{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://hultgren.house.gov/newsroom/in-the-news/us-rep-randy-hultgren-talks-veterans-issues-trans-pacific-partnership-with", "U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren talks veterans' issues, Trans-Pacific Partnership with residents", "2016-10-05", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "IL", "Randy Hultgren", "H001059", "hultgren.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren talked trade, veterans\u2019 issues and taxes during a town hall with constituents Monday afternoon at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville.Hultgren, R-Plano, spoke with the group of residents from areas that included Yorkville, Oswego, Aurora, Sugar Grove, Plainfield, North Aurora, Batavia, Warrenville, McHenry, Sleepy Hollow and Orland Park.\n\t\tAlso attending the meeting were Chad Lockman, superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kendall County; Olivia\u00a0Laschober, assistant superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kendall County; and Michael Iwanicki, superintendent of the McHenry County Veterans Assistance Commission.\n\t\tDuring the meeting, some in the audience pressed Hultgren on trade and whether he supports the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, agreement. He also was asked if the agreement would be addressed or voted on during Congress\u2019s \u201clame duck\u201d session after the Nov. 8 election and the swearing-in of a new Congress in January.\n\t\tHultgren said he doesn\u2019t foresee the issue being addressed or voted on, or being passed, during the lame duck session, giving it a single-digit percentage chance.\n\t\tFor his part, Hultgren said he opposes the TPP as it is written currently, but said he isn\u2019t opposed to trade agreements and could change his mind if certain elements of the agreement are changed.\n\t\t\u201cWhere it is right now, if it came up for a vote tomorrow or when we come back in November, I wouldn\u2019t support it; I couldn\u2019t support it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe big reasons for me are I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s strong enough for us. I think it\u2019s giving up too much of our autonomy to foreign jurisdiction, foreign court authority that I think is risky, and I just think we can do better. The reason I say \u2018in its current form\u2019 is, I still am supportive of trade. I am not an isolationist. I do not think we should just close our borders down.\u201d\n\t\tJohn Laesch of Aurora, who has been active in opposing the TPP, thanked Hultgren for his open forum and for his stance on the issue.\n\t\t\u201cI\u2019m thrilled about what you\u2019re saying about the TPP,\u201d Laesch said. \u201cI genuinely appreciate your open forum and the way that your staff has treated us. I think having these discussions is more than most members of Congress are doing, Democrat or Republican, and I think that helps.\u201d\n\t\tHultgren also discussed veterans\u2019 issues, including ongoing problems with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He offered to let his office or the Veterans Assistance Commission know if a veteran is having problems.\n\t\t\u201cThese people are here to help, they\u2019re here to cut through the red tape,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re here to get things done. And we want to do the same thing. That\u2019s our first, primary focus.\u201d\n\t\tLaschober said veterans\u2019 disability claims have been moving faster through the VA system recently, but there are more claims than just disability claims, including pension claims and burial claims, and there are only three places in the U.S. that process those claims.\n\t\tLaschober said Congress also should focus on hiring more staff \u201cto have an efficiently running Department of Veterans Affairs to do said claims.\u201d\n\t\tA resident at the meeting said he had read that illegal immigrants get better health care than veterans. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made such claims during his campaign, most recently during a Sept. 7 speech in Philadelphia.\n\t\t\u201cOur veterans, in many cases, are being treated worse than illegal immigrants,\u201d he said, according to national media reports.\n\t\tHultgren said such a claim isn\u2019t true.\n\t\t\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s true,\u201d he said. \u201cThat illegal immigrants are getting better care than our veterans, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s true. I don\u2019t know where that came from.\u201d\n\t\tHultgren said there have been some reforms, but there is \u201cmore that needs to happen.\u201d He praised the VA for the experience he has had with his own father.\n\t\t\u201cMy dad\u2019s a veteran, and so grateful for the VA,\u201d he said. \u201cHines has been really good to him and also [James] Lovell [Federal Health Care Center] in North Chicago has been really great. And to me, that\u2019s one of those that really is a model: a joint VA and DOD facility relationship with Lovell. But almost everything we\u2019ve heard has been very positive. The quality of care is unbelievable. All the resources for our veterans are right there.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://hultgren.house.gov/newsroom/in-the-news/us-rep-randy-hultgren-talks-veterans-issues-trans-pacific-partnership-with"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6888650134205818, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}