Himes on Iran, the Economy, AI and More

Weston Today photos

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes discussed a range of topics on April 18 at a Weston Kiwanis meeting, including Iran, the economy, Ukraine, immigration, surveillance, election security, and artificial intelligence.

Iran

From his vantage as the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, Mr. Himes dismissed as false administration claims that Iran was close to having a nuclear weapon, and he rued the “confusing bunch of different answers” given to justify military action.

He said Iran’s “truly, hideous regime” has been replaced by a new leader who is “much more vicious, younger, and ideological” than his father, and more determined to get nuclear weapons.

Mr. Himes said consequences of the war extend beyond skyrocketing gasoline and energy prices to the cost of fertilizer, which impacts food prices as planting season begins in the Midwest.

The economy and affordability

The congressman said the American economy is remarkably strong and resilient, but there is evidence of a bipartisan realization that it is not delivering for many Americans.

Mr. Himes said people in both parties recognize that regulations have made it difficult to build new housing and energy infrastructure because projects can take five to 15 years to complete.

He said a bipartisan Build America caucus in the House of Representatives is working on streamlining the permitting process, with an aim to make it easier to build energy projects, manufacturing plants, transit, housing and more. He lauded a bipartisan housing bill that passed the Senate by an 89—10 vote.

Ukraine

Rep. Himes said the U.S. should steadfastly support Ukraine’s defense against Russia. He said he is troubled by the current administration’s reduction of aid to Ukraine, but also regrets the previous administration’s hesitancy, early on, to “commit ourselves so intensively that the Russians get the hell out.”

“We’ve always been too little too late to help the Ukrainians,” said the congressman. “And now we’re in this mess.”

Mr. Himes marveled at Ukrainian resiliency and said the country’s proficiency at drone combat “shows us what war looks like” in the future, and demonstrates the number of personnel and skills the U.S. military will need.

Immigration

“We need to take the temperature down on this whole debate and stop dehumanizing people,” said Mr. Himes.

The congressman said stronger and more secure borders are needed, and acknowledged that “my party has not been good about this.”

He said the country must also have an immigration system that “officially brings in the people that we absolutely need … that gets us to normalcy and makes us proud rather than embarrassed.”

Surveillance

Mr. Himes favors an extension, with reforms, of the “rightly controversial” Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA Section 702), which is about to expire. The Act permits warrantless monitoring of non-citizens outside the United States, and the congressman explained why it sometimes also sweeps up U.S. citizens.

Mr. Himes said he voted last week to defeat proposed reforms that he found inadequate. He voted to extend the law ten days, giving time for Republicans and Democrats to work out a “more robust” set of reforms.

The congressman said FISA allows the government to demand that service providers hand over text and email messages of up to 300,000 foreigners who are suspected terrorists, narcotics cartel members, or spies.

“Every week, he said, “it stops terrorist attacks around the world” and reveals cartel plans to move fentanyl across the border or kidnap people.

The problem is that foreign terrorists sometimes communicate electronically with American citizens, correspondence that also gets collected, “a profoundly uncomfortable thing” as Mr. Himes put it. “We’ve got to figure out a way to make sure American civil liberties are not violated.”

He said another problem to solve is how to handle a “defensive query,” a case where the FBI searches the database out of concern that someone, rather than being a suspect, may be targeted as a victim, a situation where a judge would not ordinarily issue a warrant.

Election security

Congressman Himes predicted failure of the contentious proposed SAVE Act, which would require that those registering to vote produce a passport or birth certificate.

“Foreigners don’t vote in our elections,” he said, citing a conservative organization’s own research. He said the SAVE Act and efforts to restrict voting by mail would disenfranchise many people only to address a problem that does not exist.

He does have a particular concern about election security, and said, “you’re hearing this from a guy who was stuck in the House chamber on January 6, 2021.”

He said he can imagine a voting location in a southern suburban swing district being swarmed by heavily armed federal agents, a scuffle with protestors, guns being drawn “and lo and behold, a voting machine finds its way into the back of a van.”

The result would be chaos and an election outcome in doubt. “That to me,” he said, “is both very possible and terrifying.”

Artificial intelligence

Congressman Himes said he finds the “extinction risk” of AI over-hyped, at least for now. He acknowledges the technology’s potential benefits, such as the ability to produce effective drugs, cures and vaccines much faster than humans can.

But he does worry that AI endangers employment of the middle class in America. He said technology has historically destroyed some jobs but then created more. “I’m not sure that’s true with AI,” he said.

The question, said Mr. Himes, is what happens if 40 million Americans in the middle class — accountants, lawyers, radiologists — are suddenly not as economically valuable as they used to be?

“We’ve never been good at answering that question, and I’m a little worried about what happens if we don’t have an answer before it happens.”

He also has concerns about the “tech bros” running AI companies.

“I don’t trust them to be really thoughtful about not producing tools that let someone build bombs or viruses. So I think we’ve got to be all over the safety aspects of that.”