By Tom Waring
Wire Staff Writer
Region 9 of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America has endorsed Kevin Strouse, the Democratic candidate in the 8th Congressional District.
Strouse will face Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick in the Nov. 4 election.
“Since our founding, the UAW has been on the frontlines of the fight for economic and social justice for all people. Kevin is a proven problem-solver who we know will tirelessly support the interests of working families in Pennsylvania’s 8th District,” said Terry Dittes, director of UAW Region 9.
“Millions of middle-class Americans have been suffering while Kevin’s opponent, Congressman Fitzpatrick, has enabled this right-wing Congress to pad the pockets of the special interests that he’s supposed to regulate. Kevin, on the other hand, is a battle-tested leader who will fight to create and preserve good American jobs.”
Strouse said, “While Congressman Fitzpatrick and John Boehner’s Republican Party have sided with special interests as good-paying American jobs have fled our district, I’m ready to stand up for our workers. Bucks County workers are among the best in the world, and now is the time to make the necessary investments in them so that we can compete in the 21st-century global economy.”
Strouse is a former 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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The National Republican Congressional Committee is criticizing Strouse for sending out a press release containing information that PolitiFact deemed false.
The NRCC accused Strouse of moving to Bucks County just to run for office and never straying from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee talking points “emailed to him every day.”
At issue is a claim that Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick voted against hiring more claims processors to help reduce the backlog at the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and against funding suicide-prevention services for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
PolitiFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times, whose reporters and editors fact-check statements and rate their truthfulness. It looked into a news release — similar to the one bashing Fitzpatrick — criticizing Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sean Duffy and determined it to be false.
The NRCC said the information was right out of the “Nancy Pelosi playbook of gimmicks.”
“Kevin Strouse is the ultimate Washington Democrat — he is so loyal to Nancy Pelosi and her liberal agenda that he is willing to repeat all the deceptive talking points provided by Pelosi’s campaign operation. Bucks County families certainly deserve better than to have Strouse and Pelosi trying to sell them a bill of goods for the next four months,” said NRCC spokesman Ian Prior.
The AMVETS veterans service organization has given Fitzpatrick a rating of A-minus.
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Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick offered suggestions for President Barack Obama as he discussed American manufacturing in Pittsburgh last week.
Fitzpatrick called for the president’s support of his Made in America Act, which formalizes American-made standards for products and incentivizes manufacturers to increase domestic production through increased connections to American consumers.
The congressman also wants Obama to support his Skills Gap Strategy Act, which requires the development of a report that provides recommendations to address the national “skills gap” by increasing the number of employees and employers participating in on-the-job training and apprenticeships as well as higher employer participation in education and workforce training.
Fitzpatrick supports approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to create jobs and a comprehensive energy policy to lower costs for businesses and people.
The Democratic-controlled Senate, he said, should act on the 40-plus jobs bills passed by the House of Representatives.
“I’m calling on the president and leaders of both parties to come together to support American manufacturing through common-sense legislation,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick is serving his third term. The district includes all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County.
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The NARAL Pro-Choice America political action committee endorsed Democrat Tom Wolf over Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.
NARAL Pro-Choice America board vice chairwoman Karen Ritter, a former Democratic state representative and candidate for lieutenant governor, said, “With a General Assembly controlled by anti-choice politicians, we need a governor who will stand for and with women. Tom Wolf is the only candidate in this race that is dedicated to protecting and expanding women’s rights in the commonwealth.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America director of public affairs Samantha Gordon said, “Considering the widespread attacks on women’s reproductive rights in statehouses across the country, Pennsylvania has an opportunity to elect a governor who respects women and families — Tom Wolf.”
Wolf said, “Women should have the right to make their own health care decisions. As governor, I will oppose legislation that restricts these rights, and I will fight to make sure women and their families have access to safe, affordable and high-quality health care.”
