To Move the 17th District, Country Forward, Jones is Needed Back in Congress
With the election season in full swing as local candidates campaign, it is important to highlight the differences between the two major party candidates running to represent the 17th Congressional District, Democrat Mondaire Jones and Republican Mike Lawler.
Lawler, the current Republican representative, is against an assault weapons ban, the gun of choice for mass shootings and now political violence. Mondaire Jones is a champion for common-sense gun safety legislation, supporting an assault weapons ban and voting for universal background checks when he was in Congress in 2021.
Lawler boasts about being bipartisan yet he voted against the bipartisan immigration bill passed with Republican support in the Senate when Trump told the House it would be better politically not to resolve the immigration problems before the election.
Whatever Lawler’s position on our changing climate, more often than not he votes in concert with the House Republican extremists and fossil fuel interests. For example, one of Lawler’s first votes was in favor of H.R. 1, which would expand drilling and fracking on public lands and waters and undercut renewable energy growth. Lawler also is a co-sponsor of the Energy Choice Act, which would impede states from transitioning off of fossil fuels.
Although Lawler touts his bipartisanship, if elected again he will still caucus with the House Republicans and the House extremists on these critical issues as well as others such as reproductive choice for women.
The 17th Congressional District needs Mondaire Jones back in Congress so we can move forward, not backward, on these and other vital issues.
Susan Anspach
Cold Spring
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