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Why
I Support Barry Finegold for Congress
Methuen City Councilor Kathleen
Corey Rahme
(05/07/07)
 The upcoming election to replace
the long held seat of Congressman Martin Meehan is going
to be exciting.
People are starting to form camps of support and many
hard questions are being asked. The field of choices is
large. Tough questions are being answered. I held a Meet
and Greet for Barry Finegold at my home last week and
attendees were able to get down to business with Finegold
and questioned him about the war, the environment and the
economy. He was thoughtful, educated and engaging in
providing his answers.
Since winning his first election to the Andover Board of
Selectmen at the age of 24, and then to the Massachusetts
State Representatives at the age of 25, Barry
Finegold has earned the reputation of being someone with
a strong work ethic when it comes serving the people who
elected him. He is someone who has proven to be an
independent voice and willing to take the leadership role
in many issues.
Finegold is the best choice to represent the 5th
Congressional District because he recognizes the
importance of making economic issues a priority. A real
concern for all of us is that we have bright, young
people studying in this state and they are forced to
leave due to lack of job opportunities. He is working
hard to attract high technology businesses to the area to
provide jobs.
He understands that in order to end the mass exodus of
our young people from the Commonwealth, more creative
measures are needed to promote our economic well-being.
He supports research grants and small business loans as
incentives to encourage new businesses to come to
Massachusetts and keep the ones we have. It is this
vision that will take Massachusetts into the future as a
place for young people to live and bring up a family.
Regarding the environment, Finegold has already been a
recognized leader. He is not thinking “green”
because it is a hot topic among politicians these days.
He can be credited with his contributions on the
Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition and has proposed
legislative initiatives to put the 5th Congressional
District at the forefront of fuel cell technology.
As one of the authors of the “Massachusetts
Renewable Energy Road Map”, Finegold is cognizant of
the need to protect our environment by providing research
and development grants as well as tax incentives for
Massachusetts companies developing fuel-cell
technology. In a move to encourage the purchase of
hybrid cars, this legislation also provides a $1500 tax
credit. Representative Finegold is the co-chair of the
North East Solid Waste Committee.
He secured $54 million to assist the communities of
Dracut, Westford and Tewksbury in their efforts to
improve clean air technology upgrades at their power
plants. These efforts and others are examples of how he
is concerned with Massachusetts’ carbon foot print.
The Safe Havens Act was authored by Representative
Finegold earlier this year. This legislation provides
protection for newborn babies who are unable to be cared
for by their parents. The parent is allowed to drop their
child off at designated places such as fire or police
stations and emergency rooms. I have learned that three
babies have been saved as a result of this legislation
and twenty-one parents have completed counseling or
adoption programs. The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen
Pregnancy recognized Finegold as the Legislator of the
Year for his efforts to save their programs from drastic
budget cuts.
When I speak to others about Barry Finegold as the choice
to lead the 5th Congressional District, they all share
stories about him with me. A common theme in their
stories is how much Finegold cares about his constituents
and how supportive he is of them. I have spoken to people
from the nursing home industry and they are grateful to
him for his reforms to protect our seniors by making
Massachusetts one of the first states to establish a
consumer report card on nursing homes. Another
constituent expressed gratitude about his generosity and
support toward high school students. Like his
constituents, his interests are diverse. He knows the
Merrimack Valley and his proven track record in service
and dedication makes him the proper choice for US
Congress.
If you have ever driven through Lowell, you would agree
the city looks vibrant. My husband attended the
University of Lowell in the 1980’s. He had the
occasion to go through Lowell not too long ago and was
very impressed. I told him that it looked like a
Congressman lived there. I have never forgotten that
conversation and now, I want the cities east of the river
to look that way too. It’s our turn. Besides the
many reasons mentioned above, his knowledge about the
needs of Methuen and Lawrence are pretty compelling
reasons for supporting him for this very important seat.
There are other important issues on matters of education,
healthcare, domestic and foreign policy issues that are
too numerous to highlight here due to spatial
constraints. I have merely noted some of the ones that
impressed me the most. I have visited his website. I
encourage you to visit his website http://www.barryfinegold.com
and read about him so you can make the de-cision
yourself. Finegold is likeable and approachable. He
is my choice for US Congressman for the 5th Congressional
District.
Kathleen Corey Rahme is the former Central
District Councilor in Methuen and was elected as a city
councilor “at large” in 2005. She is also the
vice chair of the city council and founder of the Methuen
Youth Corps. She also hosts “Call to Serve.”
You can email her at kcoreyrahme @comcast.net
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The MAY 2007 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 12,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
North Andover,
Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
Boxford, Amesbury,
Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury, Merrimack, Hampton &
Salisbury Beach, and Lowell.
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