On the Issues

The time is long overdue to develop a plan for an organized disengagement from Iraq. I support a systematic withdrawal of our troops, bringing them home safely and with honor.

This war has taken an immense toll on our troops, our country and the world. I have seen the effects it has had on our troops firsthand. My nephew is on his 4^th tour of duty, my foster son has returned and is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome -- and we are the lucky ones. 4000 American families have lost loved ones.

A disengagement from Iraq does not mean abandonment. Iraq is experiencing what many have for some time labeled a civil war. We need to fulfill our obligations to restore civil society in that nation and work toward broader multilateral relations in the region. Diplomacy is not appeasement and we need to begin to make real diplomatic efforts in Iraq and in the region. No one benefits from a chaotic Iraq. Engaging our allies in the region and throughout Europe to stabilize Iraq will benefit us all.

American healthcare is in crisis; we must make it a priority to cover all of our children, while working towards universal healthcare coverage for all Americans.

Not only are far too many Americans today suffering from lack of access to adequate care, increasingly the cost of healthcare is placing nearly intolerable financial burdens on our nation. We must work to enact a system of universal coverage that is cost effective, puts the consumer in control, includes portability, preventative care, long-term care, and a better prescription drug plan than is currently offered under Medicare.

I have a unique insight into health care. I began my career as a Clinical Dietitian, after receiving my Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Edinboro University. More recently, as a small business owner, I have come to understand healthcare from an employer perspective. We offer health care to our employees in an industry where many employers do not.

I will take this knowledge and experience and use it to help negotiate a solution to our health care crisis.

We must begin by covering all of our children. It is inexcusable that we have uninsured children in our country. This must be done first while we work towards a universal system. We cannot allow the debate for the ‘right' system to delay covering our children.

That debate will include questions about the cost of universal healthcare. We will need to study our cost structures and better understand the relationship between expenditures on healthcare and patient success. We must learn to spend with more precision, negotiate prescription drug prices, encourage modernization, and focus on the maintenance of good health and preventative medicine.

Preventive medicine in its many forms - including adequate prenatal care, early childhood care, physical fitness programs in schools, reasonable diets and other lifestyle choices - will allow us to be proactive, taking more control over and more responsibility for our own health. Preventive and early detection testing, often not covered by insurance under our current healthcare system, will save millions of dollars and most importantly lives.

Our earth is our livelihood.  The environment is the most precious resource we have, and I am committed to taking a leadership role in the fight against climate change.

I have been a proponent of the environment my entire adult life.  We take energy conservation into consideration when designing in our business.  As the founder and director of the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park, understanding the environment and education are consistently a critical component of our work. I drive a hybrid automobile and am the only candidate to pledge to run a carbon-neutral campaign.

For far too long we have ignored the realities of the negative human impact on our environment and world. If we truly want to leave our children a world that is cleaner and brighter we must address climate change.  I believe that living a 'green' life can co-exist with business, and in fact, is a real opportunity for technological advances and, in turn, job creation. America can lead the way with new technologies and innovation that address climate change and produce new jobs for our region. We're in the midst of an energy revolution; and it offers limitless opportunities for us to not only leave our world a better place, but to rejuvenate our regional economy, creating new family-sustaining jobs in the process.

I believe we need to reinvest our resources in our children, and tackle the extensive problems left in the wake of No Child Left Behind.  Our children are our future - it is nothing short of our duty to ensure that they have access to an education that provides them with all of the skills they will need to succeed in a changing world.

The sad legacy of the once promising No Child Left Behind program may be characterized briefly but fairly as follows: It is very likely the largest ill-funded federal mandate in our nation's modern history.

This program has proven that it is one thing to talk about a program but certainly another to support it.

The federal government spends only 2.4%* of the entire budget on education. That number is appallingly low.

In the failure to invest in the education of our youth, we achieve nothing but broken promises.  In the near future it will be their job to lead this nation, to invent and deploy our new technologies, and do the many things necessary to maintain our nation's domestic and international strength.

We need to increase our investment in both primary and higher education, particularly with an emphasis in the areas of new technology, math and science - an area in which we have been steadily losing our international competitive advantage.

Otherwise, we risk the frightening possibility that Americans will lack the skills to compete all over the every-shrinking globe.

(*Source U.S. Department of Education website available at http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html, last viewed November 21, 2007)

We need to stop spending money that we don't have. We have to attack waste in a real way and the government needs to be more transparent in its spending.

