My name is Jay Clough and I am the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 4th District of Washington State. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the DailyKos community.
I was born and raised in the Tri-Cities, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the 4th, and graduated from Kennewick High School.
About three days after I turned 18, I went down to the Marine Corps recruiter and enlisted as an infantryman. I was stationed in 29 Palms, California as a Light Armored Reconnaissance Infantryman where I was a section leader and vehicle commander. After my service in the Marine Corps, I attended Central Washington University on the G.I. Bill, where I received two bachelor’s degrees. Now, I work at the Hanford site with Washington River Protection Solutions, as a Health Physics Technician.
For those of you who’ve never heard of it, here’s a little history of the Hanford site. Established in the 1940’s as a part of the Manhattan Project, Hanford was home to "the world’s first large-scale plutonium production reactor." Most of the plutonium for the United States’ Cold War-era nuclear arsenal was produced here. Left behind, though, were huge amounts of nuclear waste. I work directly on the effort to clean it all up.
I’d like to talk about what motivated me to take on this endeavor.
Let me start with this: we have two wars going on in the Middle East. Our young men and women are working hard and fighting hard to protect our freedoms and our way of life. And regardless of how you feel about those engagements, I think we can all agree that they are true patriots putting their lives on the line for their country. God bless them. I bring up the dedication and sacrifice because I believe we need to see the same level of dedication and service here at home that we see from our military overseas.
A lot of us are still struggling in this tough economy. We are working our way out of the toughest economic times since the great depression. We have a health care system in crisis where thousands of families are forced into economic ruin because of a health care system that fails to focus on wellness. The Obama Administration has made big strides in working to fix the problem, but there is more work to be done.
I have to say, I would expect our representative in this district, to work harder to solve our problems. We need a representative who is proposing new solutions and providing real leadership; someone who regularly travels to all parts of the district to listen to people’s concerns and bring common sense solutions back to Congress.
I do not see that happening now.
Rep. Hastings has been anything but a leader. He has consistently put the desires of the Republican Party over the needs of his district. His 91.4% Republican voting record bears that out.
He voted last year against a bill that created or maintained THOUSANDS of jobs at Hanford. This translates to many more thousands of jobs in this area. That’s a lot of money. That’s a lot of money that can go into our local small businesses. That’s a lot of bills that are able to be paid. That’s a lot of mortgages that are able to be paid.
Last summer, when Japan blocked the import of Washington State cherries, Governor Gregoire stepped up and got the Commerce Department to open up those markets. While we all appreciate the Governor’s work on this, where was Rep. Hastings?
And where has Rep. Hastings been on the health care crisis? At the beginning of the HIR debate, Hastings said, "Most responsible people have health insurance." So, anyone that has lost a job, and with it their health insurance, is irresponsible according to our representative.
So to boil it down, I think we need a representative who is working for us, not against us. We need a representative who puts the needs of the people in his district over the marching orders handed to him by John Boehner. We need a representative who does what we elect him to do: represent us.
I’ve spent the last 10 months traveling all over my district, talking to people from across the political spectrum. I am going to spend the next six months continuing to do the same. I am committed to showing the people of this district what someone working for them looks like.
It is clear that people want a representative who will work harder, who will not get caught up in the usual petty, partisan politics, and who will put in the kind of sacrifice and dedication that we see from our service men and women every day.
I believe we will have the government that we demand as a people. I think it’s time we demanded more.
We can have leadership that focuses on getting Central Washington new good-paying jobs. We can have leadership that works towards solving problems, instead of pretending they don’t exist.
We can have a representative that regularly visits every part of the district and actually listens and brings those concerns back to our nation’s capital.
I served proudly as a Marine because I believe this is a great country. I decided again, that it was time to step up and to serve, to listen, and if elected, to lead on the key issues facing Central Washington.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you’re interested in more policy information, please take a look at the website. I’ll do my best to answer any questions left in the comments section.