By Mary Alice Murphy

On Saturday, July 4, 2015, Congressman Steve Pearce visited Silver City to celebrate Independence Day. He took part in the parade and visited with news media outlets, including the Grant County Beat.

When asked why he voted against the Trade Fast-Track, he explained he thought it was the "right vote."

"I was kicked off the whip team as a result of my vote on a procedural rule," Pearce explained. "We suggested we had the right to offer an amendment. Speaker (John) Boehner, instead of using ours, put in language offered by Nancy Pelosi. The rule split the Senate version into three parts and we voted on them separately. But we never voted on it as one piece. We never voted on what the Senate voted out. Five times I told them, it was not truthful. The TPA legislation was to give fast track to the President. Generally I'm in favor of fast track for trade, but with this president I think we need oversight."

He said there were eight checkpoints, and it was assumed that everyone agreed with all of them. "There was no oversight, no voice of the American people in this. They did acrobatic parliamentary rules to get around us."

On the recent Supreme Court decisions, Pearce said he agrees with the decision on EPA rules. "I disagreed with the other two."

"If we can freeze the forward motion of EPA rules until they have been vetted through the judicial process, we can keep Navajos working in the mines at $60,000 a year, instead of being on government welfare."

He said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it doesn't have to wait until a rule is approved by Congress or through the judicial process before those it affects have to abide by it.

"I hope this decision will apply to Fish and Wildlife Services, as well as other government agencies," Pearce said. "It has real potential."

He said he recently had a meeting with Cal Joyner, the regional U.S. Forest Service director, and his team. "It was more productive than many other meetings. I have the suspicion that all the agencies are aware of the significance of the EPA Supreme Court decision."

To questions about foreign affairs, Pearce said he thinks the administration's stand on a deal with Iran is misguided. "The president says he hasn't had time to develop a plan for ISIS, but he is getting an embassy up in Cuba and one in Washington D.C. quite quickly."

Pearce said, although in scale, the U.S. is in worse shape than Greece, "And Puerto Rico is in instability. I think Greece has the potential of a domino effect in the European Union. Forty percent of the Greeks owe taxes, but don't think they have to pay them. I think we should make them accountable for themselves. The International Monetary Fund comes in front of us. We want to be in the game at a desperate time. We can offer voices that can fix things. I have a background in the military, including in combat, and in business. I think I'm in the right place at the right time to help tell agencies what they are doing wrong. I asked the Forest Service to give me their numbers, and I will work with them."

"Every day, we're fighting for the people of New Mexico," Pearce said, "while the government is trying to take away their livelihoods and rights."