West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Holds Town Hall Meeting at Independence Hall in Wheeling
Trending
WHEELING -- West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey came to Wheeling Tuesday because he wants to encourage people to interact with government leaders.
Morrisey took questions and comments from local residents, business leaders and community organizers on a variety of polarizing topics and consumer protection issues. The question-and-answer session came after he spoke during a town hall meeting he hosted at West Virginia Independence Hall.
Morrisey talked about a number of topics his office is addressing, including: opioid litigation, vaccine mandates and what he referred to as "fighting back against President (Joe) Biden and a lot of his initiatives that really would hurt West Virginia jobs and our values." The meeting was attended by several dozen people in the third-floor courtroom of Independence Hall.
"We know that his (Biden's) energy agenda is terrible for West Virginia. So we're fighting back," Morrisey said. "We are going to do our best to protect our coal, our oil, our gas and our manufacturing jobs."
Morrisey said his staff will soon be in court over vaccine mandates.
"We have been waiting for Biden to finalize his regulations so we can get into court. I expect that's going to happen any day now. So it's a target rich environment."
There's a lot happening, and we are going to make sure we stand up for West Virginia, our people and our freedoms," he added.
"We have 24 state attorney generals that are standing by ready. We have done the research. We're ready to go. ... I have been a big advocate, as everyone in West Virginia knows, 'You don't want to mandate. Persuade and educate — not mandate.'
"That's the message that we're trying to send. And that's a much better situation, because then you have people who are going to think for themselves, they're going to rely on science, and then I actually think the vaccination rates go higher ... when you're handling it and you are not trying to politicize all these issues," he added.
Morrisey said town hall meetings foster a unique dialogue between the state attorney general's office and West Virginia residents.
"We are able to provide important information to people about consumer protection issues and hear about challenges facing their area," he said of such sessions. "We're here to listen. ... I think it's critical to get back up to the Northern Panhandle. I'm from the Eastern Panhandle, and a lot of times people find that there is distance between the panhandles and Charleston. So you want to come up and hear what's on people's minds, and you want to represent all parts of the state. ... After all, I work for the people and we want to make sure that we are listening to everything that's on their mind," he added.
Wellsburg resident Lisa Vaughn said she attended the town hall meeting because there are a lot of troublesome issues facing the state and the nation, including vaccine and mask mandates.
"These mandates are killing us, and vaccines on our kids is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," Vaughn said after the session.
Following the meeting, Morrisey said he feels there are a lot of people who need a lot of information on a wide variety of issues, including such topics as: federal overreach, vaccines and what's going on at the nation's southern border. He said his message to the crowd is that "people should engage their government."
"Across the board, I think that it's important for people to go out and talk about what they're working on in the office and then get feedback. And it doesn't mean you have to agree with everything that's out there," Morrisey said. "This is the opportunity in a historic place for the people to step up and say this is how they feel on a particular topic. That's powerful. They're using their First Amendment rights.
"There are alot of serious challenges facing West Virginia now. We have to hold off this Biden overreach, which is going to put our state at risk. ... We talked a lot about that and what the role of the AG can do in pushing back against Biden and that left agenda," he added.