“I’m extraordinarily thankful for the support I’ve received. Our effort to listen and respond to the needs of the people of 18th’s Congressional District continues to resonate.

“We have a long way to go in what is going to be a very tough race, but having nearly one million in the bank puts our campaign in a good position.”

– Rep. Zack Space

I haven’t heard anything about the Republican’s finances, but that pretty much says it all right there.

American workers, farmers, and business owners are currently being denied fair access to the growing South American market. Republicans want to “eliminate dozens of high tariffs” that “restrict the flow of U.S. goods and services” into Colombia. But in an unprecedented move, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have unilaterally voted to keep those tariffs in place, harming America’s economy at a time when families are already struggling with the rising costs of fuel and food.

And before you argue that Boehner doesn’t know about the post, note that right now Boehner’s official Twitter account is highlighting the post with the following short message:

johnboehner House Democrats endanger American jobs, vote to keep tariffs on American goods in place: http://twurl.nl/se0ijl

Yes, you read that right. Boehner is accusing Democrats of costing America jobs.

I’m a little perplexed by Boehner’s accusation and I imagine many other Southeastern Ohioans might also be a little be confused by them. Therefore I’m asking Boehner to come down here to the Ohio Valley and explain himself.

I’m dead serious.

If he’s going to make these accusations with any credibility at all he needs to come down here and see the state the economy is in. He can take as long as he wants, but when he’s done I demand he hold a public townhall to explain how exactly we benefit from free trade.

So what do you say Mr. Boehner, do you have it in you to face the downsides of your actions or will you cower behind more partisan rhetoric?

“The message from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker is that there’s no end in sight for the war in Iraq.  That’s not good enough. The troops have done their job and done it well. But, there’s been almost no political progress in Iraq and we just keep pouring our troops and money into it.

“Bear in mind, Iraq is running a budget surplus while our economy is suffering. We’re spending $339 million a day in Iraq and the government in Iraq isn’t even helping itself. It’s difficult to spend that and not have success. With $339 million we could put more than 2,000 agents on our borders for a year. We could vaccinate 317,000 children. We could provide more than 2.5 million Americans access to medical and dental care at community health centers.

“The American people want a new direction in Iraq, not 100 more years of war. We need a plan for withdrawal.”

– Rep. Charlie Wilson

Wilson has voted for a troop pullout before,  but his anti-war feelings seem to have strenghtened since last year.

“On my recent economic listening tour throughout the Ohio River Valley, I heard loud and clear from working families that free trade may work on Wall Street, but it isn’t working on Main Street. Rest assured that I’m not for NAFTA, CAFTA or any other AFTA. This particular agreement is bad for many reasons. It fails to meet enforceable labor standards and does little to reduce violence against union leaders. Last year alone, 72 union members in Colombia were murdered. For the Columbian workers and for the workers back home in Ohio who are watching their jobs disappear overseas, I oppose the Columbia Free Trade Agreement.”

– Rep. Charlie Wilson

The Ohio Valley was recently dealt a severe economic blow from the loss of even more steel jobs. The talk of another free trade agreement isn’t what local residents want to hear right now.

You can read it after the break.

Wilson Helps Connect Taxpayer with Unclaimed IRS Funds

Washington, D.C. – On Congressman Charlie Wilson’s recent district tour, Mary Ann Borch introduced herself to Wilson after his economic listening session in Pomeroy. She told the Congressman that thanks to his website, she recovered $3,500 in unclaimed funds from the IRS. Wilson enjoys sharing good news and has asked her permission to share the story she told him.

“This past December I sent out a press release to the media announcing that up to 119 taxpayers in Ohio’s Sixth District had money coming to them from the Internal Revenue Service. They probably didn’t even know the IRS owed them money,” Wilson said.

There are a variety of reasons that tax refunds get marked “undeliverable” and returned to the IRS every year. Perhaps a resident moved or made a mistake with their return address. The IRS reported the average unclaimed refund was $953 and that the funds would be delivered as soon as taxpayers updated their addresses with the IRS.

