On Tuesday, April 2, Common Ground hosted, “Climate, Guns, Borders, and Beyond: How Can We Tackle Today’s Biggest Issues?” in the Chapel. The goal of the event was to explore opposing political thought across party lines and discuss issues at the forefront of the minds of Americans. The event concluded with a demonstration by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Representative Matt Cartwright ’83 and former Representative Steve Russell participated in the dialogue about climate change, gun law reform, immigration, border control and reproductive rights. Mimi Geerges moderated the conversation.
Cartwright has served as a U.S. Representative in Pennsylvania since 2013, where he authorized and passed 16 successful bills into law. Cartwright graduated from Hamilton with a concentration in history, and obtained a JD from the University of Pennsylvania. He is co-chair of the Bipartisan House Military Depot Caucus, vice chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition as well as a member of the Democratic Steering & Policy Committee.
Russell served as a U.S. Representative in Oklahoma from 2015 to 2019, an Oklahoma State Senator from 2009 to 2013 and was an infantryman in the U.S. army. Currently the President and CEO of Jungle Aviation and Radio Service (JAARS), he is passionate about helping deliver God’s Word.
Geerges has ample experience with TV and radio news. She is a guest host of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” which discusses important issues on law-making, and has hosted “The Mimi Geerges Show” on PBS and Sirius XM.
The first topic was about gun control. Russell stated that he disagreed with the ban on assault rifles. He explained that more people die each year from other weapons and automobiles than assault weapons. Russell said that the constitution grants American citizens unalienable rights to self-defense and that we must honor the Bill of Rights. Arguing that laws alone do not solve problems, he said that we need to work on funding and supporting laws.
Cartwright added his opinion on gun control, explaining that as a gun owner he believes that guns “should not be taken away from responsible gun owners.” Cartwright emphasized the tragedy of the incident at Sandy Hook and other mass shootings and said that we must work together to prohibit people from having access to firearms who should not have them.
Geerges shifted the discussion to climate change and about the federal government’s role in tackling the issue. Cartwright recalled that when he began his career in Congress, Republicans were “utterly forbidden” to talk about climate change or global warming. But as climate change became “undeniable,” Republicans and Democrats are talking about the issue together and moving in positive directions with sustainable energy. Responding to Geerge’s question about funding to support climate change, Cartwright said that he was very pleased with the Inflation Reduction Act, which helped to promote the use of renewable energy. He also argued that America should take the lead in fighting climate change.
Russell emphasized that a healthy environment, economics and industrialization go hand in hand; the most sustainable societies are the most wealthy. Russell remarked that we foolishly think we control the climate and the earth. He said, what we can do is “adapt to good stewardship.”
While Cartwright disagreed with Russell, arguing that human activity is causing the climate crisis, he agreed that believing that innovation is the key to addressing climate change. In addressing China as the largest contributor to burning fossil fuels, he said that China not being a democracy is the problem.
The conversation shifted to talking about bitter partisanship. Russell stated that if “we find the interest that we do agree on” we can develop trust and make effective legislative decisions, citing how he and Cartwright both disagreed and agreed on many subjects and were able to pass several bills together.
Geerges brought up the issue of the southern border. Cartwright said that we need to abide by the law and believed that “an executive order is not out of place.” He mentions that based on the law, a president can shut down borders during a crisis, which is what President Trump did during the pandemic and which Biden kept in place for another 28 months. “Once the pandemic was over it was no longer legal for the president to issue an executive order to close the border,” Cartwright said. Russell commented that as a sovereign nation, “we have the right to protect our borders.” He said that we should not be “afraid of immigration,” and “find ways to solve it.”
The last topic discussed was abortion rights, which Cartwright noted will be a “defining issue in politics for a very long time.” He spoke against taking away reproductive rights, believing that the recent decisions to eliminate the right to abortion are “jarring.” Russell, as Geerges comments, has the stance of a “rare Republican” who supports rights protecting both the mother and the baby.
The floor was then open for questions, and an audience member asked a question about the Israel-Hamas war. This student inquired about Cartwright’s social media posts to Instagram that had been edited and another to Facebook that had been taken down since earlier this week that included a comparison of Israel’s assault to the U.S.’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The student then asked, “is there any conceivable red line the state of Israel could cross to make you withdraw support for U.S. military assistance to Israel?”
Cartwright denied knowing about the editing of the post, and asserted that he wrote the post himself, before telling the audience that he “has written no fewer than four letters to the Biden administration…urging ways to help the people in Gaza.” Cartwright asserted that he was against a ceasefire and Russell stated that we don’t “negotiate with terrorists” and that Israel is a “sovereign state,” which resulted in audience members calling out and shouting. One student yelled for a ceasefire. Geerges tried to encourage audience members to raise their hands and give other people a chance to ask questions.
Sarafina Madden ’26, a student ambassador for Common Ground, tells The Spectator, “this demonstration revealed to me that there is a lack of attention to the Israel-Palestine conflict on our campus and that we must, as a campus community, come together to create forums where people can formally discuss this issue. It also proved to me that civil discourse and engaging with people who disagree with you is the only way that we will chart the path ahead on such difficult issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict.”
Some SJP students sat on the second level of the Chapel and hung a Palestinian flag over the balcony.
The event concluded with Cartwright arguing that humility is the key to civil discourse and Russell reminding the audience that shouting is not the way to find common ground.
