Locals turn out for Beto O’Rourke Town Hall at MPEC
“The only thing keeping the country together is all of us, and again, I don’t mean all of us democrats, and I don’t mean all of us republicans. I mean all of us as Americans and Texans.”
WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ)- Around 400 people attended former Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s town hall meeting. During the meeting, attendees let their voices be heard on many topics of conversation. Some of the issues discussed were school vouchers, Social Security and Medicaid.
O’Rourke said he came to Wichita Falls because the people want to talk to their representatives. He claims that currently, that’s not happening.
“Their representatives at the state level, James Frank, and at the federal level, Ronny Jackson, they are not listening to their constituents. They’re not being held accountable. Folks are concerned about this voucher scam that’s going to destroy our local schools. They want some answers about what Trump is doing in the white house, wiping out retirement savings right now or firing 83,000 people, most of them veterans from Veterans Affair. So if the representatives won’t show up, we will do it for them,” O’Rourke said.
Last week, the Texas State Senate passed the controversial school voucher bill, sending it to the House floor to be voted on. The bill sets one billion dollars aside in state funds to establish school savings accounts that allow for the use of public funds for private schools. O’Rourke said this will potentially negatively affect WFISD and their teachers.
“Depending on the size of this voucher bill, you might see a five million dollar cut to the independent school district here. That means we could lose up to 98 teachers in Wichita Falls. We can’t afford to lose any more teachers; we need more public school teachers, and the teachers we have need to be paid better, treated better, and respected in this community. They have earned it, they deserve it, they’ve got the future of our state and our kids in their hands,” O’Rourke said.
With so many people turning out for this town hall, Beto said he feels really good about Wichita Falls because it shows that the people here care about the future of America.
“This means that the people in this community, republican and democrat alike, take the future of this country really seriously. They aren’t waiting for 2026 and the next election. They’re certainly not looking to 2028 and the next presidential [election]. They’re looking to right now, and they’re looking at themselves and one another. ‘What are we going to do together.’ So that’s what I take from this. 400 people coming out on a Saturday afternoon in Wichita Falls that is success. Not for a single person, but for the community and the country,” O’Rourke said.
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