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Black and white children playing together during the civil rights struggle was a rare site in Alabama. That was not the case, however, in the waiting room for my Grandfather’s medical practice in Huntsville. Not only did my Grandfather treat every poor child in the Madison County area, believing that no child should suffer because of their parents’ poverty, but he also had one of the first integrated waiting rooms in North Alabama.
Most people ask me if this caused any trouble here, and I have to tell them no. No one really bothered my grandparents about the integrated waiting room. No, the death threats didn’t come until my grandparents began posting bail for African-Americans arrested at sit-ins.
It is that spirit of equality and service, passed down through generations of my family that has driven my life long desire to serve. My passion for service is what carried me through law school, through my time working on staff for Democrats in the Texas State Legislature, through my over 4 years of service on active duty in the United States Air Force and through my continued service in the reserves today. It is also what has driven me to seek the honor of representing the people of North Alabama in Congress.
As I’m sure most of you remember, Democrat Parker Griffith was elected to represent the people of Alabama’s fifth congressional district in what many called the dirtiest campaign of 2008. I’m sure you also remember that after the tireless efforts of the DCCC, the DNC, and countless Democratic volunteers putting in hours of back-breaking labor sent Griffith to Washington to represent the fifth district, the Congressman forsake them all and joined the Republican caucus.
You’ll also remember that this resulted in Parker Griffith rightfully being stripped of his committee assignments which would have allowed him to effectively fight for North Alabamans on issues critically important to this district, like Small Business and Science and Technology.
Parker Griffith also attempted to shore up his conservative bona fides in his statement on his switch, but North Alabamans remembered his statement to "Speakin’ Out News" that he was a "lifelong Democrat" who believed in "health care for all citizens". We also remember that Parker Griffith donated $1,000 each to Howard Dean and Senator Harry Reid. I don’t look down on Congressman Griffith for these actions. Any Democrat should be proud of such activity. What I do look down upon is Parker Griffith’s lack of integrity, commitment, leadership and principle.
The citizens of North Alabama deserve better. They deserve a new, committed leader who’s integrity can be relied upon. When the political waters become rough, we need a Representative who doesn’t jump ship.
I want to be that leader for North Alabama. I want to help steer the ship through these tough economic straights and insure that the good days aren’t behind us, and even better days are saved for our next generation.
I want to help bring jobs back to North Alabama. Like the rest of the country, our community is hurting. Our people need and want to get back to work. During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt’s New Deal transformed this region through the Tennessee Valley Authority. I want to help my community revitalize itself by creating a new initiative, a Green TVA. We can bring jobs to North Alabama by becoming the center of technology and development for clean energy, which even those who dispute the evidence of climate change cannot deny is the wave of the future for meeting America’s energy needs. When Wernher von Braun and the Marshall Space Flight Center first arrived in Huntsville half a century ago, the idea of man setting foot upon the moon seemed abstract, or even a fantasy. But with the dedication of the people of North Alabama, that dream was made reality. Likewise, the determination of our community can help America meet her 21st Century energy needs.
However, if we want to bring jobs to the fifth district, we have to ensure a well educated work force is ready to by gainfully employed. That is why I also want to reform education to ensure our children achieve there fullest potential. In Alabama, our drop out rate rises as high as 41%, and sinks as low as 33% in a "good" year. That is unacceptable. I come from a family of teachers and am the product of public education, from elementary all the way through law school, and I feel that every kid deserves the same potential for success a quality public education has afforded me. We need to remove restrictive policies, such as "No Child Left Behind" so that teachers and school systems are free to tailor their programs to what fits their students and their community, we need to build education up from the local level with assistance from the federal level. If a teacher or principle can exhibit a quality program that works, their school should be able to receive a grant to implement that program. In this way, we can help strengthen our education system from the bottom up.
But all the jobs and education in the world won’t do North Alabama any good if our nation isn’t safe. I served in Operation Noble Eagle by helping develop synergy between military and executive agencies and local and state governments in order to develop a secure homeland, and I want to do the same in Congress. First, we have to stop wasting money on Defense projects that the Pentagon and the services neither need, nor want. If we are going to invest in national security, we should invest where it makes sense. In North Alabama, national security is not just our interest, it is our livelihood. Many have said that reigning in Defense contracting will kill jobs in our community. I disagree. North Alabama possesses some of the smartest most determined people in the world, and there is no reason we can’t build any worthy project in our district. For example, the President recently realigned our missile defense strategy in Eastern Europe. We are just as capable in North Alabama of building the new, more mobile weapons systems which are more effective in fighting the conflicts of today.
But ultimately, nothing will secure our nation more than getting off of foreign oil. We cannot continue funding both sides of the fight against global extremism. This is yet another reason I want a GTVA. It just makes too much sense. We can move to clean energy, enhance our security and create jobs with one project.
These are the types of bold, new ideas I want to bring to Washington on behalf of the people of North Alabama. North Alabama deserves better than Parker Griffith. I am not a perfect man, but I can pledge to the people of North Alabama that they can always rely on my integrity, depend on my commitment and look to my leadership on the issues they care about.
Winning this campaign won’t be easy. It’s going to be a fight. My two Democratic primary opponents are upstanding gentlemen for whom I have the utmost respect. However, they have spent decades working within the system of the old Democratic Party, and have that fund raising apparatus to rely upon. But with our bold, fresh, new ideas and your help, we can win this race and move on to challenging Parker Griffith in the General Election. Our campaign has set a goal to reach 500 individual contributions on our ActBlue page by the end of this week. I hope you’ll consider coming by and giving us a donation, even if its as little as $5. Running a campaign like ours isn’t going to be easy, but with your help we can take back a seat that was held by Democrats for over 100 years.