COURT HOUSE – U.S. Congressman Jeff Van Drew promised a breakfast crowd at the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce August meeting, “I’m going to do my damn best not to be political.”

That did not mean he would not be critical of things he feels are bad for America or New Jersey.

“I’m going to tell you what I think,” Van Drew said.

The congressman did hit on a number of topics that have tended to be at the center of political discussions, however, including offshore wind farms and trans athletes competing in women’s sports.

At the Aug. 15 breakfast, he first highlighted the federal dollars he said had come back to the district. Securing the funding was apparently a bipartisan effort for at least one of the projects: Both Van Drew (R-2) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) took credit for $6.9 million being awarded to Woodbine Municipal Airport for a terminal and hangar project.

Van Drew also mentioned $15.5 million for replenishing Avalon and Stone Harbor beaches, $2 million for the desalination plant in Cape May, $766,000 for the Federal Aviation Administration Tech Center, $1.5 million for living shoreline in Strathmere and $10 million for extending the seawall in North Wildwood.

He said that of the 12 congressional districts in New Jersey, his district has brought the most federal money to the state over the last two funding cycles.

Van Drew said $60 million was for needed upgrades at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. The money was for new barracks needed due to the rising number of female recruits, as well as a proper indoor gym area.

He said he fought hard for the FAA renewal bill, saying it is important to keep the tech center in South Jersey.

He added that New Jersey is often overlooked by the federal government, and South Jersey is overlooked by the state government. “We are forgotten about in South Jersey,” he said.

On taxes and spending, Van Drew said the state and federal governments have huge debt and deficits, which he would like to address through cuts and growing the economy, adding he mainly supported the latter.

At the same time he was critical of omnibus bills in Congress, which fund various unrelated elements and which require legislators to sometimes take the good with the bad to get the funding they seek.

“I have voted no on a lot of these bills,” he said.

Van Drew said he voted against bills that supported transgender individuals competing in sports with those born as women biologically.

“I oppose it,” he said. “I think that is wrong. Biological males should never compete with biological females.”

He pointed out what he considered wasteful spending, including funding studies on cats on treadmills in Russia, gender-affirming hormone treatment in monkeys and the effect of methamphetamine on the sleep of monkeys.

Van Drew said the state likewise overspends, and he placed much of the blame on state agencies, which he said seem to work autonomously at times. He criticized the Department of Environmental Protection, referring to the agency as “nameless, faceless, unelected people controlling things.”

He said that as a state legislator he introduced a number of bills in an attempt to rein in the DEP, but the bills were not supported in Trenton. He criticized the agency for its efforts to remove the Sunset Beach Sportsmen’s Club from a half-acre parcel on the edge of the Pond Creek Wildlife Management Area. He said the club was there a half-century before the DEP acquired the property, and now the DEP wants the club to leave because it serves alcohol.

Van Drew said the state spends far too much, saying, “New Jersey spends based on the best day of the best week of the best month. Then the state is forced to overtax,” he said.

He also touched on national energy policy, saying, “America should be exporting energy, but we are consistently working toward dependence on other countries.”

The congressman is adamantly opposed to offshore wind turbines, which he said hurt the fishing industry, both recreational and commercial, compromise national security and cause electricity rates to “go up multiple times.” He said proposed wind turbines have never experienced an Atlantic hurricane or nor’easter.

Van Drew said he has no problem with solar panels as long as they are American-made, and he supports the construction of small, modular nuclear reactors.

Regarding the assassination attempt on former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, he said Wildwood and the Secret Service provided much better security for the candidate’s recent visit than was provided in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the shooting.

“I never saw anything like what happened in Pennsylvania,” he said. “The agents are great; the people in leadership not so much.”

Van Drew said recent low numbers of military recruits and applications to become police officers are primarily due to the lack of support they are getting from the current administration.

The next meeting of Cape May County Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Le Mer Beachfront Resort in Cape May. Guest speakers include members of the First Legislative District team: State Sen. Michael Testa and Assemblymen Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.