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U.S. Rep. Justin Amash discusses House Speaker votes

mlive.com

  Florida Republican Congressman Daniel Webster says he's glad the House has elected a new speaker, but admits he’d hoped to have been the choice. U.S. Representative Justin Amash of Cascade Township was also a supporter of Webster. WGVU talks with the West Michigan Republican about Webster and the expectations for the newly elected Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.

West Michigan Congressman Justin Amash is a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus. On his Facebook page, the Republican notes “The primary concern of the House Freedom caucus in choosing a new speaker has been the candidate’s dedication to an open process, not his commitment to a particular ideology of specific policy outcomes.”

“We want the rules to be followed. We want the rules to be clear. We want the House to work in a fair and open way. And, for too long we’ve had a top-down structure where one person, or just a few people, make all the decisions and then go to round-up votes from the other members. We need every member to be participating and presenting ideas. We need more amendments and we want the body to really reflect the will of the American people.”

On his Facebook page, U.S. Rep. Amash makes it clear Republican Congressman, Daniel Webster, is his preference.

“That’s right, our group endorsed Dan Webster. We think he would make a great speaker. He ran for the nomination and received 43 votes which was great showing, but Paul Ryan received the bulk of the votes in the conference and we thought that it was important to back Paul Ryan on the floor given his commitment to opening up the process.”

I asked Congressman Amash if he voted for Ryan?

“I voted for Paul Ryan on the floor and I voted for Daniel Webster in the nominating conference.”

What are Amash’s expectations moving forward?

“Well, I’m hopeful. I do feel comfortable based on what I heard today from Paul. He gave a great speech. He talked about process, that’s what he opened up with and I feel like he heard us. He listened. And moving forward I hope we can all work together and hope that the House can really reflect the will of the people. We want Democratic ideas out there. We want Republican ideas out there. We want Independent ideas. Let’s try to find the best way forward for the American people.”

U.S. Representative, Bill Huizenga, of Zeeland also voted for Paul Ryan.

Patrick joined WGVU Public Media in December, 2008 after eight years of investigative reporting at Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV8 and three years at WYTV News Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. As News and Public Affairs Director, Patrick manages our daily radio news operation and public interest television programming. An award-winning reporter, Patrick has won multiple Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter/Anchor awards and is a three-time Academy of Television Arts & Sciences EMMY Award winner with 14 nominations.