Kristen McPeek
Washington, D.C (CBS2) — Idaho Representative Russ Fulcher spoke on a project happening here in Idaho and the trending issues he faces in congress Wednesday.
When asked about the Mueller Report, Fulcher said that releasing the report is "fine."
"The only problem, there's going to be information in that report, that simply can't be released," He said. "There are names and contacts of assets that the U.S. has abroad, and for that matter other pieces of confidential information that simply wont be released to the public. And I think is, one of the reasons quite frankly why the democrats are trying to hang their hat on that. They know that it can't be fully released."
Fulcher says he just wants to move on.
"We would all be much better off if we just move on," said Fulcher. "We should all be happy. The fact is, there wasn't collusion. That's a good thing. Lets move on and govern."
On the recent re-authorization of the Violence Against Woman Act in congress last week, Fulcher said he found some parts concerning causing him to be against it.
"The authors inserted some concerning things to me," he said. "For an example, for those who are incarcerated to choose if they wanted to be in a men's facility versus a woman's facility based on how they identify. I find that problematic."
Fulcher said there were also provisions in the bill that remove the right to bear arms for certain misdemeanors which he didn't like either.
In a press release last week, Fulcher listed the reasons further:
- The bill expands the list of misdemeanor convictions that can result in a permanent ban on an individual being able to purchase a gun.
- Creates a new lifetime prohibition for person’s convicted of “stalking” crimes, that could include emotional distress as adequate evidence for a gun purchase ban.
- Applies prohibitions on certain and related misdemeanor convictions to those that occurred before the legislation would be passed.
- The bill allows federal grant funds to be used to develop and implement assault and violence policies that result in victims and accused being in the same room. This can not only be traumatizing for the victim, but may also pose legal consequences. In a non-courtroom setting where both sides are discussing what happened, the alleged victim could be revealing information and emotion in a way that could undermine that information in court. For the alleged perpetrator, they could be unduly “quasi-adjudicated” in a process that does NOT follow proper court procedures. This could not only violate the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but also undermine a credible case of sexual assault.
- The bill expands tribal jurisdiction over “non-tribal people.” These include giving tribal government law enforcement authority over non-tribal individuals when in regard to “domestic violence, dating violence, obstruction of justice, sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, and assault of a law enforcement or corrections officer.” In the past, any legal concern by a tribal law enforcement authority has meant working with non-tribal law enforcement to investigate, arrest, etc. This should continue to be a joint effort.
Back here in Idaho, Fulcher is working on the Veterans History Project.
"We are rapidly losing our WWII Veterans," Fulcher said. "The intent is to try to allow families with stories of their loved ones that have been involved with military service, to be able to share those stories."
Fulcher says he wants to put the stories in the Library of Congress to share with others exactly what happened in veterans words. And have people reflect back and have details with history.