‘Coffee with Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger’ draws large crowd, covers wide range of issues
Published 3:16 pm Tuesday, August 22, 2023
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Contributed Photo/Lynn J. Richardson Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger recognizes local Vietnam veteran Lt. Charles Douglas Lindauer.
Contributed Photo/Lynn J. Richardson Harshbarger addressed a number of issues during the first hour of her “town hall” event at the Bonnie Kate Theater in downtown Elizabethton.
Photo Courtesy Kent Edens, Friends of the Bonnie Kate Coffee with Diana Harshbarger drew a large crowd to the historic Bonnie Kate Theater.
Contributed Photo/Lynn J. Richardson Harshbarger talked with a number of constituents after the presentation.
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It was a packed house Tuesday morning at the Bonnie Kate Theater as U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) conducted something of a town hall with constituents who make up what she called “one of the reddest districts in the whole country, the top three.”
The 1st District congresswoman asked for a show of hands from those who live in Tennessee but are not from the Volunteer State. After a number of hands went up, Harshbarger said, “See, this happens everywhere I go. We’ll have from half to three-fourths of the audience are not from here, but you moved here because it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave, am I right?”
The crowd responded with “Amens” and applause as Harshbarger repeated, “The land of the free.”
Harshbarger spent the first part of the program praising and recognizing veterans, particularly those of the Vietnam era, who have served and sacrificed. She gave special recognition to Lt. Charles Douglas Lindauer, a local Vietnam veteran. She also noted, “we are losing 300-350 veterans a day,..people who have a heart for service. Their stories are unbelievable, what they did in Vietnam.”
Following the recognition, Harshbarger gave an overview of the top 10 U.S. House of Representatives bills and the work being done concerning each, covering such items as House Bill 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act; House Bill 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023 which passed the House on May 11; and House Bill 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act.
“We have to pass a Parents Bill of Rights to give parents control over what their children are taught, what they see, how they are treated,” she said. “Who would have ever thought that they would try to take your rights away as a parent?”
As an example, Harshbarger pointed to legislation she said was passed in the state of Washington that would allow the removal of a child who wants to have transgender surgery if the parents do not agree. “They can take your child away,” she said.
Among the other legislation passed by the House that she touched on included the Protection of Women in and Girls in Sports Act, Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
A large crowd was in attendance to hear Harshbarger, who throughout her conversation, stressed the importance of being “self-sufficient.”
“I know where 90 percent of our pharmaceuticals come from,” Harshbarger told the crowd. “They come from China. They don’t have to drop a bomb on us. They just have to cut off our pharmaceuticals and half our country will die. We need to be self-sufficient.”
She applied the same philosophy to the need for American-made transformers and parts for transformers, referring to the possibility of grid attacks.
“You have to be able to communicate to survive,” she said.
Harshbarger came down hard on drug problems throughout the country — especially in Tennessee, saying that “there are cartels in Nashville and Memphis.”
“We need to close the border, build the wall, charge the cartel members and put them away,” she said. “That is how we stop it.”
She continued her warnings.
“The Department of Justice is corrupt,” Harshbarger said. Later in her discussion, she added, “If you don’t think there’s a deep state, come talk to me.”
“The states are who are going to protect us. In Tennessee, we have a well-run government, no state income tax and we don’t take a lot of guff.”
She advocated for national civics education and urged the crowd not to be “complacent.”
“It matters who you place in places of authority — on every level,” she added. “Go out and vote early. That’s the only way we’re going to save our country.”
Harshbarger then took a number of questions from the audience on topics ranging from social security to the war against drugs.
She also fielded questions about the upcoming election, the erasure of Southern history and the possibility of secession.
“I’m doing all I can at the Federal level,” Harshbarger said, “and I’m only responsible to God Almighty and the people I serve.”
