Khanna on Campus

Local representative speaks to constituents and addresses concerns  

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna from California’s 17th Congressional District hosted a Town Hall in Santa Clara’s Recital Hall on Friday, Feb. 21 to answer questions from the Santa Clara City community. 

“This month is Black History Month,” Khanna said. “[It] is an extraordinary time for our country to recognize the achievements, the struggles, the aspirations of the African American Community.”

Ro Khanna began the Town Hall by awarding a few honorees for Black History Month.

Following the awards, Shamir Morely, a middle school student, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” for the audience.

“Determined, talented, avid and unassuming are just some of the words that describe him,” Congressman Khanna said. “If you see Shamir around, he will always welcome you with a smile.”

Khanna then started answering questions from the public, addressing a wide range of topics.

His comments addressed current issues such as climate change, immigration and the e-cigarette ban, as well as more specific issues such as the Sunshine Protection Act, persecution in China and money spending.

One of the audience members was Jay Pea, who created the Save Standard Time website in order to promote health arguments for restoring permanent Standard Time. 

The Sunshine Protection Act is a bill that would put permanent daylight saving time into effect. 

Pea asked Congressman Khanna about the act and if he would support the Sunshine Protection Act of which Khanna is currently a sponsor or if he would oppose it and consider a new bill for permanent standard time.

“I was very pleased to hear him say that he is . . . interested in science,” Pea said. “He did not just say that to me . . . I heard him say [that] to others.”

Another audience member, Suds Jain, comes to most of Khanna’s Town Halls because he wants the public to understand that Khanna believes climate change is a serious issue. 

Sometimes the question about climate change goes unasked, so Jain shows up to ask for other people and give the congressman the chance to speak on this problem.

“I got more than what I expected because often I am the only person asking the question about climate, but tonight there were four people that asked questions about climate change,” Jain said. “What I appreciate is that more and more people are thinking about climate change as a serious issue.”

Everyone in the audience came for different reasons, even to listen to Congressman Khanna answer other people’s questions.

Betsy Megas came to the town hall to hear news from Khanna directly. 

“[I came] partly to get news directly unfiltered,” Megas said. “Partly because I believe in holding elected officials to account, and partly because I very much respect Congressman Khanna for continuing to hold Town Halls.”

This article has been altered for corrections. It previously stated that Pea was in favor of keeping daylight savings time permanent, while Pea promotes restoring permanent Standard Time. He also asked whether Khanna would oppose the Sunshine Protection Act, not if he would restore it.

Contact Nisha Shankar at nshankar@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.