Protesters heckle congressman during Hayes Center visit

FREMONT - A small group of protesters heckled U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, as the congressman from Ohio's 4th Congressional District hosted a Presidents Day trivia event for children Monday at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.

Jordan spoke to the media on the museum grounds as about a dozen protesters interrupted his comments, calling for him to save the Affordable Care Act and host more town hall meetings. One demonstrator yelled that the Republican congressman "toes the party line."

Afterward, Jordan turned and met with the protesters, shaking their hands and thanking them for coming.

"It's all good," Jordan said. "That's the First Amendment in action. It's good to see. They may not agree with me or have a different perspective but they're allowed under the First Amendment. Their job is to speak up and my job is to listen."

Fremont resident Cheryl Laugherty said Jordan does not listen to his constituents and said Jordan only wins his congressional seat because of altered district lines.

"He doesn't listen about health care, the environment and Russia," Laugherty said.

Jordan told reporters that the proper congressional committees are investigating allegations that Russia tried to influence the presidential election, and whether Russia has had any involvement with the Trump administration.

"I said this last week on TV, let's let the intel committee get to work," Jordan said. "If more investigation is needed, I'm all in favor of the oversight committee doing its work. I served it on the Benghazi committee and it was a couple of years after that tragedy took place before the speaker of the house formed a select committee."

After the encounter outside the Hayes center, the nation's first presidential library, Jordan entered the museum and held the second annual presidential trivia contest for kids, awarding those who answered correctly a ticket for a free ride on wagons drawn by the famous Clydesdale horses.

Jeff Darling and his daughters, Peyton and Coryn, drove from Marysville to the Hayes Museum to ride the horses and meet Jordan.

Before doling out the prizes, Jordan sneaked a few answers to the girls to make sure they won rides on the horse-drawn carriage.

Earlier Monday, Jordan visited the Warren G. Harding Home in Marion to tour the facility that is scheduled to undergo renovations, and nearly 200 protesters demonstrated while the congressman addressed the crowd.

A protest group, Allen and Hardin for Election Action & Democracy (AHEAD), demonstrated against Jordan's stance on repealing Obamacare, which the group said offers health care to more than 664,000 people in Ohio who otherwise would not receive coverage.

"Marion was more than we've ever seen before," Jordan said of the protesters. "I thought we had a healthy dialogue. The First Amendment is so important that this is how democracy is supposed to work."

Jordan said Obamacare must be repealed, calling the program a "disaster."

"We introduced a plan last week that showed what we would do to replace it," Jordan said.

"It will create all the things that are going to create a marketplace for healthcare and bring down the cost," Jordan said. "I think people are concerned when you make a change. We tried to explain how that will work."

Jordan said under Obamacare, premiums and deductibles have increased while Health Savings Accounts have dwindled.

"Now people are seeing that they have one choice, higher premiums and deductibles. Health Savings Accounts have been diminished and I start from that premise that healthcare gets better when Obamacare is gone," Jordan said. "Lets repeal it and replace it with something that empowers the people, not Washington."

cshoup@gannett.com

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Twitter: @CraigShoupNH