Saturday, March 29, 2008

My Conversation with Chris Cannon

Today, Alvin and I were able to spend two-and-a-half hours with Chris Cannon and a few other Precinct Chairs. He welcomed us into his home and it was great to listen to what he had to say, and to hear others stand up and talk about how impressed they've been with Chris and his time served in the Congress.

I have been a staunch supporter of Chris for many years. To learn of my experiences with Chris over the eleven years he has served as my congressman, read what I wrote on my personal blog: "Become a Partner With Chris Cannon."

Today I learned that one of his opponents has chosen to hammer him for not being present for various votes which needed to be cast by him. Chris is a hard-working congressman who fights for his constituents, the Constitution and this nation every minute, of every day, of every week, of every month and year. Today, one of his staff outlined for us what was going on in Chris' life when he missed those votes.

The first time his wife, Claudia, was having a baby. (She chimed in that she was old when this occurred and she needed Chris by her side.) Really, his opponent has a problem with Chris being by his wife's side when she gave birth to one of their children? That's not a man I'd want to vote for.

The second time was when his daughter, Rachel, was sick, so was the third time as she was reacting violently due to the medications she was being given. The fourth time he missed the vote was when his sweet daughter died. What kind of man would attack our congressman over these missed votes?

There was indeed one time when Chris missed a vote because he was working hard on some legislation and heard the buzzer too late to get the floor and cast his vote. He did say he felt pretty bad about that one.

Chris does not rush to the floor to vote on bills renaming post offices or roads, or other nonsensical matters which I am floored to find Congress dabbling in . . . but there you have it. Our Congressman was busy dealing with the bills he was writing, co-sponsoring or submitting in order to protect our rights and our lands here in Utah.

Again I ask . . . what opponent would challenge him on this?

So I brought up my concerns. I asked what was being done about our dependence on foreign oil. I knew this was a hot issue for him. He asked me if I knew how much was being sent out of the country? I nodded and replied, "$450 billion . . ." I was wrong. It is now $550 billion! Chris has been pushing hard to end of our reliance on foreign oil. He told us about reports stating we have five times the amount of shale oil in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah as they do in the Middle East. He explained the technology was in place, a company had purchased the rights to the technology and is prepared to begin drilling in the fall. They only have 47 government agencies which have to sign off on it. He feels pretty optimistic that it will come to pass. Until it does, he'll keep fighting for it.

In the meantime, the Democrats are fighting the Republicans tooth and nail. They want us to continue being reliant on foreign energy sources. The only answer to the myriad of problems we face in America is the taking back of the Senate and the House. Some say it can't be done. I say it will be deadly if it is not.

By the way . . . shale oil produces diesel and will drastically drop the diesel costs here in Utah. I'm guessing we will all want to start looking at diesel engines eventually. Just keep your eye on the news.

We also talked about immigration and how he and the other committee members drove along our southern border checking the fence which has been built. He talked about erroneous numbers coming out of Homeland Security, there's a surprise, and shared with us what he'd actually experienced.

He favors a worker ID program for the following reasons:

1. We don't know who is illegal in the U.S. and who is not. Finding out will cost a fortune.
2. We don't have the manpower to round them up and it will cost a fortune to hire all the policemen and agents needed to accomplish this monumental task.
3. He believes a worker ID program will restrict them being able to use our Emergency Rooms for their free medical visits and end their reliance on our welfare programs.
4. And finally he said we need to increase the number of citizenship spots available

I don't know if Chris is right, but I sure haven't heard a better plan. Yes, we need to close the borders. Fight with us to take the majority of the Senate and the House back and get the job done. It won't get done with the Democrats. Yes, we need to rectify the illegal immigration problem, this definitely won't get done with the Democrats. In other words, work with us to bring Conservative Republicans, like Chris, back into power so that we can get America back on the right track.

We spoke about universal health care. He's not a fan of it. Neither am I.

We spoke about the War on Terror. He thinks our efforts can be logistically improved, but that pulling out now would be the worst mistake we could make. I agree.

We spoke of honor, integrity, the courage to stand for the issues as well as the values and needs of Utahns despite all obstacles. He has done this.

I have spoken with Chris often over the last few years, as I outlined in the article on my personal blog linked at the top of this article, and he has always answered me. Whether by email, letter or phone call, Chris has been my support, in the congressional sense, when I stood helpless against issues only my congressman could fix. And he fixed them. He has never let me down. Ever.

You can go to Chris' website and learn where he stands and what he's done on the issues facing America today. You can check his record in Congress and see for yourself what he has done for the State of Utah and the constituents of the 3rd Congressional District.

In other words, it behooves you to investigate the claims made by the other candidates and learn for yourself why I stand behind Chris Cannon in his bid for the 3rd Congressional seat. The websites links of each of the candidates are available to the left of this article.

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