Dear Fellow Republican:
2009 has been a year of conflict, triumph and change, both here and abroad, but through it all, I remain proud to represent and fight for the people of Arizona.
Americans all over the country are suffering tough economic times. Arizona has suffered more economic hardship than most areas of the country.
Unfortunately, over the past year, the Democrats who promised “change” in Washington have continued business as usual. Government spending has ballooned and our national debt has reached an all time high of over $12 trillion dollars.
I vigorously opposed such acts of “change” such as the $787 billion wasteful stimulus bill proposed by the administration, the $2 billion Cash for Clunkers program and the bailouts of Chrysler and General Motors.
I continue my efforts to ensure scarce tax payers’ dollars are not wasted by those in Washington by seeking to strike wasteful pork barrel spending projects from appropriations bills (such as attempts to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for maple syrup research and pig waste management, which are just two examples).
I also worked to eliminate $1.75 billion in unnecessary and wasteful spending by the Pentagon, one of the largest buyers of goods in the world.
The United States is currently fighting two wars abroad and it is the duty of all Americans to support our troops in every way we can. In Arizona, we are lucky to have several military instillations that bring thousands of jobs to our state and foster strong communities.
Two of the military instillations in Arizona, Luke Air Force Base and 162nd Fighter Wing located at the Tucson International Airport, have been selected as possible locations for the future home of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
I will continue work to bring the F-35 to Luke and Tucson IAP by engaging with the Air Force to ensure the final base selection process is fair, transparent, and takes into consideration the strong history of support by local communities in Arizona. I also encourage all Arizonans to participate in this ongoing process.
This year brought tragedy to the country and our military. The shootings at Fort Hood reinforced the fact that we must continue our vigilant battle against terrorism, both domestic and foreign born. I have always believed that the attacks on September 11th were acts of war against our nation, which is why I have been a vocal opponent of opening up the civilian justice system to enemy combatants, such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
In order to complete our mission in Afghanistan, I continue to support the troop surge as outlined and supported by General Stanley McChrystal. I fully support President Obama’s decision to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan but I continue to have concerns over an arbitrary date for withdrawal.
I will do everything I can to oppose the implementation of such a timeline.
We have seen the Mexican drug cartels declaring war on the Mexican government which has led to extreme violence along our state’s southern border. In April, I joined other members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs at a special hearing in Phoenix where we heard testimony from state and local law enforcement as well as state and local officials on the impacts of the increased border violence on our state.
We must hold the federal government responsible for securing our borders. We must use every asset at our disposal to ensure no one is allowed to enter or remain in our country illegally.
In these times of economic hardship, it is important for us to continue to work toward economic prosperity in the state by advocating for new and innovative employment opportunities. To this end, I continue to support the location of a new copper mine in Superior, which would bring more than a thousand new high paying, long term jobs to the state.
Additionally, I have worked for an equitable and expedited resolution to the conflict over snow making in Snowbowl that would bring numerous visitors and revenue to the area.
We all recognize that job creation is done by our hard working small businessmen and women. I believe that small businesses are the backbone of our economic prosperity and I will continue to advocate for these businesses in Congress.
For example, I continue to urge banks to lend to small businesses so they may grow and create new jobs in our state and around the country. I have also advocated tax breaks for small businesses. In order to get our economy back on track, however, we must stabilize our housing market and increase property values for the millions of Arizonans whose mortgages are “underwater.”
This is why I supported extending and expanding the first time homeowner’s tax credit that enables buyers to get into the housing market, raises home prices for all homeowners and generates work for the construction industry that is so important to Arizona.
I believe that the Democrats’ “health care reform” legislation will not assist in any economic recovery for our nation and our state and will only lead to the largest government take-over of all time that will cost Americans trillions of dollars.
I believe that the quality of health care in the United States cannot be matched anywhere in the world and we cannot sacrifice this quality of care in the name of “reform.”
I was proud to lead the effort to eliminate half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts from the Democrats’ deeply flawed bill because we should not “reform” health care on the backs of our seniors.
I also worked in a bipartisan effort to allow the importation of prescription drugs from foreign countries that meet the same safety standards as those in the United States, which would save Americans billions of dollars on high priced medicines.
Unfortunately, the special interests in Washington defeated my effort. However, I have championed this cause for many years on behalf of consumers, and will continue my fight against the power of the special interests that seek to control Washington.
Americans have begun a quiet revolution against Washington’s out of control spending, outrageous bailouts and government takeovers of private industries. I support this revolution and believe all members of Congress should be held accountable for the service we provide to our constituents.
I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to serve the people of Arizona for many years and I hope to continue my efforts in Washington to eliminate wasteful government spending, lower your taxes and return our state and country to economic prosperity.
I wish you a blessed and prosperous 2010.
Sincerely,
John S. McCain
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