New Bay Area Congressman Eager To Tackle Fiscal Cliff
DUBLIN (KCBS) – As Congress returns to Washington, D.C. on Thursday to work on a deal on the fiscal cliff, the next class of elected representatives, including one from the East Bay, is eagerly awaiting its turn.
31-year-old Eric Swalwell said if the 112th Congress can't figure out the fiscal cliff, he's happy to bring some small town solutions to Capitol Hill.
New Bay Area Congressman Calls For Compromise On Fiscal Cliff
Swalwell was a Dublin City Councilman and said he had to work with Republicans in order to pass a city budget. It's the same kind of compromise strategy he said needs to be at work in Washington.
"If it's not solved in the 112th Congress and it requires me to act when I get there in the 113th, I'm just going to take some good old Dublin City Council compromise values and go back there and work with members of parties across the aisle," Swalwell said.
He said he knows firsthand the implications of going over the fiscal cliff.
"The first constituent I've been hearing a lot from is my own mother," said Swalwell. "At Christmas dinner, she told me, my mom who is a middle class worker who makes less than $100,000, but she told me she's going to have to pay $3,000 more in taxes if the tax cuts are not extended."
Swalwell will be the second youngest member of Congress when he's sworn in on January 3.
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