Democratic congressman venturing into ‘deepest red areas’ hosts town hall in Dixon

DIXON – An out-of-district Democratic congressman conducted a town hall meeting in Dixon over the weekend.

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten from Downers Grove, who represents Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, led the town hall Saturday, April 12, at Sauk Valley Community College to discuss concerns from Sauk Valley-area residents about national events.

While Dixon is in the 16th Congressional District, represented by Peoria Republican Darin LaHood, Casten said he decided to set up meetings in the 12th, 15th and 16th districts in “some of the deepest red areas of Illinois” so that Illinois residents could talk about their concerns.

“When I found out that Darin LaHood, who’s a friend, has not had a town hall since before I got elected, that felt problematic to me,” Casten said.

The Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association is partnering with Casten to host the series of town halls.

[ Casten, Democratic organization to host town hall meetings throughout Illinois ]

Casten answered questions from the Dixon crowd about concerns over Social Security, tariffs and civil rights.

“I’m here today to answer whatever questions you’ve got,” Casten said. “Not to convince you that I’m right, but I want you to understand what’s going on in Washington, and you can make your own decision.”

One woman asked Casten how he plans to protect Social Security.

Casten said that protecting Social Security requires two main steps, fixing its long-term funding and improving agency operation. He said that currently, people only pay Social Security taxes on income up to about $190,000, meaning high earners such as Elon Musk pay the same amount into the system as middle-income workers.

“Let’s take this progressive program and stop funding it with a regressive tax,” Casten said. “So what John Larson’s bill has done is to say we don’t want sticker shock right away, so let’s reimpose the FICA tax for all income above $450,000, and then over time as that $190,000 inflates, we’ll close the gap but we’re not squeezing people right in the middle immediately and that largely solves the long-term solvency of both Social Security and Medicare.”

Casten said he believes Congress needs to step up its oversight role, but that Republican leadership is blocking the necessary hearings and votes to make that happen.

“This is a solvable problem as long as we’re serious about making sure that Congress is going to do its job and defend its status as a co-equal branch of government,” Casten said.

Another attendee expressed his concerns over the president’s recent tariff exchanges.

“Shouldn’t Congress be responsible for setting tariffs instead of the executive branch,” the audience member asked.

Casten explained that while tariffs are traditionally the responsibility of Congress, past laws provide the president broad power to impose them during a declared emergency. He said that while that power shift was likely a mistake, it was legal.

“However, the Emergency Powers Act says that if the White House declares an emergency, Congress can file a motion to declare that the emergency is over and if Congress votes within 30 days to declare the emergency over then you can’t do it anymore,” Casten said. “So, the authority that Trump has used to issue these tariffs is declaring that there was an economic emergency. There’s not one, but they declared one.”

Casten criticized the move, calling it “stupid” and “cowardly,” going on to say that if Congress believes the emergency is real, then they should vote on it.

“So the answer is, we have ways to restore the tariffs but we need the House to agree to vote on repealing the emergency,” Casten said.

One attendee asked what people would need to vote if the Trump administration’s proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act passes.

The SAVE Act would require people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections. Acceptable documents would include a U.S. passport, a birth certificate, versions of the Real ID and naturalization paperwork.

However, some people fear the SAVE Act could make it harder for married women to vote, especially if their married name no longer matches the one on their birth certificates.

“The first problem is that 84% of married women in America do not have a last name that matches the name on their birth certificate, and the legislation makes no provision for how that would be addressed,” Casten said. “Second, a number of people who have been victims of domestic violence will have their name changed or otherwise be hiding their identity, and there’s no provision to address those issues.”

During a news conference last Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of “fearmongering” the bill, referring to the act as a “common sense measure.” She went on to call concerns about the SAVE act impeding women at the polls as “a complete fallacy.”

Last week, the House of Representatives voted 220-208, to pass the SAVE Act and the measure is now moving to the Senate.

One attendee from the LGBTQ+ community expressed fear that the Trump administration’s legislative actions could impede her civil rights.

“For the first time in my life, I’m afraid,” the attendee said. “I’ve never had to be afraid before. In fact, I’m enough afraid that when I watched people walk into this room with Trump shirts and MAGA hats I seriously questioned whether I could get up here and ask my question safely.”

Despite admitting that he could not remove her fears, Casten did his best to reassure her.

“The best hope I can give you is that most people who yell on Facebook are not most of the people,” Casten said. “Number one, don’t judge somebody for the shirt they’re wearing or the sign in their yard. Give them that decency before you judge who they are. And for those of you who’ve got some love and tolerance in your heart, be a little louder.”

One Trump supporter wearing a MAGA hat asked Casten if he thought the recent tariffs could help bring back American jobs.

“It’s like taking a chainsaw into a cabinet-making shop,” Casten said. “It is a saw, you can use it to cut wood but it’s massively oversized for the job.”

Other topics discussed during the event included concerns over freedom of speech and national security.

The evening ended with a plea from Casten for continued community engagement and tolerance.

“Our families teach us love, our tribes teach us loyalty, but only the village teaches us tolerance,” Casten said, quoting an article from The Atlantic. “We need to create those moments where we can tolerate each other, learn from each other, come out a little bit smarter, a little bit challenged, and it’s the only way we move forward.”