On February 5, 2008, President Bush proposed a $3.1 trillion budget for the 2009 fiscal year, the first ever spending plan over $3 trillion.  If such a budget went into effect, it would gut much-needed domestic spending.  In fact, the only area of government which would see its budget increase would be the Pentagon, up to $515 billion*.

 That kind of spending is egregious.  Instead, we must address our national debt.  In doing so we will be able to re-allocate funds to address the many pressing domestic issues facing our nation, such as healthcare for all Americans, energy innovation, environmental conservation, and Social Security.

 It's time we rethink our nation's priorities and shift some of our resources away from massive military spending to our urgent domestic needs.

(*Source The Los Angeles Times, “Bush Proposes $3.1-trillion Budget”, 2/5/2008.  http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/05/nation/na-budget5)

Our economy is in desperate need of affordable energy.  The days of cheap oil are past; I believe we must focus on affordable solutions, supply new energy products, and make greater use of current energy sources other than petroleum. 

I believe a sound energy plan means changing our concept of both supply and demand.  Such a plan includes both traditional energy supplies like coal, oil, and natural gas, and newer technologies such as solar, wind, and biofuels.

And if avoiding a crisis is as much a test of leadership as solving one -and I believe it is - we've had a historic failure of leadership in the area of energy policy.

Supply-side petroleum initiatives should include exploration and development of existing leased property. Over 68 million acres of currently leased federal lands are not being developed. That we cannot drill our way out of the current energy crisis should be clear.

During the years of the current Bush Administration gas prices have increased by 250% despite the fact that drilling on federal lands increased by 260%. Doing more of what we've always done is neither a plan, nor is it even a viable central component of a good plan, even if we were to do it more urgently, as my opponent would now have us do.

To be sure, oil is and will be a component of our energy supply for years to come. But increasing our independence from it will not only help our personal pocketbooks, it will broadly and positively support our economy, our foreign policy and our national security.

We can begin promptly by making greater use of natural gas in powering our transportation sector. Furthermore, we need to support and deploy current energy supply technologies and develop enhanced ones in the areas of solar, wind and sustainable biofuels.

Given the critical nature of our current crisis and the centrality of petroleum prices to this crisis, we need a firm regulatory response to prevent inappropriate speculation in oil futures. We also need to establish better guidelines for release of holdings from the strategic petroleum reserve, of which the current administration has made precious little use.

As for energy demand, conservation is much more than a personal virtue, as the Bush Administration has described it. It is something that everyone can do to limit the harsh impact that skyrocketing energy costs has had on their family and business budgets.

This option requires no new technology and can be implemented today by adequate information and personal will alone.

Criticism of conservation and new technologies is perhaps the most counter-productive aspect of the energy crisis debate. This status quo-oriented theory tries to conceal the sensible observation that this crisis can and will be solved by a series of incremental steps, a series of small solutions. One percent here and a few more there, and we've made the first few critical steps in a journey that will mean a better way of life on many levels in America.

Unemployment is on the rise in America. Combined with the effects of increasing inflation, unemployment has pushed the “Misery Index” in America to 11.3%, the highest it has been since George H.W. Bush was president.* In Congress, I will fight for you, to help reinvigorate our economy and to help retain and grow business within Pennsylvania’s Third District.

Today, gas costs nearly $4 a gallon, food prices are creeping up; the squeeze is worse than ever. It is up to the next Congress to do everything it can to alleviate these problems.

This district is known for its hard working people--people who have worked in the manufacturing industries that have helped make this region and this country strong. Continuing the strong tradition of this district, we must look to the new economy for our growth and stability.

As a small business owner, I understand the needs of small businesses. I understand what it takes to meet a payroll and grow a business. I believe we need a leader in Washington who will be an advocate for this region.

I will be that advocate. I will work hard to attract new businesses to this region, to be a salesperson for the many assets that we have to offer.

I believe that we can grow our economy by aggressively taking part in the energy revolution, a revolution that will create unlimited new jobs and opportunities for our district. We must also make sure that we provide for our workforce to be trained for the challenging work of the future.

What we all want for ourselves, our families and our children is the opportunity to work and to earn a family-sustaining income. Together, we will help to make this a real possibility for the Third District and for all Americans.

(*Source: The Misery Index website htt://www.miseryindex.us Last viewed September 18, 2008)

I pledge that I will put the working men and women of this district and country first. Established free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA have failed our workers so far; they must be amended and renegotiated to bring in labor agreements that can help protect our workers. I promise to make it a priority to turn free trade into fair trade.

The world is getting smaller in this digital age; today we are truly part of a global economy. This requires us to think creatively and collaboratively on issues of trade.