“The Media took my press release from there,” Wilson said. “Many TV and radio stations and local newspapers in Ohio’s Sixth District ran stories about the unclaimed funds and directed people to my website to see if their name was on the list.”

About that time Mary Ann Borch of Athens County got a phone call.

“A stranger called me to say he was driving to work and heard a piece on the radio about the website that Charlie Wilson had about unclaimed funds,” Borch said.

The caller explained that he heard a story about the unclaimed funds. When he got to work he logged onto Wilson’s website and saw a zip code he recognized. It was Borch’s. He didn’t know Mary Ann Borch, but figured since she was a neighbor, he’d look her up and let her know she was on the IRS unclaimed funds list.

Meanwhile, Borch’s husband was sure the caller was trying to scam the Borch family. “My husband’s yelling in the background, ‘hang up!’” Borch said.

Long story short, Borch took the caller’s advice, went to Wilson’s website and found out the IRS had thousands of dollars in unclaimed funds for her.

“I followed the directions and it told me right away that I was getting back 3500!” Borch said.

“My parents had died in August 2005 and as the executor of their estate I had money coming and going, taking their funds, paying lawyers,” Borch explained. With all of the many transactions going on, Borch didn’t realize she was owed money.

“It sure was nice to have it. My son’s going back to college and every bit helps,” Borch said.

In addition to checking the list on Wilson’s website, taxpayers can check to see if they’re on the unclaimed funds list by calling the IRS toll-free Refund Hotline at 1-800-829-1954.

“Check for yourself. Check for your neighbors. My thanks to the media for helping to get the word out and my thanks to good neighbors like the man who called Mary Ann Borch,” Wilson said.

Now Space is done fact finding and ready to act. He’s introduced the Veterans Disability Fairness Act to insure proper oversight is in place at the VA.

“This shortchanging is insulting to our heroes’ service.  The veterans living in Ohio sacrificed just as much as veterans living elsewhere. There is no reason that a veteran here should receive less than veterans in other states.

“This legislation is an important step in forcing the VA to address these issues and in providing obviously needed oversight.  We can and must bring those states at the bottom of the list closer to parity with those at the top.  Our veterans deserve no less.”

– Rep. Zack Space

According to a press release, Space’s legislation would:

• Require the VA to collect and monitor regional data on disability ratings.
• Require the VA Secretary to conduct reviews and audits of the rating system.
• Require the VA to submit an exhaustive report yearly to Congress to track the progress of the program.
• Require VA raters to take ownership of their ratings by assigning identification codes to all adjudications.  The performance of specific raters will then be evaluated periodically for consistency and accuracy.

The event is open to the public. If you’re interested in going, you can find details below.

WHO: Congressman Zack Space along with various local and state officials

WHAT: Ceremony

WHERE: ABC Manufacturing, 210 13th St., Malta OH 43758

WHEN: Monday, April 7, 2008 1:00 pm Eastern

I’d also say it’s a safe bet (though it’s just my guess) that 20th district Senate candidate Rick Shriver will be there as well, though not to campaign. Shriver is a Morgan County Commissioner and also worked to bring the factory to the area.

Among the highest ranked benefits are:

• an increase in educational oppertunities
• it may attract or retain businesses
• improvements to healthcare by enabling things like home health monitoring and access to electronic health records

I’ve attempted to embed the full results after the break.

Space was also talking about rural broadband with the Newark Advocate recently:

Space said one of his greatest achievements in the 15 months he has served as a Congressman has been the introduction of legislation regarding technology, specifically improving high-speed Internet accessibility in the area, he said.

“I think, in the long term, (Internet access) makes us a much more attractive place to do business,” he said. “What business is going to locate to a place that doesn’t have high-speed Internet?”

Additionally, he said, several significant aspects of the educational and medical fields have become reliant on Internet technology.

Tapping into that resource is a way to increase business and improve quality of life, he said.

Read this doc on Scribd: RENEW Ohio 18: Broadband Focus Group Results

Congressman Charlie Wilson’s office forwarded on the IRS press release and included this handy list of participating IRS offices in and around the 6th district.

