When he takes office next month, Ryan Zinke will be the first Navy SEAL to serve in Congress.

And while Montana’s representative-elect from Whitefish jokes that it may be easier to be a SEAL than a congressman — especially when it comes to getting things done quickly — Zinke is optimistic the 114th U.S. Congress will be one of action.

“I think this Congress can get something done,” he told the Daily Inter Lake on Wednesday.

The Nov. 4 general election, which tipped the Senate majority to Republicans, wasn’t as much an endorsement for Republicans as it was voters with “deep concerns about the direction of our country,” Zinke reflected.

“The ball has been given to the Republicans. Now we have to show that Congress is able to move the ball down the field. The challenge is not to overreach and prove we can lead by example and create better policy. You can’t be a ‘party of no’ anymore; you have to evolve to a ‘party of go.’”

Zinke has spent the past couple of weeks getting settled into his office at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., and expects an assignments on one of the national security committees such as Armed Services or Intelligence that would put his military expertise to good use.

He has asked for a Natural Resources Committee assignment as well because it’s an area he believes is critical to Montana. Zinke pointed to water and timber access as two key issues to watchdog.

There has been a push by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to change the 1973 Clean Water Act’s definition of navigable water in an effort to gain federal control over all waterways down to drains and ditches, but Zinke said it’s important for Montana to keep the original definition in place.

Zinke also wants to be a part of timber access discussions.

“A lack of access to timber has been causing a lot of harm, needless harm,” he said.

The realization that he alone will represent about 1 million Montanans is still sinking in, he said. Noting that he has an “obligation to represent everyone” in Montana, Zinke has spent time recently talking to several groups of people “who likely didn’t vote for [him]” such as union leaders and representatives of several Montana Indian reservations.

Congress has a few restrictions that work against lawmakers in large, rural states such as Montana, Zinke said, noting he is not allowed to use private aircraft offered by third parties for official business. That will make it impossible to return to the state every weekend and difficult to cover as much ground statewide as he’d like, he said. It also meant that he will be establishing a residence in Washington D.C., along with his family.

Immigration will be front and center when Congress convenes, Zinke said. He said he believes President Barack Obama “is abusing his executive orders” and cited specifically the president’s controversial order to protect roughly 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation.

The first step in dealing with immigration should be securing the U.S. southern border, Zinke said.

“It’s not complicated,” he said. “The country that could build the Panama Canal in the 19th century is surely up to building a fence in the 21st century.”

The controversial Keystone XL Pipeline also will be high up on Congress’ to-do list, Zinke predicted. He believes there will be enough support in both the House and Senate to finally authorize construction of the oil pipeline system from Canada through the United States.

“[Sen.] Mitch McConnell says he’s a leader — we’ll see if he can get 60 votes for Keystone,” Zinke said in reference to the Senate’s likely new majority leader, who will have either 53 or 54 Republican votes in the next session.

Zinke said he hasn’t yet read the House Intelligence Committee report on Benghazi that found the 2012 attacks were not the result of an intelligence failure or CIA inaction. The attack by Islamic militants killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

“I’m hopeful there wasn’t a willing and knowing act of deception,” Zinke said. “I just want the truth and I have confidence the truth will be found.”

Zinke said he heard plenty of naysaying about America while on the campaign trail, but doesn’t buy into the belief that the country’s best days have come and gone.

He pointed to the country’s many strengths on the global stage, from its military might to manufacturing and the potential for energy independence.

“I fundamentally reject the notion that the best days of America are behind us,” Zinke said. “One administration is not going to destroy America. I think America can be fixed.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.