EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — The race for the eighth congressional seat between Democrat Incumbent Matt Cartwright and Republican Rob Bresnahan was hard fought and closely watched across the country.
Bresnahan unseated Cartwright which helped the GOP maintain the majority in the House.
28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick sat down with the congressman-elect this week to talk about issues facing the nation and northeastern Pennsylvania.
Bresnahan says he's ready to get to work for the people of the eighth district and all of northeastern Pennsylvania.
Mehalshick asked him about a wide range of topics, including national issues that could impact our region.
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Bresnahan says he and his team will hit the ground running on January 3, and he says he's paying close attention to the goings on.
Some of them were controversial in Washington prior to taking office in the 119th Congress, including President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter on federal tax and gun convictions.
"I think what's discouraging is that you heard time and time again along the campaign trail that he wasn't going to do something like this, but I'm certainly not surprised. I'm sure much of America is not surprised but he's looking at taking care of his son, even though he contradicted himself. It's disappointing, to say the least," Bresnahan explained.
Mehalshick asked Bresnahan about President-elect Trump's cabinet nominations, some of which have sparked controversy, including the selection of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and Kash Patel as FBI Director.
"Well, luckily, this is the Senate has to work it, not necessarily the House of Representatives side, but listen, the president needs to put together a team that he feels will align with his values and what he's trying to ultimately accomplish. The way I look at it, how do we build out the right constituent services team? How are we going to provide for the people of northeastern Pennsylvania and those are the processes we go through when we're trying to build our team?" Bresnahan continued.
"What's your take on his tariff proposals?" Mehalshick asked.
"I've seen some of the proposals, but I think what we have to do is be very cognizant in what it will do to the end user, the people of the United States and people of Northeastern Pennsylvania. I ran on having an economy that works and makes life affordable again, but what we need to do is having the threat of a tariff is a lot different than the possible implications of having that tariff imposed," Bresnahan replied.
28/22 News asked Bresnahan about local issues, including the local economy and the ongoing plans to establish passenger rail service between northeastern Pennsylvania and New York City.
Bresnahan will be taking on a longtime project that was started under his predecessor, Cartwright. Establishing passenger train service from northeastern Pennsylvania and New York City. He will soon be meeting with local officials connected to the project.
"So, I'm excited to make my own opinion, make my own determination, and listen, I think if it does generate the economic benefits in Northeastern Pennsylvania, I'm never against reinvestment to American infrastructure. It could be a very exciting thing, but we can't compromise ridership safety, public safety, or our community safety by having a direct link between New York City and Northeastern Pennsylvania," Bresnehan stated.
"Is there one single project or projects possible that would give the economy of northeastern Pennsylvania a big boost that you see in your first term?" Mehalshick asked.
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"I always look at transportation infrastructure, roads, bridges broadband communications, drinking water, levees, ports. They're all ways to create family-sustaining jobs and specifically in northeastern Pennsylvania. One out of four bridges are deemed structurally deficient. We need to make serious reinvestments into our own transportation infrastructure system," Bresnahan said.
Bresnahan says serving the people is job one starting on day one.
"I'm really excited to get to work January 3rd can't come soon enough. Since we've won we've been building out our constituent services team..hiring our D.C. team because the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania can't afford a gap in coverage," Bresnahan added.
You can see the entire interview with Bresnehan in the video player below.