Youngstown, OH
(Federal Bldg.)
10 E. Commerce St.
44503 IRS 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Huntington, WV
(Sidney Christie)
845 Fifth Avenue
25701 IRS 9 a.m. – 3 p.m

Parkersburg, WV
425 Juliana Street
26101 IRS 9 a.m. – 3 p.m

Wheeling, WV
1021 National Road
26003 IRS 9 a.m. – 3 p.m

Just to further emphasise, this will take place tomorrow (3/29).

The campaign is looking for help ranging from simply putting a sign up in your yard all the way up to volunteering in an office or coordinating a precinct. Other opportunities include making calls, working on election day, distributing literature, hosting a fundraiser, and walking in parades. If any of these things interest you, I’m sure they’d love the help.

And of course, donations are always needed.

“We have a long and distinguished agricultural heritage in our region, and I am confident that this industry will continue to play a vital role in our economic future. We must continue to find new and innovative ways to expand this staple of our economy.”

“In the United States today, we enjoy the safest, cheapest, most abundant food supply of anywhere in the world, and we owe that to the hard work of our agricultural producers. The ideas generated today will help ensure we are able to expand this necessary industry as we find ways to create jobs for our region.”

– Rep. Zack Space

Space also sent out a column to area newspapers about his view on illegal immigration. You can find it after the jump.

As many of you will remember, I traveled to the US-Mexico border last year to inspect the state of our border security and what I found was shocking. I knew from reports that the border offered little resistance to a determined illegal immigrant, but only after I saw the border first hand did I fully understand how bad things are. The brave men and women who patrol that border must be commended for what they do. Unfortunately, they are not able to do it all.

I returned with some specific plans to alleviate this problem. I signed on to legislation that I felt would go a long way in combating this crisis. This bill, The Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act of 2007 (H.R. 4088), would take care of a number of problems we currently face.

First and foremost, we cannot stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming into this county if we do not make significant investments in the security of our border. The SAVE Act will provide 8,000 new Border Patrol agents – reinforcements for the front line of this fight.

Secondly, this bill will diminish the pull that draws many here by greatly reducing the job opportunities that are available for illegal workers. This bill makes mandatory a program of worker verification that is currently voluntary. By utilizing the E-Verify system, employers will be able to quickly prove that the information being provided by a potential worker is accurate. This bill will crack down on fraud and mandate that employers use this system.

Finally, the SAVE Act will dramatically step up interior enforcement to help deal with those who have already broken the law to get here. It increases the capacity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by providing more agents, as well as providing additional training for local and state law enforcement. The SAVE Act will also increase detention capacity and expedite the deportation process.

A number of my colleagues and I are tired of waiting for this vital piece of legislation to come up for a vote. That is why we are demanding that House leadership address this issue and give us an up-or-down vote on the bill. It is my hope that our pressure will bring the SAVE Act up for a vote as quickly as possible so we can begin to deal with this crisis.

Congressman Zack Space

It was incorrectly reported in Tuesday’s Tribune Chronicle that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton answered questions from voters in a local congressman’s office.Reporter John Goodall, who was assigned to the story, spoke by telephone with Hillary Wicai Viers, who is a communications director in U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson’s staff. According to the reporter, when Viers answered the phone with ‘‘This is Hillary,’’ he believed he was speaking with the Democratic presidential candidate, who had made several previous visits to the Mahoning Valley.

The quotes from Viers were incorrectly attributed to Clinton.

The original article seems to have either been corrected or removed. While I was searching for it, I did notice that gossip blog Gawker had picked up on the story.

Wilson has been travelling the district over the week holding economic listening sessions. Regrettably, I wasn’t able to attend the local stops.

Update: Google Cache caught the original article. (H/T to Elephants in the Room)

Just for the heck of it, here’s more links.

• Wonkette
• Regret The Error
• Poynter Online

Now, in the face of even more flooding, Rep. Zack Space is calling on Governor Strickland to declare a state of emergency so that relief efforts can officially begin.
I’ve included the press release after the break, as it contains information of use to Space’s constituents who’ve been effected.

SPACE PUSHES FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE

- Calls on Governor Strickland, Army Corps of Engineers, and FEMA to Provide Assistance to Areas of the District Impacted by Recent Flooding -

- Residents May Call Local Army Corps for Information: 330-343-3613 or 866-502-2570 -

WASHINGTON, DC – Deeply concerned by the extend of recent flooding in Eastern and Southern Ohio, Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) today called upon Governor Ted Strickland, urging him to take swift action by declaring impacted counties disaster areas. Space’s office has also been in touch with the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA pushing for this designation, which would bring emergency assistance and funding to help recovery efforts.

“There is little doubt in my mind that we need disaster assistance, but that is unfortunately not my call to make,” Space said. “I am strongly encouraging Governor Strickland to take the steps necessary to get disaster assistance to these affected areas.”

“We all remember how vital disaster assistance was in the wake of the devastating 2005 floods. With entire communities being cut off by floodwaters, serious questions about the local infrastructure, and homes flooding we need all the help we can get,” Space continued.

Congressman Space and his staff have contacted local, state, and federal authorities in an attempt to facilitate the disaster designation process. A request from the Governor is necessary for FEMA to initiate action.

In 2005, FEMA authorized $9.9 million in individual disaster assistance.

For additional information, residents can call Muskingum Area Office Army Corps of Engineers at 330-343-3613 or 866-502-2570 for those outside the Muskingum watershed area.

“The Supreme Court has the opportunity to send a clear and unequivocal message that Americans have an undeniable right to own firearms. There is no legally justifiable reason that the residents of DC – or anywhere else – should be denied their constitutionally protected rights.”

“I once again renew my call to the justices of the Supreme Court to stand up for the principles our Founding Fathers saw fit to include in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court has the ability to settle all questions regarding gun ownership.”

– Rep. Zack Space

Space also recently joined several other members of the House in signing an NRA “friend of the court” brief for District of Columbia v. Heller.

“I was proud to vote for today’s FISA bill because it protects our civil rights while giving our intelligence agencies the clarity they need to conduct eavesdropping on foreign targets. In these uncertain times, Americans have the right to be confident that their government is acting in a responsible way. This bill makes some common-sense adjustments to surveillance law, and it should encourage the American people that our government is committed to operating openly. I call on the Senate to pass this bill, and I hope the President will sign it.”

I really hope President Bush realizes that this is the best he’s going to get without upsetting a whole lot of people.

In an effort to get caught up quickly, I’ve also pasted another press release after the break. This one concerns Wilson’s support for the 2009 budget plan.

Congressman Charlie Wilson Backs Budget Plan to Strengthen Economy & Make America Safer

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Charlie Wilson (OH-6) today joined a majority in the House of Representatives in support of a new fiscally responsible budget plan that will strengthen the economy and make America safer. The budget for Fiscal Year 2009 was approved by a vote of 212-207.

“I’m proud that the budget passed by the House of Representatives today follows many fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog budget principles,” Wilson said. Wilson is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. The Blue Dog Coalition endorsed the Fiscal Year 2009 House Budget Resolution.

“This plan includes a commitment to pay-as-you-go requirements and has a fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) that is fully paid-for,” Wilson said. If the AMT is not fixed, millions of middle class families will face a tax increase.

“This is the kind of plan that puts working families first. I believe this plan will get our economy moving again and I’m pleased we’ll do that without dumping more debt on a credit card,” Wilson said.

Importantly, the budget approved by the House today will result in a surplus by 2012.

The new Democratic budget makes key investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, which will create hundreds of thousands of green jobs.

Additionally, the budget enhances national security by restoring U.S. military readiness, providing a $4.9 billion increase over Fiscal Year 2008 for veterans’ health care and increasing funding to protect America from terrorism over the President’s proposed levels.

The Democratic plan also rejects the harmful cuts in the President’s plan, including cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). It accommodates $50 billion over five years for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); and provides substantial resources over the President’s budget for education programs.