By Tom Waring
Wire Staff Writer
Kevin Strouse, the Democratic candidate in the 8th Congressional District, criticized Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick for voting against a measure that would allow students to refinance their loans at lower rates.
The prime backer of the legislation is ultra-liberal Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The bill has not advanced in the Senate, as Republicans have noted that taxes would be raised to pay for the refinancing. Also, President Barack Obama has offered only lukewarm support.
“Once again, Congressman Fitzpatrick gave us a clear view of his priorities when he voted with the Republicans against a bill that would lower the cost of education for students. Congressman Fitzpatrick has no problem standing up for tax breaks for the bankers and special interests he is supposed to regulate as a member of the House Financial Services Committee — but when it comes to helping Bucks County students and their families pay for college, Fitzpatrick turns his back on them” Strouse said.
“Congressman Fitzpatrick continues to vote to protect the interests of wealthy bankers, while ignoring the needs of the middle class. If America is going to succeed in a 21st-century economy, we need to have the best-educated, best-trained workforce possible, and Congressman Fitzpatrick voting against making college more affordable for students in Pennsylvania’s 8th District is exactly the kind of representation we do not need in Washington.”
Strouse is a former U.S. Army Ranger, CIA counterterrorism analyst and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He lives in Middletown with his wife and two young children. He is program director of Teach2Serve, a nonprofit that teaches social entrepreneurship to local high school students.
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NARAL Pro-Choice America’s political action committee has endorsed Strouse.
“We are proud to be the first national pro-choice organization to endorse Kevin Strouse’s bid for Congress,” said Samantha Gordon, director of public affairs for NARAL Pro-Choice America. “Kevin is the only candidate in this race women can trust. He has a run a strong campaign with a focus on issues that support women and families such as access to affordable healthcare and an unwavering commitment to defending a woman’s right to choose.
“His opponent, Congressman Fitzpatrick, is completely out of step with the majority of Americans. While studies show that 99 percent of women will use birth control at some point in their lifetimes, Fitzpatrick has voted more than 50 times to repeal access to this benefit in the Affordable Care Act. He has even voted for a bill that would allow pharmacies to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions based on their ideology and not sound science.”
Strouse, “I am very proud to have received the endorsement of one of America’s leading advocacy groups for women’s reproductive rights. As a husband and father, I am very concerned by the constant assault on women’s rights by right-wing organizations and their allies like Congressman Fitzpatrick. When I am elected to Congress, I will stand up for a woman’s right to keep her medical decisions a private matter between her and her doctor, and I will protect resources that support women and families, from affordable healthcare, to advocating for universal pre-K.”
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has added Strouse to its Red to Blue program.
Candidates earn a spot on Red to Blue by surpassing aggressive fundraising, organization and infrastructure goals.
“Kevin Strouse has proven he will fight for Pennsylvania’s middle-class families, and take on Washington Republicans obsessed with their own perks and protecting special interests,” said New York Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the DCCC. “Kevin Strouse has built an aggressive campaign and has proved he has a path to victory in this moderate district that is fed up with this self-serving Republican Congress.”
The program highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots and strategic support. The program will introduce Democratic supporters to new, competitive candidates in order to help expand the fundraising base for these campaigns.
“I am honored by the outpouring of support we’ve had in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, as Bucks and Montgomery county voters have joined our grassroots campaign to stand up for middle-class values so we can work together to build an economy that offers opportunity for everyone,” Strouse said. “Our campaign has run a strong, people-powered, grassroots organization that has energized voters throughout the 8th District and led us to earn a spot in the Red to Blue program, and it means we have the support, strength and momentum it takes to win in November and fight for greater opportunity for middle-class families in Bucks and Montgomery counties.”
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Fitzpatrick released a statement regarding the release of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs audit on access to healthcare.
“I will continue to work tirelessly with district veterans to help them access the critical care they need and benefits they’ve earned, as well as supporting legislation that holds the VA accountable,” he said.
The congressman also commented on House passage of the Veterans Access to Care Act, which requires the VA to offer non-VA care at the department’s expense to any enrolled veteran who cannot get an appointment within VA wait time goals — currently 14 days - — or who lives more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility.
“While the VA is working to address the systemic mismanagement, this bipartisan legislation ensures that veterans are not left waiting for the VA to get its act together. The Veterans Access to Care Act provides the opportunity for veterans to seek healthcare at a private hospital or treatment center if their wait at a VA facility is too long or too far away. We need to be increasing access to healthcare for those who served us, not leaving them to wait for bureaucratic action.”
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Meanwhile, legislation introduced by Fitzpatrick to cut regulations on small and emerging businesses passed the House Financial Services Committee.
“The committee passage of the Fostering Innovation Act is step one toward removing the burden of one-size-fits-all regulations that force small businesses with potential to grow to direct effort toward compliance, not research and development,” he said. “This simple legislation is an effort to support emerging companies so that they have the ability to hire, develop and succeed in an economy that needs some positive movement.”
In a related item, Fitzpatrick applauded House passage of a pair of bipartisan jobs bills that simplify the tax code for small businesses.
“Every dollar that Washington takes from American businesses is a dollar less to invest in growing, hiring and developing. Streamlining our complicated tax code is a bipartisan goal,” he said.
Fitzpatrick is serving his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 8th district includes all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County.
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The campaign of Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, a former Bucks County commissioner, is calling on Democratic opponent Tom Wolf to release the details of his budget proposal.
Wolf is a wealthy York County businessman and former secretary of the state Department of Revenue.
“As the chief executive, you have to make tough decisions and you need to be honest with the people,” said Mike Barley, campaign manager for Corbett-Cawley. “How much would Secretary Tom Wolf’s promises cost taxpayers, and why hasn’t he included these numbers as part of his campaign platform? Pennsylvanians deserve more than pie in the sky promises; they deserve to know what the Wolf budget would look like. Secretary Wolf needs to stop hiding behind the slick television ads touting his razor-thin campaign platform filled with poll-tested buzz words that bought him the Democratic nomination.”