We must be sure that while we take advantage of the many opportunities this new age offers, we are doing what is in the long-term best interests of our workers, citizens and country.

I support legislation that creates incentives for manufacturing the advanced products of new and future economies within the U.S. We should not give companies an advantage to go overseas by way of tax breaks or other means.

My opponent, Congressman English, in 2001 voted to give tax cuts to companies that outsourced, and later was opposed to studying the effects of such outsourcing on America's workers.

The result has been that many of our businesses have moved all or a part of their manufacturing operations overseas to take advantage of cheap labor and reduced costs. In return we are seeing more and more dangerous products coming into this nation, putting our people, including our children, at risk.

Congressman English also voted to protect employers who hire illegal immigrants, and supported an amendment to set maximum fines on such employers. This is unacceptable.

I advocate administering and enforcing strict fines on companies that hire illegal immigrants.

For my mother and grandmother, for my daughters and yours, I promise you that I will work tirelessly to ensure that women everywhere are treated fairly, equitably and are given every opportunity to achieve their full potential.   In this great land of ours, equal must mean just that: equality for all.

I entered this race because future generations, including that of my three daughters, depend upon it.  This country needs to follow a new direction - one that is progressive for all Americans, one that finally grants women the equality for which they have long fought.  

First and foremost we need to make a fundamental change from the bottom up.  To do that it is essential for women to be better represented in electoral politics, from local races, to state legislatures, to Congress. Women's voices are critical in the fight to make America a better place. Today, only 16 percent of this Congress is female.  That must change.

We must bring back into focus what issues are important to women living in America today - equal pay for equal work, better healthcare and education. Women have had the right in our country to equal pay for equal work for more than 40 years. Despite this, the Department of Labor reports that women continue to make less than men for equal work - just 74 cents to every $1 a man makes. 

This is patently wrong.  

In 2007, my opponent chose to allow this blatant injustice continue.  Last year, Phil English, our current congressman, had a chance to do as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg urged and give women back their rights and to support equal pay for women. However, Congressman English chose not to do the right thing. Instead, he voted against the Fair Pay Act. In doing so, he sent a clear message to women and minorities everywhere that we don't matter, that we don't deserve to make the same amount as men and that it's OK to cheat us.  

I am here to tell you that it's not OK.  This kind of prehistoric thinking must end.   

Equal pay in the workplace is just one of the ways in which the current Congress has failed women. There's a health care crisis in America. This issue goes hand-in-hand with workplace equality. 

Women are less likely to have coverage through their employers and more likely to depend on coverage through their spouses. Women are also more likely to have higher out-of-pocket health care expenses than men and use more health care services than men. Consequently, women have a greater need for comprehensive health care. 

However, my opponent's record on healthcare is dismal.

Congressman Phil English most acutely demonstrated his lack of understanding of women's health care issues when he voted to allow companies to deny employee coverage for breast cancer treatment. Once again, he sent a clear message that women's needs don't matter and it's OK to deny women coverage on such an important healthcare concern as breast cancer. 

Phil English also doesn't think women deserve an equal education. 

In 1997, my opponent voted against an amendment to a bill extending authorization for federal vocational education funding (HR 1853), that would preserve a provision in existing law requiring states to spend at least 10.5 percent of their funds on programs for displaced homemakers, single parents, and single pregnant women, and on programs to promote gender equity and non- traditional training for girls and women.

Here was an opportunity my opponent had to help these women achieve their full potential. Instead of helping these women, Phil English turned his back on them and left them to struggle.

From my grandfather who served in World War I, to my brother who served in the Air Force, to my nephew who has just finished is fourth tour of duty in Iraq, I have seen first hand the pride of veterans, and the destructive toll war takes on them.

Our troops make a tremendous sacrifice to protect our country.  It is our responsibility to ensure that they are afforded the necessary care and funding when they return home.

Support for our nation's troops must be about more than rhetoric.

I believe it is essential that we invest in programs that will help veterans when they return from battle and continue to need medical treatment.

We must adequately fund VA hospitals so that they can provide such assistance to both recent and longtime veterans.

Additionally, we must increase health care funding for veterans' and their families.

My opponent, Phil English, has had a chance to show his support for veterans on numerous occasions.  He has come up short far too often.  He voted to cut veterans' health care programs in 2005 over the course of five years, and voted against a Democratic budget in 2007 that included a historic $6.7 billion increase to veterans' programs.

It is high time we did more than say we support our troops; we must provide them with programs and support to make a true difference in their lives.