SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — President Joe Biden wrapped up a western states tour in Utah during the week.

As part of his stay, the president highlighted the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

State Representative Rosemary Lesser (D), Ogden, was there.

“It was a really enthusiastic group of people who just wanted to hear the president speak. We were first welcomed by Mayor Mendenhall, followed by Governor Cox. As a veteran myself this really spoke to me, and I enjoyed hearing President Biden’s commitment to veterans via this PACT Act,” she said.

State Auditor John Dougall (R), Utah, is more skeptical of the president’s remarks.

“Clearly, it’s a bipartisan move from his perspective, trying to show that he’s bipartisan. But, at the end of the day, what does it really show? It shows that, first, the military didn’t treat these veterans well when they were in the battlefield, putting them at risk of harm and hazard. And two, with a bill that, instead of appropriate congressional oversight, sifted funding over to quote, unquote the mandatory side. And so, while it appears to be bipartisan, it really wasn’t,” Dougall said.

Representative Lesser and Auditor Dougall join us this week on Inside Utah Politics to discuss the president’s visit to our state and other parts of his three-state tour, including the controversial designation a national monument just outside the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

They also weigh in on the GOP special primary election to replace outgoing Congressman Chris Stewart.