On Friday, Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) at NC State and YAL at Wake Tech partnered together to put on a “Restore the Fourth” event with U.S. House Rep. Walter Jones. The event was focused on protecting the Fourth Amendment, the debt ceiling and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The event started with Martin Matuszewski, a second-year studying political science and secretary of communications of YAL, explaining the purpose of YAL. Chase McLamb, a graduate student studying mechanical engineering and president of YAL, gave a brief introduction of the event before turning the floor over to Dusti Patterson, president of the Wake Tech chapter of YAL. Patterson provided those in attendance with an overview of who Walter Jones is and a brief history of his political accomplishments.
Jones started off with an overview about why it is important for citizens of the United States to protect the Fourth Amendment due to what he cited as a change in the role of government.
“The role and responsibility of the government has changed and we need to be careful about the federal government having too much overreach,” Jones said.
Jones went on to discuss his decision to be one of the 13 Republicans to vote against the most recent tax bill that was passed by the House of Representatives. In his discussion of the topic, he expressed hopes that a bill to raise the debt ceiling, likely to be proposed in December, will be voted down.
“We can not just continue to raise the debt ceiling,” Jones said.
Other points that Jones discussed throughout the evening included his regret for voting ‘yes’ on the Iraq War under the Bush administration. Afghanistan has become known as the “graveyard of empires” and Jones stated that he believes that the United States needs to stop wasting lives and money in the Middle East.
After Jones’ brief speech he opened the floor up to questions from the audience. Jones addressed concerns from students regarding the chance of the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission being overturned, the privacy of student email services, how his view of U.S. military intervention in the Middle East has changed over the years, and the torture practices that have been used by the U.S. government overseas.
Jones emphasized that he came to NC State to discuss these topics because it is important for the next generation to be informed about what is going on in the United States and he hopes that what he says can make a difference.
Students in attendance at the event expressed positive feedback about his appearance at NC State.
“I think that it was very beneficial to have a House Representative come talk to students at NCSU,” said Emily Plack, a second-year studying political science. “I think that it is important because you can ask any question and receive honest answers about many current hot topics as well as creating a network with high profile figures. I specifically liked how transparent Walter B. Jones was throughout his speech.”
North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones of the 3rd District addresses the NC State and Wake Tech chapter of Young Americans for Liberty. The audience engaged in a question and answer session after the Congressman finished his address.
