As protesters outside the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce criticized the Congressman James Comer for not making himself available to constituents, Comer made comments on a wide variety of topics, including Medicaid, western Kentucky business and energy developments and his role in the Justice Department's investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein case as chair of the House Oversight Committee.
Medicaid
Cuts to Medicaid – which helps provide more than 75 million Americans, including low-income families, seniors and disabled people, with health insurance – were among the billions of dollars in government spending reductions congressional Republicans made in an effort to lower taxes.
Comer said the change will mainly impact working-age, able-bodied men.
"It's three years till these changes are implemented, and we're going to have to make some changes, but I think that we can do it," Comer said. "If you're a man and you're able-bodied to work, we were going to try to get you off the Medicaid rolls in Kentucky and into private health care."
The new law does not change eligibility rules for Medicaid or its benefits, but instead stipulates that states require most Medicaid enrollees to document that they work or volunteer 80 hours a month. The Congressional Budget Office projects that provision will lead to about 5 million people losing coverage by 2034.
The congressman noted that 35% of Kentuckians are enrolled in Medicaid, which he said is higher than states like Tennessee, Florida and Texas. The Medicaid shifts won't take effect for another three years, and Comer said he thinks the policy changes can be pulled off without healthcare workers losing their jobs or hospitals shutting down.
"I think we have an opportunity in America to get able-bodied people off the Medicaid, which is paid for by people that work and pay taxes, and into the private health care roles," he said. "That's what we're going to have to focus on in Kentucky, and I think we can do it and work together."
Projects and developments in western Kentucky
Comer also highlighted recent developments around and at the shuttered Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which include the proposed first commercial laser uranium enrichment plant in the world, the country's first, U.S.-owned privately developed uranium enrichment facility and a potential U.S. Department of Energy project to build an artificial intelligence data center or energy infrastructure.
Comer said that he expects the federal government to continue its push to develop a broad approach to growing the country's baseload energy.
"We have an administration that's supportive in nuclear. We have an administration that's supportive of coal, natural gas, electricity … wind, solar, whatever you name it," the congressman said. "I think that Paducah stands to gain from that common sense, all-of-the-above energy agenda moving forward."
The Republican from Monroe County added that Paducah has "branded [itself] in a perfect position" to capitalize on its history in the nuclear industry.
"I'm excited because not every community is as receptive to nuclear as Paducah," he said. "You've got everything you need to be the leader in this new technology, this new era, and I think it's going to happen."
Comer also spoke on two other transportation efforts at play in the region, Barkley Regional Airport's hopes of the U.S. Department of Transportation approving a new Essential Air Service Provider and the decadeslong Kentucky Lock Addition Project, which looks to make inland waterway navigation more efficient in the Ohio River Valley.
Comer said the federal funding that allows the EAS program to continue to operate is "on the chopping block," but that he believes it's "safe for now."
The Barkley Regional Airport board has asked the DOT to approve a proposal from SkyWest Airlines to provide direct flights from Paducah to Chicago O'Hare International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
Comer also joked that a recent meeting between himself and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials about the Kentucky Lock Project "would have been on Tiktok more than [his] committee hearings" because of how poorly it went.
He called the $1.5 billion project – which has been in the works for nearly 25 years along the Tennessee River – a "colossal mess-up."
"There's been a lot of money invested in that … but we're going to invest whatever it takes to make sure that those three barge companies continue to transport [their cargo along the river]," Comer said. "We don't want that on the roads."
That project is expected to wrap up in 2029.
House Oversight Committee Epstein
Comer has found himself in the middle of a controversial investigation since a congressional subpoena was issued earlier this month calling on the DOJ to provide records from its probe into convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Kentucky Republican, who leads the House Oversight Committee, confirmed the arrival of the first batch of documents – constituting "thousands of pages of Epstein-related documents" – by his office on Friday.
Congress, Comer joked, was "gracious enough" to put him on the case, and he said he intends to "get answers for the American people."
"That's a very difficult investigation because … two of the three main witnesses have died, right? And everyone says there's no list and there's no evidence," he said. "Well, this is dating back years ago. If the evidence isn't there, it's not there. If somebody – I don't know – if somebody destroyed it, I don't know, whatever, but we're getting what the government has, and we're going through it and we're going to release it all."
So far, Comer said his office has issued subpoenas for former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, current U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former First Lady and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, among others. Additionally, he said he plans to pursue meetings with victims and pursue "all the evidence and all the information."
"We're trying to make this a bipartisan investigation and get the truth to the American people. It's difficult because this happened many years ago, so some of the evidence, I fear, that may have been in existence at one point, may not be in existence now," Comer said. "Hopefully, if there was a list, we can get that list and I'll make it public. I don't care whose name's on it, but we're working very diligently."
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