By Tom Waring
Wire Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Kevin Strouse clashed last week in a debate on Obamacare, America’s response to the Ebola outbreak and shortcomings at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The two squared off on Oct. 15 in the studios of WNPV (1440 AM) during Darryl Berger’s weekday Comment Please show.
Fitzpatrick, a lawyer seeking his fourth term, described himself as a lifelong Bucks County resident who raised six kids with his wife. They are expecting their first grandchild.
The incumbent said his opponent, who grew up in Delaware County, was recruited into the race.
Strouse, a former CIA counterterrorism analyst, said it is “absolutely absurd” to believe that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi walked into CIA headquarters and asked him to run.
Fitzpatrick blamed President Barack Obama for failing to secure the nation’s border with Mexico and inaction that led to long waits at Veterans Affairs hospitals. He also called for travel restrictions from the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, areas dealing with the deadly Ebola virus.
Strouse argued that people from those nations looking to come to the United States would simply fly out of another country, if a travel restriction were in place.
“I just don’t think it’s feasible,” he said.
Fitzpatrick, who favors humanitarian aid, said security officials would be able to enforce a travel ban.
“Those passports are stamped,” he said.
Strouse said the response to Ebola would be better if the U.S. had a permanent surgeon general, blaming a “dysfunctional” Congress for failing to confirm one.
Right now, Dr. Boris D. Lushniak holds the title in an “acting role.” Obama has nominated Vivek Murthy for the job, but Republicans believe he was picked because he co-founded “Doctors for Obama” and are joined by some Democrats in contending that he is too inexperienced.
Strouse labels the current Congress as the “least productive in modern history.” He said Congress ignored troubles at the VA for more than a decade, and that some members are now grandstanding on the issue.
Fitzpatrick agrees with Strouse that Congress is dysfunctional, but he blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
“We have a do-nothing Senate,” he said, adding that he believes Republicans will gain control of the Senate after the Nov. 4 election.
Fitzpatrick noted that the Republican-led House of Representatives has passed 340 bills, some of them with bipartisan and unanimous support. He accused Reid of acting with “reckless abandon” to prevent those bills from receiving a vote in the Senate.
“One person can kill a bill,” the congressman said.
Strouse said some aspects of Obamacare need to be tweaked, but he generally supports the law, noting that some 7,400 people in the 8th Congressional District now have health coverage that they previously lacked.
The challenger also called for an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Fitzpatrick gave no direct answer when asked if he favored an increase.
The candidates also spoke about the battle against ISIS and the challenge of bombing parts of an unstable Syria.
“We are not going to bomb our way out of this problem,” Strouse said.
Fitzpatrick said Obama has been too tepid. He recalled the president suggesting that the U.S. would respond militarily if Syrian President Bashar Assad used banned chemical weapons. Assad used such weapons, which Obama said would cross a “red line for us.”
“There was not a response,” Fitzpatrick said.
The next debate will be on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 12:15 p.m. at the Bucks County Community College campus in Bristol Township. The moderator will be BCCC professor Bill Pezza.
The third debate will be on Friday, Oct. 24, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Waterwheel restaurant in Plumstead. It’s being sponsored by the Central Bucks County Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of Bucks County.
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Fitzpatrick received a shout-out from a Democrat in the hotly contested race in South Jersey to replace Republican Rep. Jon Runyan, who is leaving after two terms.
Democrat Aimee Belgard, in a debate with Republican Tom MacArthur, said she would work with Fitzpatrick to address problems associated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“If Mike Fitzpatrick is still in office just over in Pennsylvania, I would reach out to him because I know he’s been so instrumental in working with the V.A. in Philadelphia to try to rectify some of the problems,” she said.
Fitzpatrick is part of a No Labels caucus that supports, among other things, a bill that would force Congress to pass a budget on time, or members would not get paid.
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Strouse was a featured speaker at the Philadelphia stop of the Americans United for Change “Put the Middle Class First” bus tour.
Strouse said, “While my opponent works to protect subsidies for Big Oil and votes to end the Medicare guarantee, I’m fighting to protect and expand the middle class. We need to defend Medicare and Social Security, raise the minimum wage, and make college more affordable. Unfortunately, Congressman Fitzpatrick has voted time and time again to do the exact opposite.”
Strouse is a former Army Ranger and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He lives in Middletown with his wife, 4-year-old son Wally and 2-year-old daughter Charlotte. He is program director of Teach2Serve, a nonprofit that teaches social entrepreneurship to high school students.
