Off Beat: Herger can't miss: He's Swiss

You've probably never thought of your congressman, Wally Herger, as much of a foreign policy expert.

He's in there ferreting out fraud — or at least what he considers waste, fraud and abuse — and doing all sorts of other things to protect your taxpayer dollars.

But that's not all Wally Herger does.

No, your man in Washington has other issues he pursues.

Switzerland.

Yes, Herger is an expert on Switzerland, a key U.S. ally.

In fact, Wally co-chairs the Friends of Switzerland Caucus in the House.

This information was dug out by swissinfo.ch, a website that gives you everything you ever wanted to know about Switzerland.

It even interviewed Herger recently, a veritable Q and A about his second favorite nation.

Wally, as you may know, is of Swiss stock, "the grandson of Swiss emigrants from canton Uri," swissinfo.ch noted.

"They are very important. I'm so proud to have genealogy that goes back to Switzerland. It's always been a leader in democracy. Right now, Switzerland has one of the few strong economies. You balance your budget, we could learn a lot from how you manage things," Herger told swissinfo.ch.

"Historically, Switzerland has always been a very good friend of the United States, as well. The U.S., for its part, is the largest foreign investor in Switzerland and the second largest purchaser of Swiss exports. So, we have a very good, strong relationship."

But this was no softball interview from the Swiss website.

Herger noted he has endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination.

"You are a Mormon like Romney. Polls show that many American voters, including many Republicans, view the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a cult and say that they will not vote for Romney because he's a Mormon. Can he overcome that hurdle?" the website's interviewer asked.

"I think he can. I remember when John F. Kennedy ran and there was a concern then that he was a Roman Catholic. There was a concern that maybe Catholics could not be trusted but he did win. So, I think ultimately the American public will be fair and judge candidates on whether they think they can be a good president or not," Herger replied.

But old Wally couldn't help but get a dig in at President Barack Obama.

"I think it would be a complete disaster if he'd be re-elected. His first three years in office have been a total disaster to our economy," Herger said.