Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio held a town hall meeting at the American Legion Post 34 Banquet Hall in Oskaloosa Tuesday morning.
Rubio spoke to just over 100 people, covering topics such as healthcare, immigration, and keeping America safe.
Rubio stated why he believes America is the greatest country in the history of the world.
“We were founded on an incredibly powerful principle. And that is the principle that our rights do not come from our government. Our rights come from God. Our rights come from our Creator,” Rubio said.
He said that both parties in Washington are out of touch about what people are facing. He went on to say that Democrats cannot lecture him about living paycheck to paycheck, student loans, and working families.
“They can’t lecture me about people living paycheck-to-paycheck, because I grew up paycheck to paycheck. They can’t lecture me about people with student loans. I’m the only Republican that talks about student loans. You know why? Because I had one. I had a student loan just three years ago. And they can’t lecture me about the plight of working families trying to raise children in the 21st century. You know why? Because I’m raising four children in the 21st century,” stated Rubio.
On the topic of immigration, he said he was going to keep ISIS out of America, and how he would regulate immigrants coming into the country.
“It’s a very straight-forward requirement. When I am President, if we don’t know 100{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b} for sure who you are or why you are coming, you are not going to get into the United States of America when I am its President,” said Rubio.
Rubio said that world is more dangerous than it was when Obama went into office. He said that ISIS isn’t just a bunch of people on the back of pick-up trucks.
“ISIS is the best funded, best organized, and most sophisticated, most sophisticated radical Jihadist group in the history of the world,” Rubio said.
After speaking for 30 minutes, Rubio answered questions from those in attendance.
When asked about healthcare concerning conditions not supported by insurance, Rubio said that it can be dealt with without Obamacare. He stated that he believes if a person has a serious condition that is uninsurable, high-risk pools by the government should be able to help.
Rubio was also asked about being energy independent, and not relying so much on foreign energy. He said America should be not only be energy independent, but energy diverse, and use what we have.
“I want America to be a world leader in biofuels, in renewables, in solar, in wind, we should lead in all of it. But we should also fully utilize the oil and the natural gas that we’ve been blessed with,” stated Rubio.
Oskaloosa was the first of three stops for the day in Iowa for Rubio. The campaign leads up to the Iowa Caucuses on February 1st.
Story provided by George Henry
