"All Americans deserve a chance to live the American dream – honest pay for an honest day’s work, decent health care, a solid education, and security in retirement. I will continue to stand up for the hard-working people of Northeastern Pennsylvania who play by the rules and expect nothing more than fairness."
During these difficult economic times, Paul has made job creation a top priority. Paul voted for the Recovery Act which was a mixture of targeted government spending and tax cuts designed to stimulate our economy and create or save millions of jobs. In addition, Paul supports investing in infrastructure projects, providing incentives to businesses to hire employees and promoting lending to small businesses.
Paul has been a champion for increasing the minimum wage and strengthening the ability of unions to fight for workers. He opposed unfair trade deals like NAFTA which disadvantaged American workers. He has worked to improve federal programs to retrain workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign competition.
Paul believes in investing in American workers and American technologies, two keys to long-term economic security for our country. <<back
Reforming Wall Street
Paul been working for many months to help craft legislation to enact sweeping, meaningful reforms to protect American investors, safeguard consumers on Main Street, and fundamentally change the way Wall Street and large financial institutions operate. Known as the Dodd-Frank Act, this broad, comprehensive legislation encompasses substantial reforms in many areas including the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Paul offered an amendment to this legislation to rein in "too-big-to-fail" financial institutions. The Kanjorski Amendment will empower Federal government to rein in and dismantle financial firms that are so large, inter-connected, or risky that their collapse would put at risk the entire American economic system, even if those firms currently appear to be well-capitalized and healthy. By ensuring that financial companies cannot become so big that their failure would pose a threat to economic stability, we will protect American taxpayers from future bailouts. <<back
Preserving Homeownership
Owning a home is an important part of the American dream for many families. Paul understands the complexities of the current turmoil in the mortgage marketplace and has been intimately involved in Congressional efforts to stabilize the housing market and the broader economy.
With Paul’s support, the House recently passed the Dodd-Frank Act. This legislation works to protect homeowners by preventing lenders from steering buyers towards riskier loans and punishes lenders and mortgage brokers that do not comply with the new rules. Paul also worked to include funding to create a program similar to Pennsylvania’s Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) to assist homeowners who are financially unable to make their mortgage payments, through no fault of their own. The program has been extremely successful in Pennsylvania and as a result, Paul worked to create a program at the national level to assist homeowners across the country. <<back
Restoring Fiscal Responsibility
Paul supported the Statutory PAY-AS-YOU-GO Act of 2010, which the House passed and the President signed into law. Generally speaking, this legislation requires that future legislation passed be paid for and cannot add the deficit except in emergency situations. PAYGO was previously law under the Clinton Administration and helped lead to record budget surpluses. Unfortunately, PAYGO was repealed under the Bush Administration in 2001.
Furthermore, in order to identify policies to improve our nation’s fiscal health, Paul supported the creation of a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The Commission will propose recommendations designed to balance the budget, improve the long-run fiscal outlook, including changes to address entitlement spending and the gap between projected revenues and expenditures of the federal government. Democrats and Republicans will be appointed to the Commission and they will not receive any compensation. We need to develop bipartisan solutions to get our fiscal house in order and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform represents a good first step. <<back
Making Health Care Affordable for Everyone
Every American should have access to affordable, quality health care. Paul supported the health care reform legislation that was recently signed by the President. This law begins reducing insurance costs and providing access to millions of uninsured individuals. It provides tax incentives to small businesses that provide health insurance and will assist individuals in purchasing health insurance. It also works to eliminate discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, allows young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26 and begins closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap or “donut hole.”
Paul also supports increased preventive care services, such as screening programs and vaccinations. He also has supported increased federal investment in health research. Research into treatments for and cures of diseases will help to produce long-term savings in health care expenditures.
Paul has been a strong support of the Commonwealth Medical College, new medical school located in Scranton. Paul introduced the Medical Education Development Act to provide grants to new medical schools for construction, recruiting and retaining faculty, curriculum development and scholarships. <<back
Ending the War in Iraq and Fighting Terrorism in Afghanistan
More than 4,000 American service members have lost their lives in Iraq, and more than 31,000 have been injured. It is time for the Iraqis to take care of Iraq. Paul believes that America has fulfilled its commitment to help the Iraqi people form a new government and that we should begin the process of removing our troops from Iraq. He has supported legislation to require the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq and supports the President Obama’s plan to remove troops this year.
Paul also believes that we should work towards bringing American service members home from Afghanistan. Last year, President Obama announced his plan to begin drawing down troops from Afghanistan in July 2011. Paul supports requiring the President to present a plan to Congress by April 4, 2011 on the safe, orderly, and expeditious redeployment of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. <<back
Keeping Our Commitments to Veterans
A test of a nation is how we treat our veterans upon their return to civilian life. Paul supported the new G.I. Bill of Rights to expand education benefits for veterans who have served on active duty that passed the House in mid-May. He supports lower cost mortgages to veterans and has been a long-time champion for high quality health care through the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department.
