Career
Rodne is of Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians ancestry. Jay is the primary sponsor for 13 bills. His most recent co-sponsored bill was HB 2453 that passed unanimously and is designed to improve oversight at state mental hospitals.
His committee assignments include Transportation, Health Care and Wellness, and Judiciary (where he is the ranking minority member)
Jay is currently a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
He has been the commanding officer of 4th Landing Support Battalion, headquartered in Fort Lewis, Washington. He has deployed overseas as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
During his active duty years he deployed to Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks which ISIS claimed responsibility for, State Representative Rodne reacted by writing on his Facebook page.
On November 13, 2015, Rodne stated that:
Obama wants to import 1.5 million muslims into the United States. This is absolute madness! How anyone people need to die? In the interim, Amicans, arm yourselves!!!!! Rodne further commented:
Are you freaking kidding me? How long are you going to be an apologist for brutal barbarians? Wake the f.. up! As well as:
The problem is the ideology.
lieutenant is that simple. ISIS is simply carrying out the tenets of their faith: infidels either need to be converted or killed. Leftist progressives think they can "wish" this grim reality away but they can"t.
In light of these remarks, subsequent analysis of Representative Rodne"s Facebook page found that on October 31, 2015 he stated:
These are the barbarians that we are up against.
This is an existential threat–our very existence as a civilization is being threatened. lieutenant is time for America to wake up and confront the realities of the challenges that we face. He also stated in an interview with a local television station:
Following Rodne"s refusal to retract his statements, the Washington State Democratic Party called on the Republican caucus in the State House of Representatives to strip Rodne of his leadership position as ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee.
In response, Representative Rodne stated, "I"m not going to step down.".
