By Ann Craig-Cinnamon
On March 7, fifth district U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks paid a visit to the Fishers Rotary and talked about the problems facing our nation and our community, and updated the members on what kinds of things she has been involved in during her first year in Congress. Brooks serves on the Education and Workforce, Homeland Security and Ethics Committees and is the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications. That subcommittee is concerned with the emergency preparedness level of our communities. She noted that Fishers Fire Chief Steve Orusa testified at a hearing of first responders.
Brooks told the crowd of approximately 100 that the number one issue her office receives mail and phone calls about concerns the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. She said besides the rollout and website problems, another major issue is the deeming of 30 hours of work per week as full time. She says that is causing businesses to cut back on workers’ hours including school systems. “I’ve heard from the Hamilton county school superintendents that they cut teachers aids, school bus drivers, and coaches because these insurance premiums and healthcare costs were not counted on in their budgets in the past. They can’t afford it,” she said.
On the education front, Brooks said there’s a big gap between the kinds of skills employers are looking for and the skills the average worker possesses. To address that concern, she has introduced the Computer Science Bill and the Computer Science Education Act, which would make computer science a core academic subject. She said it has bipartisan support. “We’ve got close to 50 cosigners on it. We’re working it. We’ve got a huge number of groups that are very supportive. So I’m hoping we can get that across the finish line,” said Brooks. Furthermore, she is launching an initiative that connects business sectors with the classroom. The first sector involves the agriculture business because, as she pointed out, there are so many ag-related businesses in her district, including Dow, Pioneer and Red Gold.
Brooks also talked about restoring the nation’s fiscal standing and doing it in a way that doesn’t bring the nation to the brink of a government shutdown again, which she said was a low-point for Congress. “A Lot of people have lost faith in congress. We have about a 9% approval rating. We recognize that.” Jokingly, she said she didn’t know which was worse to introduce herself as; a Congresswoman or a lawyer. She also told the crowd that the Indiana delegation does a great job of working together in a bipartisan way and she meets with Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, with whom she shares a district, on a regular basis. “I do believe in reaching across the aisle and working with the other side,” she said.