Paul voted to provide advance appropriations for VA medical programs to ensure that there is no delay in providing funding for these necessary services. He also strongly supported the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act to improve the transition from the military to the VA.
Paul led the effort to bring $50 million to renovate and expand the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center. When the VA sought to close VA facilities around the country, he mobilized a committee of veterans who obtained 30,000 signatures on petitions to save the center from closure, which Paul personally delivered to the VA Secretary . <<back
Protecting Social Security
Nearly 50 million Americans depend on Social Security, and Paul is committed to ensuring that they and future generations can continue to depend on it. Social Security is the foundation of our nation’s retirement system because it offers retirees a guaranteed, predictable income source for as long as they live.
Paul strongly opposes any effort to privatize Social Security, and he led the fight to stop President Bush’s effort to establish personal accounts.
Paul is a cosponsor of legislation that would determine annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security according to a price index that takes into account the higher rate of inflation that senior citizens experience. Compared to the non-elderly, older Americans spend a disproportionate share of their income on out-of-pocket medical costs, and Social Security COLAs should be set to reflect those higher costs. <<back
Achieving Energy Independence
It has never been more imperative to decrease our dependence on foreign sources of oil, increase energy efficiency, and lower energy prices. Paul supports investing in alternative energy technologies and creating green energy jobs. Until alternatives to fossil fuels are cost-effective and readily available, Paul believes that the United States must fully utilize its existing supply of oil, natural gas, and coal. He also supports the careful expansion of nuclear energy.
Paul is supportive of the natural gas development taking place in the Marcellus Shale in Northeastern Pennsylvania but believes that we must work to ensure that any natural gas drilling occurs in the safest way possible and with the least impact on our environment. Paul also feels that we should ensure that gas companies hire local employees whenever possible and believes that the revenues from the natural gas should remain in local areas and in Pennsylvania. <<back
Curbing Illegal Immigration
Paul believes that we need secure borders and strong enforcement of laws already on the books to prevent illegal immigration. He opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants, and is a cosponsor of the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act. This bill would combat illegal immigration through stronger worksite enforcement, increased border security, and improved interior enforcement.
Paul has long been a supporter of making English the official language of the United States government because the use of English as a common language remains vital to our nation’s prosperity.
As a land of immigrants, America has prospered by attracting talented and ambitious people from around the world. Paul supports streamlining the process by which those who aspire to become Americans can immigrate to our country legally. <<back
Preserving Our Second Amendment Rights
Paul is committed to preserving our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms and recently submitted a brief urging the Supreme Court to affirm this right. He opposes efforts to restrict the rights of law-abiding Americans to own guns. <<back
Improving Our Schools
The most important investment we can make is in our children. Paul believes in the importance of holding our educators accountable but recognizes that there are deep flaws in the No Child Left Behind Act which must be fixed. Learning should be about more than “teaching to the test.” A strong supporter of Head Start, Paul understands that reaching children at a young age can change the course of their lives forever.
Earning a college degree is a major component of achieving the American dream for many Americans, and Paul has been at the forefront of ensuring continued access to student loans during this difficult economic period. <<back
Conserving Our Area’s Natural Beauty
Pennsylvania is blessed to have some of the most beautiful forests and open spaces in the country, and Paul is committed to preserving this land for future generations. He succeeded in enacting legislation to study the creation of a National Wildlife Refuge in Cherry Valley, a 30,000-acre area in the Poconos threatened by development. The Fish and Wildlife Service designated Cherry Valley as a National Wildlife Refuge in December 2008 and Paul recently secured $750,000 to begin working with willing landowners to acquire land for the refuge.
Northeastern Pennsylvania also has some environmental challenges caused by past coal mining. Paul helped to lead the effort to increase the amount of federal funds coming to Pennsylvania to repair land and waterways damaged by irresponsible mining practices decades ago. He created the non-profit organization, the Earth Conservancy, to purchase more than 16,000 acres of land from a bankrupt coal company. Fifteen years later, the organization has reclaimed more than 1000 acres, preserved as green/recreational space more than 10,000 acres, and donated more than 100 acres to municipalities and other local entities. <<back
Promoting a Culture of Life
Protecting human life should be the guiding tenet of any civilization. Paul opposes abortion on demand and voted to ban partial birth abortion and human cloning. Paul has also been a strong supporter of the Hyde Amendment which prohibits federal funding of abortion and will continue to ensure that it remains the law of the land. <<back
U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski has announced via his campaign’s Twitter account that he’s seeking a 14th term in Washington. more >>
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