Tester Fields Feedback in Butte at 7th Town Hall of the Year

Approximately 140 Montanans question Senator, share views at in-person, public forum hosted by Montana Tech

U.S. Senator Jon Tester spent an hour today answering questions and soliciting feedback from a crowd of approximately 140 Butte Americans at his 7th public, in-person town hall of the year.

“These in-person town halls are the best way for me to talk with my bosses—you, the people of Montana—about the issues you’re facing in your communities,” said Tester. “Anyone can come here. They don’t need an invite, their questions aren’t screened, and I’ve got to answer them regardless of what they ask. I can’t hide while I’m standing up here.”

Before opening up the floor for questions, Tester spoke about his recent efforts to bring Montana values to Washington. He highlighted his recently introduced bill—the Seeding Rural Resilience Act—which aims to curb the rising rates of farmer suicide and spoke about his actions to hold the Trump Administration accountable to Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange.

Tester then fielded questions from the crowd ranging from climate change to taking care of veterans, protecting our public lands, the ongoing trade war, the Butte Area Superfund site, and more.

In response to a question about getting dark money out of our elections, Tester said: “The amount of money in our elections causes paralysis in Washington DC. If we curb that influence, it would help us get a lot more stuff done that benefits normal folks, not just big donors. That’s why I’ve introduced multiple bills to overturn Citizens United, because our elections should be controlled by the people, not big corporations.”

This is Tester’s 7th in-person, public town hall this year-following those in Bozeman, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Billings and Livingston—and his twelfth since President Trump took office. He has held dozens of Facebook Live town halls and public forums since 2016, ranging on topics from health care reform to Farm Bill reauthorization, VA community care, the ongoing trade war, and local infrastructure priorities across Montana.