GOP comes to Valley to unveil ‘Commitment to America’
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy addresses the crowd Friday at the rollout of the GOP’s “Commitment to America” at DMI Companies in Monongahela.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York speaks at Friday’s event in Monongahela.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise makes a point to the crowd as the GOP unveiled its “Commitment to America” Friday.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Fayette County Sheriff James Custer poses a question at Friday’s “Commitment to America.”
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Rep. Guy Reschenthale talks to the crowd as the Republican Party rolled out its “Commitment to America” plan.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
A capacity crowd was on hand to hear Republican lawmakers’ “Commitment to America.”
MONONGAHELA – House Republicans came to Monongahela Friday to roll out their “Commitment to America” platform.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, a representative from California, was at HVAC manufacturer DMI Companies along with numerous members of the GOP House from across the country. Sharing the dais with McCarthy was Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and No. 3 House Republican Elise Stefanik of New York.
“What we’re doing is rolling out a commitment to America in Washington, not Washington D.C., but Washington County, Pennsylvania,” McCarthy said to a capacity crowd. “Do you want to know why? Because it’s about you. It’s not about us. The commitment is a plan, a plan for a new direction.”
U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, 14th Legislative District, introduced McCarthy and spoke proudly that the plan was rolled out in his district.
“We wanted to roll it out somewhere that reflected America at large,” he said. “The people in Southwestern Pennsylvania are hard-working. They believe in American exceptionalism. They believe the future for America is great. There’s a lot of optimism.”
GOP members laid out their legislative priorities, should they take control of the House in November’s midterm elections.
“On that very first day that we’re sworn in, you’ll see that it all changes,” McCarthy said. “Our job is to work for you, not go after you. Our job is to make America stronger.
The four main components of the plan are:
- An economy that’s strong;
- A nation that’s safe;
- A future that’s built on freedom;
- A government that’s accountable.
Some of the plans of the platform include fully funding border enforcement strategies, supporting 200,000 more police officers through recruiting bonuses, moving supply chains away from China, criminalizing all forms of illicit fentanyl, investing in the military, expanding parental choice, ending special treatment for members of Congress and curbing governmental spending that is raising prices in products such as gas and groceries.
“When you see the bills coming out of Congress, there are trillions of dollars of borrowed money,” Scalise said. “New taxes, 87,000 IRS agents. In all my years of Congress, I have never has a single phone call saying, ‘Please add more people to the IRS.'”
McCarthy said a bill would be passed the first day the GOP takes control to repeal the IRS agent increase.
Reschenthaler was happy with the event.
“We’re going outside to real Americans into what I consider the heartland of America,” he said. “(We need to) stop listening to Beltway insiders, so-called experts. This one-party rule we’ve had for two years has been disastrous.”
A number of local Republicans were on hand and were pleased with what they heard.
“This is exactly what we need,” said state Rep. Tim O’Neal, 48th District. “We just heard the plan to combat a lot of the issues we’re seeing across the country. That’s what we’ve been missing from the Republican Party for the past several years. I’m really excited after what I heard with categories from fixing our schools to holding government accountable. That is what we need. This event has got me energized to combat a lot of the issues we’re seeing right here in Washington County as well as across the nation.”
“We’re at a pivotal point in history,” added state Rep. Bud Cook, 49th District. “We need to make this pivot and we need to make it right. We’re in the wrong direction and we need to do a 180 and get back to the values that made the Valley great initially.”