(WKBN) — He’s only been on the job less than a month, but U.S. Senator JD Vance is already focusing on his top priorities for Ohio.

Vance tells First News that ongoing troubles with the southern border are at the top of his list, especially those dealing with deadly illegal drugs.

“And of course, Ohio is not geographically a border state, but all of the fentanyl and all the drugs that come across the southern border make us a border state in its effects,” Vance said. “And so I’d really like to stop the flow of these illegal drugs and stop the flow of the criminal activity that’s affecting the entire country.”

Vance said he’s looking for information and some answers on what he’s calling the “scandal” involving misplaced top-secret documents.

Over the last several months, classified papers have been discovered at the home and office of President Biden — as well as former President Trump’s Florida estate — and the home of former Vice President Mike Pence.

The senator said it’s still too early in his mind to consider charging anyone in connection with the documents, but he wants to know more about how classified materials are handled.

“I’d like to know more about how we handle classified information. … How we check this stuff out and how we supposedly check it back in,” Vance said. “But I also think there is a basic fairness problem that we need to keep in mind.”

Vance says another priority is tackling inflation — especially tied to domestic energy prices.
He said while bringing prices down he also wants to see increasing development of jobs for Ohioans in the production of oil and natural gas — calling that a potential “win-win” for taxpayers.