• Jobs, Trade and the Economy
• Energy
• Health Care
• Education
• The War in Iraq

As a Vietnam veteran, I know firsthand that no matter how mismanaged a war might be, the men and women who are risking their lives are truly heroes. As the father of a veteran of the war in Iraq, I’m proud of my son Shawn’s service in Iraq. The men and women who have served in Iraq have done what we sent them to do, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

But this war has been mismanaged from the start.  

Congress gave President Bush a blank check, and he has misused the trust of the American people. Five years later, we see the disastrous consequences of that blank check. Our country is less safe and we are deeper in debt.

It is time to end this war.

And it is time for our troops to come home – safely, soon and with honor.

It is also time for Iraqi political leaders to step up and take control of their country’s future. As our soldiers are policing a civil war they did not start and cannot finish, we are spending billions of taxpayer dollars every week. The people of the 14th Congressional District alone have spent more than $1 billion to fund this war, while problems are being ignored at home.

I don’t blame Steve LaTourette for not having had the foresight to know the War in Iraq would be so grossly mismanaged. But I do blame him and his colleagues in Congress for giving the Bush Administration a free pass from congressional scrutiny, and for repeatedly voting against holding the president accountable for the way this war has been mismanaged.

I am running for Congress to end that free pass and expose the Administration’s plans to the strict scrutiny our citizens demand.

I also believe that we must not forget our soldiers who are serving bravely in Iraq. While our troops are forced into longer and longer deployments, soldiers and their families have received inadequate support and medical treatment when they finally return home. It is essential that our leaders in Congress provide our returning troops and veterans with the best possible health care and other services they deserve.

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It’s time we put America first when it comes to our jobs. Since Steve LaTourette has been in Congress, Ohio has lost more than a quarter-million jobs, most of them high-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector.

When you send me to Congress, I will fight tooth-and-nail against job-killing trade agreements that are pummeling our middle-class families. But to recapture high-paying jobs and spur our economy in Northeast Ohio we must do more than just talk.

We must invest in our young people with education and training opportunities for the 21st century. We must strengthen Northeast Ohio’s medical community, which is among the best in the world. We must eliminate extraneous taxes that burden middle-class families.

And finally we as a nation must stand up to China. Until China agrees to play by the rules, importing their products is not just killing American manufacturers, but it’s even casting doubt on the safety of the goods we find on the store shelves.

I support a new trade policy that puts enforceable labor, environmental and health safety standards in the core text of all trade agreements, ensures access to affordable medicines for citizens of our trading partners, ends labor and human rights abuses, prohibits currency manipulation, and provides accountability in the final agreement.

The issue is not whether we should trade or not trade. It is about the rules we use to manage trade in a manner that preserves the economic, environmental, and social progress our nation has made.

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Quality health care coverage is a fundamental right – not just for the wealthy, the poor, the elderly or those whose jobs have good benefits. Our system today – in which nearly 50 million Americans go without health insurance, and so many more are forced to worry about losing theirs - is simply unacceptable.

We need to make bold changes, to expand coverage to all Americans and to ensure that no one will ever be forced to go without it, regardless of their employment status. No one in Northeast Ohio should ever have to choose between a visit to the doctor and paying the rent or feeding their family.

During the nights I spend taking care of sick and injured kids as a Registered Nurse in Hillcrest Hospital’s pediatric emergency room, I see the failings of our current system. Most of the health care crises we see could have easily have been nipped in the bud with effective preventive care. We’re paying too often for a $500 visit to the ER instead of a $50 visit to the doctor’s office.
 
In an ideal world, a universal health care system would both save money and help restore our competitiveness in the world economy by easing the burden placed on our nation’s employers.

But our first priority is to find practical solutions that will expand basic coverage to everyone the system currently leaves out. I wouldn’t have gone back to school to become a nurse at the age of 50 if I didn’t feel passionate about this.

Stem cell research has bipartisan support throughout the country and has the potential to reduce the suffering of millions of individuals across the nation. My son was injured in a motorcycle accident and is now confined to a wheelchair. I know firsthand the promise and hope that this research offers. I believe Congress has an obligation to support this needed and life-saving research and the new hope it offers to millions of Americans with devastating diseases.

These reforms in health care can make a major difference in people’s lives. Congress has the power to bring about real change by implementing these important policies that will benefit millions of Americans across the country.

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Our public schools should be the crown jewel of our society. They are at the core of what brings our communities together. But we have a long way to go before our schools achieve a level of quality that our citizens deserve.

The federal government is probably the least qualified to be overseeing how we run our local schools. No Child Left Behind is a flawed program, but what’s worse is that Congress and the administration have failed to fully fund it – and states, local communities, and Ohio children are being constantly shortchanged. We need to hire and train good teachers, reduce class sizes, fund after-school programs, and produce real improvements in academic performance. It is wrong for the federal government to dictate policies it has no intention of funding. And it is time to eliminate the failed policy of No Child Left Behind.

At one time, America’s young people could look around their classrooms to see their competition; now they would do better to look at classrooms in China, India and other parts of the world. We are not doing a good enough job preparing our young people for this competition, especially with regard to maintaining our edge in math and science education. We need to invest more in training math and science teachers, and provide sufficient support for technology in the classroom. Good job training is also important in keeping our country competitive in a global marketplace.

Our efforts to improve education cannot stop with our secondary schools. College tuition and fees have been rising more rapidly than household income over the past two decades and it is becoming increasingly difficult for students and their families to afford these costs.  A college degree leads to greater skills, better employment opportunities and higher pay, and an educated America enhances the nation’s productivity and leadership in the global economy.

I am committed to making a college education more affordable for students and their families. Here’s how: Increasing Pell Grants would provide immediate assistance to needy families, and help reduce the exploding costs of higher education. And reducing exorbitant interest rates on student loans could free up to $13 billion a year for increased student aid.

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Read Bill's Five-Star Energy Plan.

It’s hard not to see the results of our current energy dilemma every day. Filling up the tank has become a painful experience, with prices now consistently almost $4 a gallon. All the while, big oil companies are reaping record profits, thanks largely to generous tax breaks our leaders in Washington have been doling out.

The truth is these companies have spent enormous resources to keep it this way. And Steve LaTourette has not only been the longtime recipient of their contributions, but he has consistently voted against policies that would invest in innovative and renewable energy sources.

It's no surprise to learn that he has taken more than $280,000 from Big Oil and Big Energy since he went to Congress. I have pledged never to take a dime from these energy companies, because I believe Northeast Ohio deserves better than another voice for the big oil lobby.

Even worse, our addiction to oil has subsidized anti-American regimes that fund terrorists. I believe that we as a nation have a vested interest in reclaiming our energy independence. Investing in clean power is not just smart energy policy or a start to addressing global climate change; our energy independence is nothing less than an issue of national security.

Finally, I believe Congress must do more to combat global warming. That means reducing our nation's greenhouse gas emissions substantially enough and quickly enough to forestall catastrophic climate change. But Congress cannot do this alone. Each of us can and must do our part. I recently traded in my sedan for a Mercury Mariner Hybrid, a small change that, by my calculations, reduced my annual gasoline consumption by 500 gallons. We as a nation need to help families across the country make these same adjustments. That means tax incentives not just for the car industry to foster old-fashioned American ingenuity in the pursuit of new fuel technologies, but for the families who are ready to help make an impact.

Click here to read the principles of my Five-Star Plan.

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