Congressman Scott Perry Checks In For His Monthly Visit

Congressman Scott Perry joins RJ Harris to discuss the growing concern over automatic license plate readers and the potential misuse of collected data. As the summer months come to a close, Congressman Perry shares his experiences with the issue, highlighting the need for transparency and accountability in government.

The conversation touches on the intersection of technology and politics, with Congressman Perry explaining how the collection of data by ride-sharing companies and automatic license plate readers raises questions about individual privacy and security. He also shares his personal experience of being criticized for speaking out on the issue, but emphasizes the importance of holding elected officials accountable for their actions.

Congressman Perry also discusses other pressing matters, including the rising cost of healthcare and the impact of energy policies on everyday Americans. He expresses frustration with the inability to pass legislation in Congress and the need for bipartisan cooperation to address these issues.

As the conversation comes to a close, Congressman Perry emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and encourages listeners to get involved in the democratic process. He urges those who typically only vote in presidential elections to make their voices heard in local and state elections, highlighting the need for a more active and informed citizenry.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Seven thirty six twenty four to go until eight o
clock the RJ. Harris Breakfast Show, and I want to
welcome back to the show, Congressman Scott Perry. Good morning, sir.
How are you.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm well, RJ. Happy summer. We're we're in the middle
of it now, and you know, I can tell everybody's
already looking towards school starting again, and you know to
you know, enjoy it while you can.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Well without a doubt. And I know you're here in
the district and now talking to people. And the reason
I know that is I bought the data from one
of those flock camera companies, so I know I know
your every move, I know your every move. I just
want you to know that, all right.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, Well, that's that's an issue, and it's becoming more
and more an issue, and colleagues send me different stuff
almost daily now on on the you know, the evolving
saga of these cameras and these automatic license plate readers.
And I just found out, I don't know, a couple

(01:07):
of days ago, I guess some of the ride sharing
companies were negotiating with the automatic license plate reading companies
to to also be securing that data. So on the
move reading billions literally of license plates of people that
are just traveling, you know, to home and work into

(01:29):
the store. What have you for data aggregators to to
have that information and then use for for god knows what.
And then another one where somebody was wrongly identified as
a suspect and a crime and the whole highway was
shut down and family wash was detained in the middle

(01:52):
of a highway with multiple police cars. Dangerous situation with
guns drawn and all that kind of stuff. That's that's
some scary business when you know you're trying to live
your life.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah. You know what I found interesting about it is
you were the first one to talk about this. And
I mean really when I say first one first one
of note to get some attention, and the people who
always want to point you point to you as somebody
who has it wrong went right after you on the
flock cameras thing. Now, it really is big. People understand

(02:30):
the impact. I think it and data centers are the
two things that real human beings are talking about these days.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, they certainly are talking about those two things. And
you know, look, politics is a strange thing, RJ. You know,
there's a lot of critics out there, And I get it.
We're Americans, so we all have opinions, and you know,
we like to vocalize them and so on and so forth.
And there's a lot of people in elected office that
shy away from is is because of just that. And

(03:02):
so a lot of times we wonder, as citizens, why
nothing ever happens? Why doesn't anybody see what I see?
Why it wasn't anybody saying and think because a lot
of times people in elected office just take the easy path,
you know, they just nothing to see here, just to
keep the elections coming and and I'll stay in office
and nothing will change. And and I don't think that's

(03:25):
the reason why anybody gets elected. You get elected to
do something and trying to make the world a better place.
And when things are happening that that are questionable, it's
your job, it's kind of it's your duty to say something.
And so you know I did. I did raise a
fuss about these things, and I did get roundly criticized,

(03:48):
but I also felt that there was a problem. There
is a problem with this. It's my job to do
something about it. And you know, and I can't. I
can't live my life. We're in a out what my
critics are going to say about me. My job is
to try and make our country a better place and
make sure that we're following the constitution, and so, you know,

(04:10):
got to do what you got to do.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
So you're out there talking to people, what are you
here and what are the other things that you're hearing
right now?

