amounts of critical metals. According to one mining company it “has the world’s largest known undeveloped copper-nickel deposits.”

He said an administration that pushes for electric vehicles is fighting efforts to build three new mines that would extract critical metals used for car batteries and other green technologies.

“They (mining companies) have been trying to get a permit for 20 years,” he said, adding that new jobs are in the balance. “They’re killing them up there.”

Government officials say toxins from the mines could irreparably harm waterways which would impact water supplies and tourism in the state known for its “10,000 Lakes.”

On another topic, Collins got pushback when he launched into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plans to lower speed limits for recreational fishing vessels.

Nets and fishing equipment are blamed, in part, for the declining population of the North Atlantic right whales. Vessels longer than 65 feet are now limited to 10 knots (11 mph) within 100 miles of the Atlantic coast during the winter calving season. The new regulation would include smaller ships longer than 35 feet.

“They’re going to literally kill the entire recreational fishing industry in one rule,” he said. “For some right whales.”

“There are only 340 of them left,” shouted a woman in the audience.

“That’s right, 20 years ago there were 300,” Collins replied.

“No, that’s not true,” she responded.

”Yes ma’am but I’m not going to debate with you tonight,” he said, adding the right whale population is declining because fewer of them are mating, not because boats are killing them. “This doesn’t make common sense."

Environmentalists argue that the increasingly lower birth rate is caused at least in part by stress and injury from fishing gear.

Later, Collins said he had just returned earlier in the day from Richland, Washington, where he and other Republican congressmen held a hearing regarding four hydroelectric dams on the Snake River.

“They want to tear them down because of the salmon runs,” he said.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation have plans to breach the dams to make it easier for salmon to migrate up the river as adults return to their breeding grounds. The salmon population has been dropping in an area whose economy depends on salmon production.

“I don’t know where they think they’re going to replace the power,” he said.

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Supporters say that new environmentally friendly energy sources can replace power produced by the dams.

Taking questions from the audience, Collins jumped on one about immigration.

“I say we cut off all immigration. Put a moratorium on it,” he said, “… until we get that wall finished. There can’t be talk about anything until you secure the border.”

On energy independence, he says to build more refineries and drill for more oil.

On childcare, “I don’t think the government should be raising kids.”

On funding the FBI and DOJ and what one questioner called “Congress interfering with ongoing investigations,” the freshman member of Congress stuck with the party line.

“I think Congress is doing a very good job of oversight, bringing things to light,” he said, referencing congressional questions about the DOJ and Attorney General Merrick Garland and probes into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

In the end, Collins reiterated his contempt for federal agencies. He said the House of Representatives, which controls government spending, can use the power of the purse to influence changes.

“That’s where we’ve got to make our difference in Congress right now,” he said, “and that’s where we can.”

The 10th congressional district is made up of all or part of 18 counties in middle Georgia including Greene, Putnam, Hancock, and Morgan.