Education

Health Care

Secure Retirement

Fiscal Discipline

Farms and Open Spaces

Campaign Finance Reform

New Freedom, New Responsibility

My campaign's message of new freedom and new responsibility is based on America's continuing struggle to build upon our founder's dreams of liberty and justice for all. In 1776, our journey began when America was given a new political and social freedom to decide for itself what kind of nation it would be and what ties would bind its citizens together. Along with that freedom came a responsibility to abide by the terms of the Declaration of Independence that all men are, indeed, created equal. In 1863, in Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln declared a "new birth of freedom" for our nation when an entire race of people was given their own new freedom to finally participate in the American experiment in democracy. However, with that freedom came a responsibility for the rest of Americans to give former slaves the tools they needed to exercise their rights. Along the way, new freedoms were created when women were granted the right to vote and when America defeated fascism and communism. But there were always new responsibilities, to empower women to take hold of their votes and for our nation to project our values into the world, not just our wealth.

Now, a decade of prosperity has given our nation a historic chance to embark on yet another new freedom - one that gives every American the tools he or she needs to make the most out of their own lives, regardless of their race, gender, sexual preference, or class. This is an opportunity we must seize while we have the resources to do so. When a student graduates from high school with an excellent public education behind them, he or she has a new freedom to choose whatever path in life will lead to their greatest happiness and benefit to society. When a parent is liberated from the shackles of illness and disease, her or she has a new freedom to work regularly and care for their children. And when a senior citizen retires knowing that they have a secure income and access to affordable care, they have a new freedom to begin a second life in their twilight years.

But, as always, new responsibility is the partner of new freedom. Not only do our elected officials have the obligation to provide those tools, but they also have a responsibility to maintain fiscal discipline - to keep our budgets balanced and to pay down the national debt. There is a new responsibility to protect America's family farms, our open spaces, our air, and our water so that every citizen can benefit from good, inexpensive food and a clean environment. And finally, there is a new responsibility to make sure that our government becomes, once again, "of the people, by the people, and for the people" instead of corporations and special interests, and that can only come through meaningful campaign finance reform.

Our first freedom began in York, and the second was rescued at Gettysburg. The people of South Central Pennsylvania are ready to lead the way to the next freedom, and a future worthy of our glorious past.