LaMalfa’s comment was a joking response to a question at an impromptu town hall at the Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair on Saturday afternoon, but he also expressed his support for the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors’ vote earlier this week to pursue from the state of California.

   The Republican representative for California’s first congressional district said if the state of Jefferson was something the people of that area, which includes parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon, wanted, he would support the new state at the legislative level.

   “I encourage people that if this really lights a fire for them, go for it,” LaMalfa said.

   LaMalfa also expressed his thoughts on the United States taking military action in Syria, which will be the first order of business when he returns to Washington, D.C., on Monday. As a country, we can’t condone the civil war in Syria, LaMalfa said. But without more convincing information, he said he’s unlikely to vote yes to President Barack Obama’s suggested strikes.

   One young man told LaMalfa during the town hall that he opposes any military action in Syria, in part because there is no proof that the much-talked-about chemical warfare against Syrian civilians came from the Assad regime.

   The congressman, who sits on the natural resources and agriculture committees, also addressed other hotbutton issues at the town hall, such as immigration, the Affordable Care Act, the farm bill and the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Travel Management Plan.

   In general, the proposed new health care system is not set up to work, LaMalfa said, explaining that both businesses and private citizens won’t be able to afford it.

   It’s backwards to think about requiring people to have full health insurance, LaMalfa said, explaining that a 22-year-old male might not need full coverage and choose to opt out, but then in case of an emergency, becomes a burden to taxpayers. The better   option would be to allow people to choose the amount of coverage they need, he said.

   The crowd also got fired up over LaMalfa’s comments on veterans’ benefits, the claims for which he said need to be processed in a timely manner, rather than giving bonuses to Veterans Affairs brass for keeping costs down.

   Overall, the congressman encouraged the crowd at the fair to exercise their right to vote to send a message about what they are happy with, and what they are not, to their government representatives.

    [email protected]    

  H&N photo by Nora Avery-Page

   Congressman Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., took questions from the crowd at a town hall meeting at the Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair on Saturday.