Conaway bids farewell to Lions Club, District 11

Texas’ 11th congressional district representative, Mike Conaway, was the special guest at the Breckenridge Lions Club’s, September 11 weekly meeting.

The congressional representative provided the club with thoughts on his tenure in District 11 and views on the current topic in American society.

With the 2020 general election imminent, Conaway was asked about foreign interference and election security in regards to protecting citizens’ rights to vote.

“I am confident that our election will be protected from foreign interference,” Rep. Conaway said. “The Russians dabbled in 2016, but we couldn’t find anywhere, where any vote tallies were out of wack or voter registration, were messed with. Since then, the Department of Homeland Security has worked with all 50 states and all 254 counties in Texas to make sure that the system is secure to handle votes and voter registration.”

Conaway also spoke on various topics including social security, and loss of faith in congressional leaders.

“The issue with social security is not affecting us tomorrow,” Rep. Conaway said. “It’s the years 2033 and 2034 when social security will have a cash flow issue. Because it’s so far in the future, it’s easy to put stuff off or kick the can down the road, but we will soon have a cash flow problem. Medicare is in much more dire circumstances, 2024 and 2025 is when that trust fund will get to a problem, so we have some issues, in addition to our debt.”

The most recent Gallup poll from August 2020 put the approval rating of the United States Congress at below 20 percent, with a majority of Americans disapproving of their congressional leaders.

“I hope citizens are not losing faith in the Congress,” Rep. Conaway said. “I think people are losing faith, not in the willingness to help, but just the willingness to get along and do things together on a bipartisan level. Our nation is divided right now, and the thing that is different today is the tools and mechanisms that are efficient at getting that divisiveness out, such as social media. Those tools will not go away and it’s up to us to filter out certain things and function the way we are supposed to.

Finally, Texas’ 11th congressional district representative thanked members of the community, District 11, and members of the Breckenridge Lions Club for their support throughout his tenure.

“Thank you for trusting me, as every chapter has an end date,” Rep. Conaway said. “I’ve been blessed to work with some of the best people and I’m most proud of putting a great team in place.”