U.S. Rep. Pete Olson represents the 22nd Congressional District, which includes cities in Harris, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties. Olson graduated from Rice University and earned his law degree at the University of Texas. He flew a P-3C Orion in Asia while serving in the U.S. Navy from 1988-94. He was elected to the House in November 2008.

What are the biggest issues are facing the 22nd District?

U.S. Rep. Pete Olson Pete Olson[/caption]

The biggest thing is the low price of oil and natural gas. We have got people losing their jobs and that’s happening because of the global politics—largely OPEC wanting to keep their spigots flowing to hurt America. [They say], ‘Oh man, America now with the new technologies—hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling—they’ve got more oil and gas than we’ve got and are going to take it over. So, to that end, we finally passed a bill—part of a bill we passed last year—to end the ban on crude exports. With our oil and natural gas, we have a global market and we can hurt OPEC, we can hurt Iran, we can hurt Mr. Putin in Russia and even ISIS.

People are concerned about another surge across our borders [like what] happened in 2014, all these kids came across. We’ve seen some numbers indicating it may be happening again. I had a bill introduced that just basically gives local communities a voice in some of [decisions] where these detention centers [are] in their towns. All my bill says is: OK, if you want to bring the people to this community, tell them what your plan is: how many, where are they coming from, what languages.

Can you explain to residents why there is so much gridlock in government?

Gridlock is kind of how the system is designed—if you’re going to pass a law, it’s going to be a bear. You have to get it through two different bodies—the House and the Senate. It’s gotten hard now because it’s gotten more partisan and that’s sad. We all know our country is going bankrupt, we’re going down the tubes. Medicare and Medicaid are draining our future.

Should the threat of the Islamic State terrorist group be a concern to residents?

They should be very concerned. We’ve had a couple come across our border—ISIS followers—we caught them in McAllen. We passed a bill in the House to just put a brake on people coming in from two countries, Syria and Iraq. Not saying, ‘you can’t come in,’ but before you come in, three agencies that say, ‘you’re OK’, the Department of Defense, the  [Department] of Homeland Security and the FBI.