The College Republicans hosted Rep. Robert Hurt, R-Charlottesville, of Virginia's fifth district yesterday.
The group regularly hosts a variety of politicians and speakers, and members thought Hurt would provide a fitting and informative contribution, Chair Abbey Hendricks said. "We had a lot of campaign effort for him this past fall during the fifth district race, so we thought that since he won, we'd like to welcome him back and hear what he's been up to," Hendricks said.
Hurt began his talk by offering his perspective on the election process. The campaign began with a competitive seven-candidate primary for the Republican Party's nomination and finished with a tightly contested general election. Hurt said such a highly competitive atmosphere ultimately made everyone involved better candidates.
Hurt, who defeated former Congressman Tom Perriello in the general election, moved on to discuss his time spent in the nation's capital, and stressed the importance of reducing federal spending, a dominant theme from his campaign last fall.
"I think what I've learned is that our financial situation is even worse than I knew," Hurt said. "It is our responsibility now to secure your future, and [our children's] future."
Alexander Cohen, Arts & Sciences graduate student and former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist, said he thinks that to seriously impact the nation's fiscal situation, Hurt and other congressmen need to make further cuts, especially to untouched popular programs.
"I think he's not going far enough in cutting the federal budget," Cohen said. "Social Security and Medicare need to be on the table and indeed on the chopping block. I think it's a result of many Republican politicians and indeed voters being far too moderate. They're not willing to act on the recognition that our real problems involve the massive giving away of money through the entitlement programs."
Although Hurt agrees that entitlement programs "need to be looked at and reformed," he said reform likely won't take place until the 2012 budget is set.
Throughout his talk, Hurt also focused on the importance of young voters' and citizens' continued participation in government, which Hendricks said piqued her interest.
"I thought it was really interesting how he encouraged us to stay involved," Hendricks said. "I feel like as young people we kind of push politics to the side, but we need to make ourselves aware of what's happening."
The College Republicans will host Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, next week and are co-sponsoring an event with the University Democrats soon.
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