Congressman Adam Kinzinger On COVID Relief, Voting, Politics

16th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger joined the WROK Morning Show on Thursday for his monthly visit, and as usual, there was no shortage of topics for us to get into.

With the U.S. House of Representatives passing a massive legislative package on Wednesday, many voices are weighing in on whether or not the relief fund is really a relief fund at all. We asked Congressman Kinzinger, who voted no on the package, how it be can called COVID relief when less than 10% of the money is going toward actually helping people and things related to the pandemic.

Another criticism of the COVID relief bill is that it also sends a lot of money to bail out blue states (like Illinois) that were having problems, many of them of their own making, long before we'd ever heard of the coronavirus. When you add piles of money going to unions, along with other monies that can't even be accessed until next year, and you've got to wonder if this is a relief package or one party's wish-list.

We also discussed HR 1, or what's being called the "For The People Act," with Congressman Kinzinger. This bill, far more than the COVID relief bill, is generating some serious controversy. 20 State Attorneys General have asserted that the bill is unconstitutional, and takes the power to regulate and oversee elections away from the states and hands it to the federal government, which they claim is violation of the 1st Amendment.

Finally, we talked about how Congressman Kinzinger's profile has been raised quite a bit in the aftermath of the presidential elections, his vote to impeach President Trump, and his startup of the "Country 1st" political action committee. His actions have both pleased some and completely enraged others, including some members of his own family. Some have even suggested that Congressman Kinzinger would be leaving the Republican Party to cross the aisle and become a Democrat.

Stick around for the end of the interview when we asked Congressman Kinzinger if he planned to switch political parties: