Last night, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. joined NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams for an interview about President Trump’s Muslim and refugee ban, the Affordable Care Act, and colorectal cancer.

On Muslim ban

“No, I think that the president and the administration has looked into where they had issues with the courts and have tried to rectify those, but for us it’s still a Muslim ban. There are no two ways about it. It targets Muslims from those countries and even though Iraq has been removed, it still looks as a Muslim ban.”

On Affordable Care Act

“Well, my constituents are very concerned about the Affordable Care Act being removed and what will it be replaced with. You know, for a lot of people, even though the administration puts a bad face on it and my Republican colleagues, it’s working for people. And so now, people are like, ‘Well, all right fine. You’re talking about removing it, but what is going to be removed? I have health care now, for the first time in my life and I can’t afford for it to be removed.’”

…

“No, no they’re going to repackage the Affordable Care Act, they have nothing. For eight years you yell and scream about how terrible something is and you want to replace it. You vote against it 60 times and then when you have the opportunity to finally present something, your hands are empty.”

…

[Williams: How would repealing it affect New Jerseyans’ health care?]

“It would impact tens of thousands of people that have gone into the Affordable Care Act and are finding that they like their health care now. It would be detrimental to my district, I know, and the state of New Jersey and the nation as well.”

On colorectal cancer

[Williams: What more can people do to prevent colorectal cancer, other than being screened routinely?]

“ Well, I mean that’s the key. It’s the most preventable cancer that there is, if it’s detected early enough. So, there’s no reason that we should have the numbers of people dying from this disease. It’s a matter of us continuing to try to get the word out every way we can and I do as much as I can. I just, once again, had a resolution asking that March be designated Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. President Obama signed it four times and we’re hoping to get the same signature from 45.”