SILVER BUCK — Nate Cain, a former U.S. military cybersecurity contractor and current candidate for U.S. Congress, held up an example of a coin containing an ounce of silver he proposed a sovereign state bank could mint. -- Christopher Dacanay

WEIRTON — A congressional candidate with claims of involvement in whistleblowing on alleged FBI cover-ups gave listeners a message of prosperity for West Virginia and constitutional protection at a speech Friday.

Nate Cain, who has served as a U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps cybersecurity contractor, is running for the West Virginia Second District seat in U.S. Congress. His campaign said this is one stop in a number of trips throughout the district to speak with voters.

Cain, a Republican, tied his goals in with his background in cybersecurity, as well as weaving in stories of his involvement with being a whistleblower on the alleged FBI cover-up of crimes, claimed to be linked to Hillary Clinton.

“I’m not a politician,” Cain said in a comment before his speech. “I’m a business owner, a whistleblower and a patriot who loves his country.”

Cain’s speech focused on the three issues he said he is running on: “protecting and restoring our constitutional rights, restoring our national security … and opening up prosperity for West Virginia.”

To that second issue, Cain said he wants to ensure protection of the U.S. from “all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Cain said there is a major problem of the U.S. government conducting surveillance on its citizens, stemming from Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This is an attack on personal freedom, Cain said.

The military is under cultural attack, Cain said, pointing to gender-related developments for service members he sees as harmful for the military. Another threat to the U.S. Cain mentioned comes from the U.S.-Mexico border, with the influx of fentanyl.

“There’s this long history of people who have done great things to give us this great country,” Cain said. “Are we going to be the generation that loses our rights (and) everything that was fought for before us?”

Cain shared his thoughts on economic development for West Virginia, particularly in regard to the Northern Panhandle. One idea for the creation of a sovereign state bank was said by Cain to be particularly “out-of-the-box” and originating from an individual Cain met on the campaign trail.

A state bank, Cain said, would mint gold and silver coins to be used as legal tender in the state of West Virginia.

Cain said, “The way that you could fill up the treasury very quickly, with gold and silver, is you give a tax break to any company that exports product to another nation if they pay their taxes in gold and silver.”

Several coins were passed around for attendees of the speech to look at. One coin contained one ounce, or approximately one dollar’s worth, of silver, and Cain said this type of coin can be called a “silver buck”

Cain said the U.S. Constitution permits the minting of silver and gold currency by states for use as legal tender. He said that the state bank is something he would push for, adding that it would combat the “cashless society,” which he called a threat to privacy, that could come with the increasing use of Central Bank Digital Currency.

For West Virginia, Cain said also that he wants to see diversity in the economy to avoid economic depressions like the one experienced when the steel industry left Weirton. Cain said he is in favor of mining and drilling, provided that the processes do not contaminate the environment. Additionally, Cain advocated for the use of West Virginia’s abundant natural resources.

Cain teased a piece of legislation, currently planned to be announced on Tuesday, that he plans to submit to the West Virginia State Legislature for its consideration. Cain called the legislation a “Parental Bill of Rights,” which would address concerns he has heard from other parents such as worries over vaccination status privacy, transgenders’ use of locker rooms and the presence of certain literature allegedly depicting homosexual acts in schools.

Cain brought up his religious convictions during the speech on several occasions, quoting the Bible frequently and saying at one point that his running for office was begun in obedience to the will of God.

“If we think we’re going to solve our problems without God’s help, we’re fooling ourselves,” Cain said.

A question-and-answer period followed Cain’s speech. Responding to a question regarding what he would ever compromise on, Cain said he would never compromise on matters regarding his faith, and he would never support pro-abortion legislation.

Cain said, “I would compromise on some things if it meant getting something passed that I felt was critically important.”

Following Cain’s speech, attendee Jane Cupini said she supports Cain “200 percent.” She said she appreciated his advocacy for utilizing West Virginia’s natural resources.

Dale Dudgeon said, “I liked (Cain’s) position on integrity in the government and border security.”