Our speaker this morning was Congressman Peter King, and it was a particularly lively meeting. It was the congressman’s first appearance at LIMBA since his district was changed to include the Town of Islip. The audience was eager to hear what he had to say and the room was full.

I introduced the speaker after I told the audience the role the congressman played when he teamed up with George Mitchell and President Clinton and worked on a peace settlement in Ireland. It was the kind of cooperation across party lines that is not seen today. I also noted that Mr. King was not shy about calling out Republicans lawmaker around the country when they tried to stiff the region on Sandy funding.

Mr. King took the floor and explained that his outrage at the Republican Party was based on the fact that we rushed to the aid of other parts of the country when they needed assistance, and then they chose to abandon us.

Peter King is easy to know. He speaks his mind and most people find that refreshing. There are some who are offended by straight talk, but most of the people in the room were appreciative.

Mr. King opined that President Obama left Iraq too early, and that, in the congressman’s point of view, was a missed opportunity.

During the Q&A he was reminded of the war in Iraq, was not a good move, and how that war has destabilized the entire region. King said he voted for the war and did so on what he considered good information.   

One of the people in the audience questioned his judgment on speaking harshly about people like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. “Shouldn’t those critical remarks be spoken to them in private” was the question. Mr. King was quite direct and told the questioner that those people are the ones that create dissent and he has no obligation to be quiet about his disapproval of them (not a direct quote).

When speaking about Cruz’s closing down of the government, he stated that he too objected to Obamacare, but closing down the government to get what you could not get legislatively is not the way we do things. Obamacare was created through the legislative process, if you want to repeal it, elect a Republican congress and a Republican president and repeal it; otherwise it remains the law of the land.

The release of the Guantanamo prisoner in a swap for Mr. Bergdahl was not a good idea according to King. He thinks that they are still a danger to the United States.