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Congressman Bill Owens made the rounds
last week to spread the word on his first piece of legislation, a
bill aimed at job creation and private sector growth.
During an interview with WNBZ, Owens –
who represents New York’s 23rd Congressional District –
also touched on a few other subjects he sees as important to his
constituents.
In January, the Fort Drum Army Base in
Watertown suffered a 30 percent budget setback; that amounts to a
$40 million cut in federal funding.
At the time, Owens joined with Senator
Chuck Schumer in opposing the cuts. Both said they would have a
significant negative impact on Fort Drum and surrounding
communities.
Owens is currently lobbying Defense
Secretary Robert Gates and Army Secretary John McHugh to have the
funding restored.
“I’m going to meet with General Lynch
– Fort Drum is under his jurisdiction – and I’m going to talk to him
about the best way to get those funds back in place for Fort Drum,”
he said.
When it comes to another major issue –
health care – Owens firmly believes his constituents want reform.
“I think there’s some concern about
the Senate bill,” he said. “I think it carries potential negative
impacts for our district and for the state. We generally received
strong support for the House bill, and we’ll have to see how this
process unfolds when the final bills are placed before us for a
vote.”
Finally, Owens told WNBZ he supports
President Barack Obama’s plan to expand the nation’s high-speed rail
corridors.
“We encourage the inclusion in any
evaluation process to determine whether or not high-speed rail would
work with any of our corridors,” he said. “Any place where
high-speed rail can be established, we need to be looking to do
that.”
Owens, who took office last year,
faces his first re-election bid this fall.
-Chris
Morris, 2-8-10
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