Congresswoman Jackie Speier spoke at a town hall meeting on April 12 that was specifically geared towards addressing young people and their concerns.

Speier’s office organized the event to draw in youth and young adults throughout her district.  Speier’s office had announced that everyone under the age of 25 would be welcome to the town hall meeting and any interested in asking questions was welcome to do so. 

Speier represents California’s 12th Congressional District, which incorporates Skyline College. She became a congresswoman in 2008, replacing the late Congressman Tom Lantos in a special election.

Speier has an extensive amount of experience prior to her congressional term which includes a seat on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for a term and a half, a seat in the California State Assembly for five terms and was termed out of the California State Senate.

Despite an anticipated healthy-sized turnout, volunteers seemed to be surprised by how many concerned students and other young adults showed up.  The room was packed with attendees as all seats were occupied and many had to stand for the duration of the event.

One of the first things that Speier did was honor young veterans who were present by asking them to come up, speak a little bit, and accept a certificate. A broad range of veterans received certificates, including a woman who had been stationed at Guantanamo Bay.

Once done honoring the veterans, Speier jumped right into the issues that most people seemed to be there to discuss. The first thing she talked about was the health care legislation that had just become national law.

“This is historic legislation,” Speier said. “You’re going to remember this for the rest of your life.”

The next issue that Speier broached was the recently passed financial aid reform bill. She mentioned that $61 billion has been wasted because the money that the government had been spending on financial aid previously went through large banks. These banks had been taking fees and charges out of funds that had been intended solely for college students.  Hearing this visibly surprised a lot of people in the crowd.

“So there are big improvements in the student loan program and in the Pell Grant program for students in college,” Speier said. “I hope that you’re going to take advantage of all that.”

The crowd was then split into four groups to consolidate their concerns and each group was asked to come up with two topics to mention to Speier. It was no surprise to see that the top concern for all four groups was the budget cuts to education.

While the groups discussed potential questions, The Skyline View managed to ask Speier an exclusive question. Speier was asked if the healthcare bill was enough for Californians and Americans, or did they need or deserve more?

“For all the chest-beating and tea partying, this was a pretty moderate bill,” said Speier. “In fact, in 1993, Congressman Chafee proposed a very similar bill. It was the Republican response to Hillary-care. It’s a good bill but it needs to be built upon.”

After several minutes, the groups reconvened in the main area and Speier looked at the compiled list of issues and questions.  She noted that everyone had the same top concern. She started to explain her theory that the state was spending far too much money on prisons and prison-related projects and jobs. One thing she said that caused a lot of surprised looks was her statement that California spends five times more money on prisoners than they do on students in the UC system. She also talked about how from 2001-2006, prison guards received a 36 percent increase in their salaries, whereas university professors received a 2 percent increase in that same time period.

The final issue of the evening that was brought up had to do with discrimination against homosexuals. The questioner referenced a recent incident in Mississippi where an entire prom was canceled over a young woman wanting to bring her girlfriend to the prom. This issue of homosexual discrimination has come up frequently in California as a result of the Proposition 8 outcome.

“I have supported every bill that’s been introduced to protect the rights of the LGBT community,” Speier said. “Whether it’s getting rid of ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ in the armed services, whether it’s getting rid of laws that define marriage as between a man and a woman. All of those. I have absolutely taken this position on every single one of them and supported the LGBT community.”

After Speier thanked the crowd at the end of the meeting, the audience burst into cheers and loud applause. As the room quieted down, Speier asked people to go to her Facebook page and sign up as a fan, showing that she was aware that the younger demographic is highly interested in social media.