Dear Editor:
This last week I directed my volunteer staff to reach out to the Albio Sires campaign to schedule a debate, so that the voters of the 13th Congressional District could hear both of our positions on the issues facing us in this very important election. Regrettably and, typically, Mr. Sires has indicated through his staff that he is too busy to discuss his positions on the issues before the people he pretends to want to represent. This practice of dodging and evading his constituents was on full display during the recent health care debate when he refused to hold even one town hall meeting to explain his position on the legislation. We are used to the Congressman holding the views of his constituents as an afterthought, so we were not surprised when he declined our invitation. On the other hand, with the record Washington has produced this last term, perhaps he’s just hiding.
On the jobs front, Hudson County has some of the highest unemployment in the region at 12 percent. Congress has played no small part in creating this state of affairs. It breaks my heart when I speak to families who have lost their jobs. We need more jobs here and more jobs now. Record joblessness will remain with us as long as Congress remains hostile to small businesses and the jobs they create. My opponent and his friends in Congress blithely left Washington for fall recess last week without passing or even proposing a budget for the first time in history, while they also scheduled a tax increase for January. Is it any wonder businesses are reluctant to invest in new workers in an environment like this? Does my opponent even care?
On the health care front, Congress has increased mandates on some companies, while exempting others, creating further uncertainty for the business community. The legislation passed this last term will make access to medicine more difficult and more expensive. It has reduced Medicare reimbursements to doctors, who may now elect to drop out, while defunding Medicare and adding 20 million new enrollees to Medicaid. I know our system was not perfect before, but what Congress passed this year is not an improvement for seniors or families. If elected, I promise to support real health care reform, not health care rationing. Just as important, I promise to speak with and listen to all of the constituents of this district on this important issue, as my opponent has refused to do.
This campaign is about the real issues facing everyone this year, and I’m ready to tackle them while others hide. I’m not a career politician. I owe nothing to the entrenched special interests in Washington. While others now work for them, I promise I’ll work for you. I will listen to the needs and concerns of every constituent. If elected, my pledge to you is that I will work hard, work smart and work honorably to represent you in Congress.
Henrietta Dwyer
Republican Nominee, 13th Congressional District
www.dwyer4congress.com