During a time of great political turmoil, those lucky enough to get the chance to hear from one of the representatives on Capitol Hill get a unique opportunity. On Wednesday night, Lipscomb students, faculty and members of the Nashville community got this distinct chance.
Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN) visited Lipscomb for the university’s monthly Pizza and Politics event. Cooper addressed the burning issues facing our country while giving the students a message of urgency concerning their political activism.
Dr. Lowry introduced the congressman, even jokingly saying that Rep. Cooper is only democrat he would vote for.
Rep. Cooper took the stage and quickly began his opening statements directed at the students and other young people in the audience. Cooper urged the young in the audience to take an active role in politics, even if it meant only voting. Cooper believes that just being an informed voter is an important role for Americans.
Cooper, who hosts the largest internship program on Capitol Hill,encouraged students to pursue being informed of the nation’s issues. He firmly believes that the state of the country reflects on the state of its citizens.
“America is not going to be number one if you are not number one,” he said.
A self-described centrist, Cooper calls for all Americans to become independent thinkers, not just trusting the opinions of such popular news outlets as Fox News and MSNBC.
Cooper devoted the rest of his time to address such important issues such as the current state of congress – a system he believes to be broken, health care, and the current pattern of government spending.
The audience, diverse with members of the Lipscomb and local community, raised questions of their own. Issues such as environmental safety, taxes, the issues with the federal budget and recent redistricting decisions were concerns of various individuals.
Cooper also fielded questions concerning such hot topics as the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, potential Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain’s proposed “9-9-9” tax plan, health care reform and the recent Tennessee legislation that would require all voters to carry a photo-ID.
The central theme of the night, though, came from Cooper’s belief that as a country, “we need a new way of thinking”. He urges for the new generation of voters to take on that responsibility.
If anything was clear from his time on-stage, it’s that Cooper believes in his country and its people.
For next month’s Pizza and Politics, Lipscomb will host Roderick Hart, the dean of the college of communications from the University of Texas at Austin. This event will take place November 8th.