He explained that he worked as an engineer before entering politics.

“I can design a building in my sleep,” McKinley said. “Suddenly I had to understand the Iranian peace treaty with Netanyahu, because someday, somebody from a newspaper will corner you in a hallway and ask your opinion of something.”

He said he didn’t expect that when he first took office, and has since made it a point to know as much as he can about as many topics as possible.

“You never stop learning,” he said.

McKinley spent most of his time in class Monday answering questions from the students. The economy was on everyone’s minds.

“Some people who are on welfare seem to be healthy enough to work,” said Zac Bell, a senior. “But they are still getting money. Is there a way to stop that?”

“Yes,” McKinley answered.

“Why don’t we?” Bell asked.

“Because, 218 votes,” McKinley said.

The congressman explained that part of the intricacy of politics in the House of Representatives is that 435 people represent everyone in the nation based on population. He pointed out that just one of the several counties in the Los Angeles area has 22 members of Congress, while the entire state of West Virginia only has three U.S. representatives.

“The big question is whether you can get the big cities to vote with you,” McKinley said.

McKinley said members of Congress from the more populous areas rarely challenge welfare since one in seven Americans is on food stamps.

One of the biggest ways people take advantage of these programs, McKinley said, is by selling their food stamp cards — valued at $400 each — for about $150. Then they are able to report those cards as stolen so that they are issued a second card for the month.

“We want to stop it because we know what’s going on,” McKinley said. “But we couldn’t get 218 votes.”

The congressman spent a few minutes to help the students understand the seriousness of the current national debt.

“What do you think our national debt is right now?” McKinley asked.

“Trillions,” said Josh Marsh, a senior.

“It is $18 trillion,” McKinley said.

He taught the students that the nation prints a limited number of $1,000 bills, and that a stack of those bills only 4 inches tall is worth $1 million.

“If you have a stack of $1,000 bills that is 64 miles high, that’s just $1 trillion,” McKinley said as everyone in the classroom gasped. “We’re in debt 18 of those.”

He explained that the United States pays over $300 billion each year in interest alone.

“The big cities are refusing to lower their spending,” McKinley said.

Jordan Batten, a senior, asked McKinley what it was like to work with so many different people who have so many different opinions of what should be done.

The congressman told a story he heard from Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, who said working in Congress is like working with 435 class presidents. He said everyone thinks they are the ones who should be in charge.

On a more serious note, he reiterated the fact that he is an engineer who has only stepped into politics later in life. He said there is only one other engineer in Congress, while the majority of members of Congress are either lawyers or lifetime politicians.

“They don’t know what it is like to have to meet payroll,” he said. “They don’t understand what it feels like to underbid a job.”

He told the students that he has a picture in his office of a coal miner who is standing with his arm around his young daughter.

“I remind myself every day that this is who I’m working for,” McKinley said. “These are families we’re talking about.”

He wanted the students to understand that every major discussion they hear from government directly affects families somewhere in the nation.

One of those discussions is the idea of a pipeline running from Canada through the United States. He said that if we don’t build a pipeline, those companies are going to keep transporting that oil by railroad.

“It is far safer to ship crude oil by pipeline than by train,” he said. “If they are still going to extract it, why not do it in the safest way?”

In addition to the lives that decision could potentially save, he wanted the students to realize there is also a positive economic impact on the United States.

“It is not our oil, but it puts our people to work,” McKinley said. “There are 20,000 jobs associated with that pipeline.”

Other topics he discussed with the students ranged from the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage, to the discussion surrounding the future of Obamacare.

“I am excited for them to see that it is not just dry book stuff,” said Elizabeth Fitch, the government teacher at Emmanuel Christian.

She said this was the first time a congressman had ever visited the school. Fitch invited him because she has worked as a page on Capitol Hill, and wanted her students to understand the importance of what happens there.

“We’re living what students someday will read as history,” Fitch said.

All of the students were glad McKinley took the time to visit them.

“Some people would think we’re not important, but he does,” said Adam Fetty, a junior. “He actually does care.”

The importance of every decision and the impact of every action is something that resonated throughout the discussion.

“He helped me realize that you can’t just sit back,” Bell said. “If you want to change anything, you can’t sit back.”

And his teacher agrees.

“Apathy is a terrible road to take,” Fitch said.