By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–U.S. Reprepresentative. Jim Himes fielded questions about warrantless searches, immigration and a host of other issues from those impacting the entire nation, to the future of the Saugatuck River at a town hall-style session in Westport yesterday.

Himes also called for vigilance in the November elections to prevent the administration of President Donald Trump from marring the results with interference.

“The House is likely going to move in a very big way to a Democratic majority,” the Democratic congressman told an audience of 160 in the Museum of Contemporary Art/Connecticut. “And now the odds are that that happens in the Senate as well. Donald Trump is going to react to that. So the behavior is going to get bigger. And I say this with some experience because I was in the chamber on January 6, 2021.”

The late afternoon session was presented by Westport Journal and moderated by Publisher Doug Weber. Himes has served 17 years as the representative for Connecticut District 4, covering the southwest section of the state. He is running for his tenth two-year term in November.

Before entering the museum, Himes met with about 60 protesters who had gathered across Newtown Turnpike, holding signs that read “Jim Himes loves Big Brother,” and that called him, “Trump’s little helper.” They chanted, “Close the loophole!” referring to what critics call the “data broker loophole” that they fear will enable the federal government to mine data on American citizens – and to supercharge those efforts with artificial intelligence.

They say this loophole could be closed with the upcoming reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). 

“No one is actually safe right now,” said one of the protesters, Fairfield resident Felice Dworet. “We’re in danger. We can’t play nice, Jim. We can’t play nice.”

Himes told them there was no loophole and that artificial intelligence cannot be used under FISA.

“There’s absolutely no use of AI in the 702 FISA Authority at all,” Himes told the protesters, referring to the section of the act that authorizes warrantless searches of non-US citizens outside the country.

He said Americans’ information sometimes ends up in the data reaped, if a foreign subject of an investigation has emailed, texted or called someone in the U.S. But he said he had been instrumental in enacting about 50 reforms to the act two years ago, and he favored looking for further changes over putting a complete stop to a tool that provides about 60% of the intelligence in the President’s daily briefing.

“This is an authority that very deliberately, day by day, keeps people alive and safe and not being targeted by cartels,” he said. “So this is not my preferred outcome, but if we need to extend it for 18 months or one year or whatever, I support this extension. I hope we have the opportunity to do further reform.”

While he was deeply critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), calling for reforms such as requiring officers to wear name tags and prohibiting facemasks, he would not call for abolishing the agency.

“We need a police force that does immigration enforcement,” he said.

The protesters outside called on him to go further with ICE.

“It’s rotten to the core. It can’t be reformed,” Bridgeport resident Liz Bannish told him.

Joseph Perez-Caputo, a rival for Hime’s position, said he did not feel the congressman was taking the input from the protestors to heart.

“I feel like Jim really values making people feel heard,” he said, standing among the group on Newtown Turnpike. “But it’s just like any marriage. There’s a difference between listening and hearing. I feel like he will very successfully tell people his thoughts….but people still walk away feeling afraid.”

In other matters, Himes seemed confident that the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would not be passed, calling it  “a ridiculous idea to solve a non-problem.” And he blasted the Trump administration for the nation’s latest war.

“We’re in a real pickle in Iran,” he said. 

Residents also raised local issues in the session. Werner Liepolt, an advocate for saving the 142-year-old William F. Cribari Bridge, handed Himes a copy of his petition signed, so far, by more than 1,500 people on Change.org. It asks the federal government to oversee plans to upgrade the bridge over the Saugatuck River as a way of preventing the state from replacing the historic span completely.

Asked by former Westport Representative Town Meeting member Sal Liccione about dredging the Saugatuck River, Himes noted the complexity of such a project caused by the polluted condition of the silt.

Attendees in the museum session such as Westport resident Jeff Kapee appreciated Himes’ appearance.

“It was excellent,” Kapee said. “It had a lot of information and we were educated….I was impressed by his clear, concise answers.”