Rep. Jeff Van Drew spoke about his views on world, national and Cape May County issues during an expansive interview on his campaign for reelection in the Second Congressional District.
Van Drew voiced strong support for Israel and expressed concern over how Ukraine is spending U.S. aid.
He said he wants to “button up” America’s southern border and streamline the legal immigration process.
On Cape May issues, he would like to see incentives for builders of affordable homes, suggested small, modular nuclear reactors might be one of the solutions to the electricity crunch and said he would work with the county bridge commission in its efforts to upgrade Cape May spans.
Van Drew has been in politics in one form or another since 1991, first serving on the Dennis Township Committee. He eventually served on the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, now the County Board of Commissioners, and went on to serve 16 years in the state Legislature.
In 2018, Van Drew won his seat in the House of Representatives, replacing Frank A. Lobiondo, who retired after 11 terms in Congress, and took office in January 2019.
Van Drew, a Democrat at the time, flipped the Second Congressional District seat that had been in Republican hands for more than 20 years. But he became a Republican in December of 2019 in the middle of his term and was reelected as a Republican in 2020 and 2022.
He said at the time he switched parties that he was leaning toward the move, but the final straw came when a county Democratic leader told him he had to vote to impeach Trump; he said he’d been declining to vote that way, seeing it as bad for the country. In a Fox News interview on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019, Van Drew said he realized that all his work after nearly a quarter-century in political office boiled down to just one vote.
Since then, Van Drew defended his seat against Democratic challenger Amy Kennedy and is now facing political neophyte Joe Salerno of North Cape May. He said Salerno bought a summer home in North Cape May, after a month registered to vote as a full-time Cape May County resident, and in two months announced he was running for Congress.
Van Drew now serves on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and various related subcommittees. He also serves on about 17 caucus committees in Congress, including the Congressional Caucus to End the Youth Vaping Epidemic and the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism.
Speaking on international matters, Van Drew said, “I care about what is going on around the world.”
He said he supports the efforts of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he is “dealing with a force of evil – Hamas.” According to Van Drew, Netanyahu had a moral compass that demanded that the Hamas leadership be removed. Also on Israel, the congressman said he does not agree with everything Trump does, but he supported his decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“I see Israel as a civilizing force in the Middle East,” he said, adding, “You can only have peace through strength. No country was ever attacked because they were too strong.”
According to Van Drew, what happened in Gaza, which followed an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants inside Israel, was the direct result of weak U.S. policy. He said the weak stance taken by the administration of President Joe Biden was responsible for Hamas carrying out the surprise attack on Israeli civilians. He said Iran has likewise been emboldened since the U.S. has taken a more tolerant stance on that nation, including the freeing of about $6 billion in assets.
“We unfroze $6 billion of assets and allowed them to export terrorism,” he said.
Van Drew said a weak foreign policy has been disastrous in other areas as well. He said that after 20 years the Taliban was finally under control in Afghanistan, but the way the U.S. pulled out allowed them to move back into power.
“The way they left was horrific – it was a sign of weakness – and one of the greatest military disasters ever in its scope and stupidity,” he said.
To make matters worse, he said, money the U.S. contributed to the United Nations has gone to the Taliban.
He is likewise concerned about how U.S. support for Ukraine is being spent. He said the U.S. has contributed $175 billion to support Ukraine’s defending against the incursion by Russia, which has been going on for two and a half years. He said that is equal to the amount of aid the U.S. has given to Israel since World War II.
The congressman said what he doesn’t support is U.S. aid going to governmental salaries, health care and pensions. A July 9, 2022, Voice of America article quoted a U.S. State Department representative as saying, “The government of Ukraine is using the money to pay government salaries, meet pension obligations” and “maintain hospitals and schools, and protect critical infrastructure.”
“We need to take care of our country, minimize taxes, make sure they are spent in the best way possible, and there has to be an end game – we need a plan,” he said.
Van Drew said Ukraine would not be in the situation it is in if not for the Biden administration, but as it is now, other European countries must step up to help Ukraine. He said he spoke to Trump about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said when Putin intimated it would invade, Trump said a hard no. Van Drew said Biden was weak in his response, and as a result Russia invaded.
“He had to be clear to Putin that it was unacceptable, but he didn’t,” he said.
Moving to the U.S. border, Van Drew said, “We talk about securing Ukraine’s border; we have to secure ours.”
He said illegal immigrants are a big problem in many ways, but are a particular problem for those wanting to immigrate legally. He said he speaks to people who went through the immigration process, and they tell him they find it disturbing that others try to shortcut the process.
He said he was glad a plan to place some 60,000 migrants at the Atlantic City International Airport was squelched, saying it was a bipartisan effort that stopped the move. Asked to respond to the suggestion that a lot of businesses thrive with the presence of illegal immigrants who fill certain labor needs, particularly in areas such as hospitality, food and beverage service, lawn care and construction, Van Drew simply said, “I know a lot of people in those businesses who don’t use illegals.”
Van Drew said he is in favor of the J-1 Visa program, which provides a lot of seasonal labor in South Jersey, but overall he would like to “button up the border” and look at ways to streamline the legal immigration process.
On educating children on topics such as LGBTQ+ rights and choosing their own gender, Van Drew repeated a statement he made recently, albeit in less graphic terms.
“I don’t care what you do in your bedroom, but don’t force it on my children, and do not make me pay for it,” he said.
Returning to another topic he spoke about recently, the shortage of young Americans joining the military, police departments and fire departments, he said, “Everybody these days has to bust their back to make a living.”
He said people can’t volunteer because they are working two or three jobs because they need twice as much income to afford a home they could afford only four years ago. He said the nation should honor people who volunteer or who step up to serve in law enforcement or the military.
He criticized past efforts to defund police departments. He also said the military is tying up officers with duties such as handling diversity-equity-inclusion instruction. In addition, he said, the federal government is now paying for surgical sex changes for military members, which he said is a divisive issue in the ranks.
Bringing the discussion home to Cape May County, Van Drew said the county is in a unique situation for tourism, for attracting wealthy homeowners, for attracting people who want to live near the Shore.
He said he has seen once-affordable homes now being listed at very high prices. He said there should be incentives for builders – rather than build one 4,000-square-foot home, they should build four 1,000-square-foot homes. On the other hand, he said there are sometimes problems with housing authorities, citing problems in Atlantic City and New York City, for example.
“We can do so much better,” he said. “We want to see all people own homes.”
Van Drew said there is a housing shortage across the state and nation, and he believes controlling inflation is one step toward improving the quality of life for everyone.
He recently spoke about rising rates for electricity and called for the BPU to study the matter. He said this is a symptom of a poor energy policy in the country.
“We are energy-rich. We should be exporting energy. Instead we are hurting ourselves,” he said.
At the same time Van Drew opposes offshore wind farms, saying there are better solutions, perhaps small modular nuclear reactors.
He also spoke about working with the Cape May County Bridge Commission to help get what is needed to maintain or replace its deteriorating bridge system.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
