Op-ed by Summer Lane | Photo: Alamy
For decades, eager Americans traveled to the Golden State in search of the California dream, flocking to its sparkling beaches and settling down to farm in the temperate Central Valley. California is not only one of the biggest states in the nation, but its biodiversity and moderate weather has long made it the perfect location for farming, industry, and creative innovation.
Sadly, California today no longer offers the “dream” that Americans once flocked to the West Coast to find. As Governor Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., and a left-leaning legislature in the Golden State have dragged its citizens down a tyrannical path, thousands of people have fled to the Midwest and beyond in search of greener and freer pastures.
In fact, according to the Daily Mail, more than 500,000 people left California between April 2020 and July 2022, mainly due to Newsom’s iron-fisted Covid-related policies for state workers, public school teachers, and beyond.
When it comes to facing the realities of California’s destructive policies, nobody has fought harder to keep the tyranny at bay than Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who famously clinched the Republican majority in the House of Representatives last November.
“It allowed our campaign to become a sort of vehicle for bringing about the changes that people are really looking for in the direction of the country,” he told RSBN in an exclusive interview.
He described his victory in California’s congressional election last year as a “tipping point” for the country, ultimately ending Nancy Pelosi’s speakership in the House and putting the “brakes on all the damage” that the Biden administration has wrought upon the nation.
From California to D.C.
Kiley, who fought relentlessly against Gov. Newsom’s radical left policies while serving in the California State Assembly, received more votes than any Republican in California history in 2020.
In 2022, Kiley ran for Congress, scoring a glowing endorsement from President Donald Trump and netting a major victory for conservative Californians. Today, he represents California’s 3rd congressional district – and the freshman congressman has proven to be a stalwart fighter for commonsense policies.
For example, Kiley has proposed the “VA Same Day Scheduling Act,” which would provide an assurance that if veterans call to set an appointment, they will get that appointment on the same day.
Kiley shared, “We owe our veterans the highest measure of support…all too often, we have fallen short of that standard, and when I hear from veterans who are unable to get the care that they need…I think that is absolutely unacceptable.”
He has also introduced a bill called the “Free Speech on Campus Act,” which aims to protect the sacred First Amendment rights of college students on campus everywhere and educate them on its importance.
Kiley pointed out that while universities are supposed to be a place where ideas “flourish,” instead, they have become the “most aggressive places for censorship.”
He explained, “The right for people to express views…it’s important that we have a forum – [a] marketplace of ideas where all views can be aired, [and] assuring that all students receive education when they get to university on the First Amendment and the role that it plays on college campuses.”
Nationwide, many Americans are hungry for commonsense legislation that will protect their basic constitutional rights, and Kiley’s work in D.C. reflects a dedication to that mandate.
House Republicans’ response to federal overreach
When it comes to a duplicitous justice system in America and the threat of extreme federal overreach and censorship, Kiley explained that Republicans in the House have a very effective tool with which to keep executive power in check: oversight.
“That has been a power that we’re using in a very broad and effective way so far,” he said.
While some Americans who are frustrated with Joe Biden and the Democrat machine have called for impeachment against the president, Kiley pointed out that Republicans have only had the majority for “a handful of months” and that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, had made it a “top priority” to bring transparency on the issue of the weaponization of the federal government.
When asked if he thinks Joe Biden will soon be facing an impeachment inquiry considering the disturbing information that has been exposed by ongoing House investigations, Kiley replied, “We will follow the facts where they lead…impeachment is a constitutional mechanism that should not be used as a political cudgel – rather, it is something that is available to Congress in its oversight capacity.”
In terms of President Trump’s 2024 reelection bid, Kiley says he has set a policy of not endorsing candidates at this time but noted that “this is an election where Americans are going to be looking for change” on the heels of their widespread dissatisfaction with the Biden regime.
He added, “I don’t think that we can wait until a new president arrives in 2025 to change the trajectory of our country.”
Instead, Kiley is focused on the here and the now, dedicating himself to “putting on the brakes” to the destructive policies that Democrats and the Biden administration are foisting upon Americans.
A warning to the nation
As far as the effect that California has had on the rest of the country, Rep. Kiley posited, “Increasingly, we see California’s problems becoming the nation’s problems.”
To combat this, he encouraged Americans and Californians to get involved at the “local level,” pointing out that local bodies of governance “often make the decisions that impact your daily life irrespective of what’s going on in Sacramento.”
For Rep. Kevin Kiley, serving in D.C. is not just about playing politics – it’s about stemming the bleed of destructive policies from California into the rest of the country.
He warned, “We [Californians] have seen firsthand the effects of this radical agenda and we have an important role to play in sounding a warning to the rest of the country that this is not a path that we want to go down.”
