Bringing jobs and new economic opportunities to northern and central New York was a major focus of my business career.  When the Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed, I helped create the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation to ensure the existing land and infrastructure was put to good use.  Today there are more than 500 jobs there as a result of our efforts. I also worked for years to recruit businesses from Canada to Upstate New York, and I have continued the fight to attract new business in Congress.

While there are signs that our economy has turned the corner, and a recovery is slowly occurring, there is no doubt that the nation and our region are still facing a much more difficult economic situation than at any time in the recent past. Every day, hardworking families in Upstate New York and all across the nation are still struggling to make ends meet.

The runaway federal spending of the last decade has turned the record surpluses of the 1990s into record deficits. Today we have reached a crisis point.  As our economy slowly begins to recover, we must carefully balance stimulating the economy with targeted tax breaks and critical infrastructure spending with the kind of fiscally conservative budget policies that will reduce the national debt. That is why I have voted twice against raising the ceiling on the national debt, and voted in favor of PAYGO legislation, which requires that every dollar in new federal spending be offset by a cut somewhere else. 

I understand how important farmers are to our economy, and to the values that guide us in our everyday lives. We need to support farmers across Upstate New York in their effort to provide us with the safest, most reasonably priced and most plentiful supply of food in the world.  We must also recognize that our food supply is a national security issue, and treat it with the same importance that we give to the other ways we protect Americans.

I served as a Captain at the Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and come from a family with a long military tradition.  My great grandfather served in the Civil War, great-uncles in World War I and my father in World War II.  As a veteran, I know that when we ask the men and women of our Armed Forces to put their lives on the line to defend America, we have an obligation to care for them when they come home.

I am a firm supporter of Second Amendment rights, and I have taken action in Congress to protect northern and central New Yorkers from any infringement on their right to bear arms.  I support legislation to establish a national standard for the carrying of concealed firearms, to reform the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and to ensure that gun owner rights are protected in bankruptcy proceedings.

I voted for health care reform because it was a step in the right direction.  We need reform for the millions of Americans who don't have affordable health care coverage, as well as for those who have inadequate care or live in fear that their coverage may not be there when they really need it.  I also know that skyrocketing health care costs are crippling our budget, and hurting economic growth at a time when we need it most.