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Well, we're here. And of course that the cost of
healthcare is too high accesses, you know, people have to
wait too long, and they're not wrong about that. We
told them that when the you know, when the government
essentially agreed with the massive insurance companies to do this
thing called Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, do you remember, RJ.

(04:39):
We told them it was going to be the most
expensive free healthcare you couldn't afford. And I am frustrated
about that, and I'm frustrated at the inability to do
anything about that in Congress. I talk to my colleagues
on the Senate because we've passed some things in the House,
and my colleagues in the Senate say, we can't get

(04:59):
a vote on anything over there because you know, they
need they need seven Democrats to come with us with them,
and they just refuse to anything. They don't want to
agree to do anything as long as the president is
the president. You know, they just want to I just
want to hold things up so so and that. And
then energy prices. Quite honestly, the cost of electricity. People

(05:21):
don't know this. I mean people know because they're paying
their local bills, their regular monthly bill. You know, it's
been going up for ten or eleven years. And and
we in Pennsylvania have shut down five billion gigawatts of UH.
Are not five billion five gigawatts? That's a billion five yeah,

(05:42):
five gigawatts of or is it fifty? Yeah, it's five
I think, yeah, of base load power in the last
eleven years for this whole climate UH crusade that we're on.
And so it's just supply and demand, right, If you
don't have as much power and UH and you're expecting

(06:04):
or demanding that people use more of it, you know,
it's it's just the supplies limited and the demand is
high and higher well, and especially especially with you know,
the government encouraging more use of electricity, and so your
bills go up. And these are all policy choices. We
didn't have to do any of this stuff. It's just
these are policy choices by policy makers, and and there's

(06:27):
a better way of doing things.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, Wolf into Shapiro. Now uh are into the green nonsense.
And the truth is that we generate power and sell
it to Maryland, and I'm sure you know this in
New Jersey, yep, cheaper than we pay for it. Here
in Pennsylvania, we pay more for our own power. Then
we sell it to adjacent states. How crazy is that?

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Well, it's even crazier RJ. When you know the adjacent
states have shut off their their generation. That's why we
have to sell. And then the answer is to run
more power lines across Pennsylvania and take great farm land
and private land by eminem domain to do it. I say, heck, no,
no way, you guys. You states, you produce your own power.

(07:14):
There's Brendan Shoals in Maryland, in and Arundel County, which
services Baltimore. They had a power plant. They have a
power plant down there, and the Sarah Club bought essentially
said if you quit producing power, we will pay you
the same amount to not produce power. And the FIRK,
you know, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, gave them a

(07:37):
must produce order. They have to stay in business and
produce power, and of course the answer was to have
south central Pennsylvania produce more power and run power lines
to Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
They have a power plant right there. Just keep it
running and actually RJ, it runs clean. We you know,
we produce more power, more cleanly, more affordably in the
United States than any other country.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
On the planet. But it's never good enough for these
crazy people that want to just take us back to
the tenth century. And if you're only you can you're
only allowed to use windmills and solar panels. That's the
only thing they'll accept. Of course, those are all manufactured
primarily in China.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
And take up farmland by the way.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah exactly, yeah, right, all right, go your food prices. Yeah.
So it's complicated, RJ. But some of it's a little
simple when you just go through it for a minute.
So thanks for the opportunity and thanks for asking the question.
I hope your summer is great and uh, you know,
and I'll see you next month. But we're going to
be into September, so it's going to you know, school

(08:37):
is going to be on and it's kind of back
to life, you know, the old ways.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
So well, the last couple of weeks, and I want
you to know I want a mission more than ever
to get people to come out to vote. Those people
who particularly only quote unquote vote in presidential elections. They
need to vote. So I'm on a mission. I'm on
a campaign. So all right, nice to voice heard, and
thank you. Nice to talk with you. Be safe, talk

(09:01):
with you soon. God bless your j take care and you.
That's Congressman Scott Perry. It's approaching seven forty six.