U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-South Buffalo, answered questions on a number of topics Wednesday during a lunch event hosted by the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce.
Starting with health care, Higgins spoke about Western New York having the resources to become a leader in the industry. He then went on to address the economy.
"The point is, I think, very simple," Higgins said. "America is an extraordinary place. We have 5 percent of the world's population and 20 percent of the world's economy. We're an extraordinarily dynamic economy. Yeah, we're down right now. But if you look at the economic history of the nation since World War II, we've had eight recessions and seven recoveries. I don't refer to this as a recovery yet.
"But in order to do that, you have to embrace change," Higgins continued. "You have to embrace the new innovation and new technology to get productivity. That's the only way you can grow your economy - by figuring out whatever it is you do today, how you can embrace new innovation and new technology to do it more efficiently tomorrow. That's how you grow your economy. That's how you provide a basis for future generations."
In addition to health care and the economy, Higgins answered questions about energy, the Board of Public Utilities, federal support of its clean coal energy project, social security and agriculture.
He also commented on his fellow federally-elected officials.
"The tone and tenor in Washington isn't good," Higgins said. "It's a highly partisan place. The only members of Congress that are making news are the members in Congress that are making spectacles of themselves."
One topic which he said he should probably stay away from, but commented on anyway, was the New York City mosque issue.
"The leaders in Washington, some (of them), are fueling this to divide the nation," Higgins said. "I often say what we need from Washington, and I say this as a practitioner of government and politics as much as I am a student of it, (is that) we need more light and less heat, we need more humility and less hostility (and) we need more wisdom and fewer wise guys."
