Rosendale Visits Roosevelt County
Pipelines, drugs and borders were some of the topics addressed by U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont, during his visit to Wolf Point on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Meeting in the Roosevelt County commissioners’ office, Rosendale at first provided an update of his first month in office. That time span has included a vote of whether to certify the Electoral College results and an impeachment process regarding former President Donald Trump.
“Now, we can finally get on to work,” Rosendale said. He will serve on the natural resources committee and veterans affairs committee.
The Republican was very disappointed in President Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
“This is a big problem,” Rosendale said. “We see a lot of this stuff coming from this administration.”
Rosendale noted that he also is worried about the future of the Dakota Access pipeline.
He said he is a believer in wind, solar and nuclear energy, “But you can’t just shut our base off,” Rosendale said.
When asked how he would convince opponents of the Keystone Pipeline that the project is needed, the representative pointed to recent black-outs including in Mc-Cone County.
“We need our energy to be developed,” Rosendale said, noting that other resources aren’t currently dependable and affordable.
He added the best wind turbines perform at a high level only about 35 percent of the time. “What do we do the rest of the time?” he asked.
The representative said the people who will be hurt most are the ones who can afford it the least. Energy prices will increase faster than cost of living wages.
Rosendale said the stoppage of building the southern border walls has a huge impact including for companies in Bozeman and North Dakota.
“These are lost jobs, local economies are being impacted,” Rosendale said.
He’s fearful that the opening of the southern border will result in an increased of drug and human trafficking including on reservation areas. “Now, every town becomes a border town,” he said.
After County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers mentioned the need for an active drug task force, Rosendale said he’s had conversations with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen regarding drug use enforcement.
“We need to get it stronger that we’ve ever been able to before,” Oelkers said.
Rosendale said one of his goals is to return the Port of Raymond to normal operations.
He noted families who live across the border haven’t been able to visit each other because of the restrictions.
As he heads back to Washington, D.C., Rosendale said his biggest concerns include the development of natural resources, immigration and maintaining Second Amendment rights. He’s also worried about federal voting changes.
“These are the kind of things that I’m trying to watch,” he said.
