A meet-and-greet with U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly drew a large turnout in Eupora last week.
The Republican 1st District congressman from Saltillo met with constituents at the Eupora Community Center on Sept. 14. He spoke at the invitation of Mayor Blake McMullan and learned about local needs.
National issues Kelly spoke on included the withdrawal from Afghanistan and deadly attack on American service members and civilians. He said he will continue to push for answers as a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee.
Regarding the Senate’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, Kelly said he can live with some of its proposals such as rebuilding roads and bridges. However, he said it is not as fiscally conservative as he would like.
Asked what he had learned about climate change and what Mississippi should do in response, the congressman said he was not a climate change denier and that it needs to be addressed. However, he said this should mainly be done in treaties with other nations “that have no interest in doing the right thing.”
Kelly also responded to a question about the Defense Department’s requirement for members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He said the military has the right to mandate the vaccine but does not think there should be negative consequences for soldiers who refuse it.
“I think it’s a personal responsibility to get vaccinated,” said Kelly, who has received the vaccine. “I do encourage everyone to get vaccinated.”
The Biden administration also plans to require employers with at least 100 workers to force employees to get vaccinated or produce weekly test results showing they are virus free. Kelly said he believes the federal mandate is illegal and unconstitutional.
The congressman, who is in his fourth term, has a local connection in that his wife is the former Shelia Stephens of Eupora.
‘Focused Vision
for Eupora’
Mayor McMullan also addressed those gathered on getting Eupora in the conversation for jobs, economic development and federal funding. He gave a PowerPoint presentation titled “Eupora: Building a Better Tomorrow.” It included a “Focused Vision for Eupora” with these highlights:
Reinvigorating Eupora — Key Issues
• Make Eupora a safer community.
• Identify strategy for downtown development
• Improve streets, public spaces and parks
• Affordable housing and equitable development
• Develop tourism plan
• Support renewable energy.
“We’re ready to get this community rolling,” McMullan said.
In a social media post afterwards, he wrote, “We are devoted to have ‘Eupora’ and ‘Webster County’ in the conversation and on the minds of every lawmaker we can reach. …. We love our history in this city and will work to preserve it, but we must ‘rethink’ and move forward.”
