Congressman Seth Magaziner visited Greenwich Farms at Warwick, a senior assisted  living facility located on Minnesota Ave, this past Wednesday to speak on issues and answer questions.

Magaziner was joined by State Representative Camille Vella-Wilkinson (D-Warwick) and Disabled American Veterans (DAV) legislative advocate and former Republican candidate for Magaziner’s current seat Sal Caiozzo.

The congressman said that hearing from and interacting with residents is “essential” to being able to do his job, hence the trip to Greenwich Farms. The House of Representatives was not in session from Feb. 19 through Feb. 27.

Vella-Wilkinson unveiled a banner honoring veterans, which she then took a photo of with veterans in attendance. A veteran herself, Vella-Wilkinson said that her work with Caiozzo had strong impacts on the lives of veterans in the state.

“We’ve got some excellent legislation for disabled veterans,” Vella-Wilkinson said.

Magaziner acknowledged that the most commonly asked questions he is asked focus on inflation and the cost of food, gasoline, medicine and housing.

Magaziner said that the most important things that the U.S. could do to fight inflation is to reduce the reliance on other countries for food production.

“What we’ve got to do is start growing and producing more food in America so that we’re not as dependent on other parts of the world that may be dangerous,” Magaziner said. “This year, Congress is working on something called a farm bill, that comes up every five years that sets policy for agriculture in this country. So there’s a real opportunity to incentivize more local production of food.”

The congressman said he would be fighting to make local agriculture a priority, as well as prioritizing funding for rental assistance. Magaziner also mentioned two provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022- the capping of the price of insulin at $35 and the ability for Medicare to negotiate drug prices- as helping fight inflation. Magaziner believes that new prices for ten prescription drugs will be announced in the fall. 

Magaziner also pointed to a bill sponsored by Rep. John Larson, a Democrat who represents Connecticut’s first district, as one to help protect Social Security. The bill, according to Magaziner, would       increase funding for Social Security by increasing taxes on those earning more than $170,000 annually.

“A lot of people don’t know that the payroll tax… means that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, people who are making millions of dollars a year, they put the same number of dollars into Social Security as someone making $170,000,” Magaziner said. “[This would] make them pay their fair share- the same percentage of their full income that somebody making $50,000 or $100,000 pays from their income.”

Magaziner acknowledged, though, that Larson’s bill is unlikely to go anywhere with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) in opposition to it.

Magaziner also called on Johnson to allow for a floor vote on aid to Ukraine, saying that it had wide bipartisan support and was necessary to protect Ukrainians and ward off any future Russian threats to NATO allies.

“It will pass overwhelmingly- I mean, Ukraine aid will get 300 votes in the House out of 435,” Magaziner said. “I think the speaker needs to think hard about how he wants to be remembered in history, and does he want to be remembered as the one person in the world who had the power to stop Vladimir Putin and didn’t?”

Magaziner later took questions from attendees. Attendee Burt Jagolinzer asked Magaziner what he, as well as other members of Congress, were doing to promote peace in the world.

“We want peace in the world, and we deserve it,” Jagolinzer said. “We’ve waited all our lives, and we don’t see one politician talking about it.”

Magaziner responded that it was important to support the military to defend from foreign threats, as well as diplomats to help promote democratic values.

“Democracies almost never go to war with each other,” Magaziner said. “Usually, a dictator or terrorist or somebody who doesn’t believe in democracy attacks someone else, and so encouraging democracy around the world through diplomacy and through our example [is important.]”

The conversation also turned to immigration, where Magaziner, who serves on the Homeland Security Committee, defended his record. One attendee, who goes by Tom and did not provide his last name, asked the congressman what he was doing to curb illegal immigration.

In response, Magaziner said that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol needed more staffing and resources in order to process immigrants and detain any not coming to the country legally, as well as to make the U.S. immigration system more “fair, orderly and not chaotic.”

Magaziner said that bringing feedback back to Washington is important, and opening lines of communications with constituents is critical to work towards solutions in Congress.

“It’s no secret that Washington is a difficult place right now,” Magaziner said. “Politics has gotten too ugly and too divisive, and we need to change that.”