Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte held one of his regular telephone town hall meetings on Monday night from the office in Washington, D.C. and took calls from constituents for over an hour.

Gianforte said Congress has been working to pass laws to help curb the epidemic of illegal drugs that are at the heart of many different criminal enterprises.

“We passed a package of nearly 50 bills that passed the House and the senate and were signed by the President, all dealing with these drug trafficking issues,” said Gianforte. “Boy, as I talked with law enforcement across the state, it’s just tearing our communities apart. One sheriff told me he knows when the Mexican meth shows up in that community, because he sees a spike in the crime rate.”

Gianforte said there is division within the committee working towards a compromise on border security.

“This bipartisan committee that was put together to find a solution to secure the border and open the government back up unfortunately took a turn to the left yesterday,” he said. “A fringe group of democrats dropped a poison pill demanding that ICE resources be cut and that beds be reduced for people apprehended at the southern border. The National Sheriff’s Association and the major County Sheriffs of America both came out against this, and called it a dangerous Congressional proposal from the fringe Democrats.”

Gianforte took a call from a woman who was distressed over the rapidly rising cost of health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

“I am very pleased that in this Congress, I got a seat on Energy and Commerce, and in particular the health care subcommittee,” he said. “This is exactly the policy we’re looking at. We need to repeal the most onerous of Obamacare and introduce innovations that can actually start to bring costs down, protect people with preexisting conditions and preserve rural access.”

Gianforte also took calls on veterans issues and prescription drug prices.

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