The DeKalb County Republican Party held an even at Greenbrook Park in Smithville last Saturday afternoon. The rally featured a visit by The Sixth District US Congressman John Rose, who said he is opposed to several Democrat bills up for a vote.

One bill is a $3.5 trillion spending bill, which was advanced by the US House Budget Committee and will be going to the House floor for a vote. “These proposals to spend trillions of dollars and fundamentally change the nature of our country from a capitalist free enterprise democracy to a socialist command economy I think really threatens the American dream and the American way of life,” Rose said.

The committee vote was 20 to 17 with California Democratic Rep. Scott Peters joining Republicans against the bill. It came as a necessary step for the bill to reach the full House floor, where it can be amended. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to bring the massive economic package as well as a separate one – which includes funding for roads and bridges, money for transit and rail, a broadband upgrade and an upgrade for airports, ports and waterways — to the House floor this week. Even if it passes the House, Rose said he is hopeful the bill can be defeated in the Senate.

“Unfortunately right now we (Republicans) are at the mercy I think of two so-called moderate US Senators, Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona so we have to hope that they hold the line and refuse to let this massive spending proposal go through. There is some talk that there may be some liberal Democrats in swing states and in swing districts that could join us in stopping some of this but so far they seem to have capitulated to the radical extreme socialist elements of the Democratic Party,” Congressman Rose explained.

Another bill Congressman Rose opposes is the “For the People Act” which passed the US House earlier this year. The bill stalled in the Senate on a 50-50 vote.

“Democrats have attempted to disguise this legislation as voter and election reform, but nothing could be further from the truth,” said Congressman Rose. “This bill seeks to change election laws to federalize our elections and change outcomes of elections all across the country. It’s one of the most damaging pieces of legislation I have seen in my short two-plus years in Congress. I will continue to do everything I can to fight for the integrity of our nation’s elections. This bill would bring the same dysfunctional election procedures to Tennessee that we saw in states like California, New York, Pennsylvania, and others during the 2020 presidential election where results were delayed for weeks and months, further bringing the integrity of the outcome into question,” said Congressman Rose.

If passed, the legislation would likely be contested in state and federal courts, Rose said the law would still impact elections until the issues are adjudicated. “I think the worst aspects of the legislation ultimately would be found unconstitutional in the courts but that takes time so you would probably see some impact on elections in the short term before the courts could fully adjudicate those claims, which could take two to ten years,” Rose continued.

The state is undergoing redistricting based on results of the 2020 Census. Congressman Rose said his district will have to lose some 40,000 residents. He is hopeful that the legislature will keep the district intact as much as possible.

“I know it’s the general assembly that has the power to re-district based on the results of the 2020 census but I would love to see the sixth district stay the same. We have grown faster than the rest of the state so we will have to lose some residents. About 40,000 of the current population of the district will have to be drawn out one way or another. There is some conversation happening about perhaps shifting dramatically to have an 8-1 split between Republicans and Democrats which would then make the sixth district probably include part of Davidson County or Nashville but that would be a pretty dramatic change. I hope we can keep the Upper Cumberland together,” said Congressman Rose.

The sixth district includes all of Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, White, and Wilson counties and areas of Cheatham and Van Buren counties.