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April 19, 2026 | Written by Ted Kraft
U.S. Congressman Jim Himes discussed a wide range of topics at a Weston Kiwanis meeting on April 18, including Iran, the economy, Ukraine, immigration, surveillance, election security, and artificial intelligence.
Iran
In his capacity as the Intelligence Committee’s ranking official, Himes dismissed as false the administration’s claims that Iran is moving closer to acquiring nuclear weapons and denounced the “confusing array of different answers” given to justify military action.
He said Iran’s “truly abominable regime” had been replaced by a new leader who was “much more vicious, younger and more ideological” than his father and more determined to acquire nuclear weapons.
Himes said the impact of the war extends beyond soaring gasoline and energy prices to the cost of fertilizer, which impacts food prices as planting season begins in the Midwest.
Economical and affordable
He said there is evidence of bipartisan recognition that the U.S. economy is remarkably strong and resilient, but is not benefiting many Americans.
Himes said officials from both parties recognize that regulations make it difficult to build new housing and energy infrastructure because projects can take five to 15 years to complete.
He said the bipartisan Build America Caucus in the House of Representatives is working to streamline the permitting process to make it easier to build energy projects, manufacturing plants, transportation, housing and more. He praised the bipartisan housing bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 89-10.
ukraine
Congressman Himes said the United States should firmly support Ukraine’s defense against Russia. He said he was troubled by the current administration’s cuts in aid to Ukraine, but regretted the previous administration’s hesitation early on to “work so intensively that Russia would completely drive us out.”
“We were always too late to help Ukrainians,” he said. “And now we’re in this mess.”
Himes marveled at Ukraine’s resilience, saying the country’s proficiency in drone combat “shows what wars will look like” in the future, as well as the number of personnel and technology the U.S. military will need.
immigration
“We need to lower the temperature of this whole discussion and stop the dehumanizing treatment of people,” Himes said.
The congressman said there was a need for stronger and more secure borders, admitting that “our party has not been good on this.”
He said the country also needs an immigration system that “officially brings in the people we absolutely need… that brings us to a state of normalcy and makes us proud rather than embarrassed.”
surveillance
Himes supports reforming and extending the “understandably controversial” Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA Section 702), which is about to expire. The law allows for warrantless surveillance of non-citizens outside the United States, and the lawmaker explained why U.S. citizens may also be rounded up en masse.
Himes said he voted last week to reject reforms he deemed insufficient. He voted to extend the law for 10 days, giving Republicans and Democrats time to come up with a “stronger” set of reforms.
He said FISA would allow the government to require service providers to hand over the text and email messages of up to 300,000 foreign nationals suspected of being terrorists, drug cartel members or spies.
“Every week, he said, “We’ll stop terrorist attacks around the world,” revealing cartels’ plans to move fentanyl across borders and kidnap people.
The problem is that foreign terrorists sometimes have electronic communications with U.S. citizens, and those communications are also collected, which Himes says is “very disturbing.” “We have to find a way to ensure that American civil liberties are not violated.”
He said another issue to be resolved is how to handle “defensive inquiries,” or cases in which the FBI searches its database out of concern that someone rather than the suspect could be targeted as a victim, situations in which judges typically do not issue warrants.
election security
Rep. Himes predicted failure of the controversial SAVE bill, which would require voters to submit a passport or birth certificate.
“Foreigners do not vote in our elections,” he said, citing a conservative group’s own research. He said the SAVE Act and efforts to restrict mail-in voting would disenfranchise many people to address a problem that doesn’t exist.
He has special concerns about election security, saying, “You’re probably hearing this from the guy who was locked in the House of Representatives on January 6, 2021.”
He said he could imagine heavily armed federal agents swarming a polling place in a southern suburban battleground and scuffling with protesters, guns drawn. “And then, lo and behold, a voting machine rams into the back of a van.”
The result would be chaos and the election outcome in jeopardy. “That to me is both very possible and scary at the same time,” he said.
artificial intelligence
Rep. Himes said he feels the “risk of extinction” of AI is overstated, at least for now. He acknowledged the technology’s potential benefits, including the ability to produce effective drugs, treatments and vaccines much faster than humans.
But he worries that AI will put middle-class American jobs at risk. He said technology has historically destroyed some jobs, but has since created many more. “I don’t know if that applies to AI,” he says.
The question, Jaimes said, is: What happens if 40 million middle-class Americans, such as accountants, lawyers and radiologists, suddenly become less economically valuable than they once were?
“We didn’t do a good job of answering that question, and I’m a little worried about what would happen if we didn’t have an answer before the question happened.”
He also has concerns about the “tech bros” who run AI companies.
“I don’t believe they’re serious about not making tools that someone could use to make a bomb or a virus. So I think we need to really address that safety aspect.”
