Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Protesters picket Republican officials at Nevada luncheon

Dean Heller

Scott Sonner / AP

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., listens to a question from a woman standing in the foreground critical of his support for President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, during a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Carson City.

Updated Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 | 4:09 p.m.

CARSON CITY — Over the jeers of 200 protesters outside, Nevada's two Republican congressmen said Wednesday that town hall meetings will be more appropriate once they have a better grasp of how the party will unite to reform the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei answered a barrage of questions and attempted to placate hecklers inside the ticketed event while protesters outside screamed that the lawmakers have turned a deaf ear to constituents concerned about the new White House administration's policies.

Protesters are confronting Republican members of Congress across the country this week as the lawmakers return home for a recess, probing lawmakers to see if they'll veer from President Donald Trump's more controversial actions or increase their public availability.

"Heller has ignored constituents at a time of fear and uncertainty," state Sen. Yvanna Cancela, D-Las Vegas, said to other protesters outside the event at Gold Dust West casino and hotel in Carson City.

Heller and Amodei said they need more time to be able to answer specific questions about health care, immigration and renewable energy policies — in no small part because of how recently President Donald Trump took office. Republicans, they said, continue to be divided on how to repeal former President Barack Obama's landmark health law.

"It's not a lack of ideas; I've seen a lot of ideas in Washington, D.C. The problem is actually coalescing behind one program," Heller said. "We're going to get there; in fact we just put the Health Secretary (Tom Price) in place last week, so we're looking for some direction from the White House as to the direction they want to go."

"In April, which is when we will endeavor to schedule the town hall, you will have — oh my God — about six more weeks' worth to see what really happened and what's actually on the floor in legislation or not," Amodei said.

Bob Fullerson, who attended the luncheon in opposition to the lawmakers' policies, said it was a success because both lawmakers committed to hold town halls in the near future.

"We showed Trump's most valuable players in Nevada we mean business; they'd better listen to us," said Fullerson, executive director of Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "They need to choose between Trump and Nevada."

The Democratic Party is targeting Heller's seat in the Senate and state party officials are encouraging pushback over his votes to confirm Trump's Cabinet picks.

He contended that voting to confirm members of the executive branch administration does not mean he'll support them on every policy.

"I think every president has a right to put their cabinet in place," Heller said.

"Heller has done nothing to stand up to him and his agenda," Cancela told protesters at the Gold Dust West hotel and casino. "We will."

Misinformation was circulated online prior to the event, fueled in part by the Democratic calls for more town hall meetings.

Misled by a website that prompted them to reserve a spot at a "town hall with Sen. Dean Heller," Virginia City residents Dan Lucas and Marilyn Norton drove 20 miles to the casino Wednesday morning only to find out the sold-out event was private and they could not attend. The couple took their grievances and questions outside and joined the protesters.

Ronni Hannaman, executive director of the chamber, said the timing of the lawmakers' visit was not politically strategic. She praised their "pro-business stance."

"Today's speakers — and we're proud to have them here — were scheduled far in advance of the election," Hannaman said.

Admission to the Carson City Chamber of Commerce's monthly event started at $16.

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