October 23, 2008
Giffords: A driven lawmaker
Gabrielle Giffords is like the Energizer rabbit with a brain.
Her grasp of the issues and enthusiasm for the job are refreshing, her energy is slightly dizzying.
As a first-term representative for District 8, she logged an amazing 337 meetings and events in her district, including a solar energy summit, a border security summit and a technology meeting designed to get local business leaders more involved with cutting edge military research.
A moderate Democrat in a southern Arizona district that was represented for decades by moderate Republican Jim Kolbe, Giffords is a good fit. As a member of both the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, she is immersed in military issues of major importance to a district that includes the Army’s Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.
Her work on behalf of military families includes authoring a bill that allows those serving in combat zones to qualify for the earned income tax credit, working to save 200 National Guard Fighter Wing maintenance jobs in Tucson and supporting increases in the GI Bill and veterans’ benefits.
She serves other Arizona interests well on the Science and Technology Committee, most notably by pushing solar-energy initiatives.
In addition, she has provided leadership on immigration issues, initiating meetings in her district to address constituent concerns about the Border Patrol’s plan to establish a permanent checkpoint along Interstate 19 north of Nogales.
Giffords says the newly elected Congress and administration will need to begin focusing on immigration reform right away. She will bring balance and reason to the debate. She has taken time to talk to interested parties, including civilian groups that patrol the border, Good Samaritans who help migrants, area ranchers and residents of border communities.
Her opponent, Tim Bee, is a solid Republican candidate who demonstrated political skill in his role as president of the Senate in the state Legislature. Bee also supports solar energy for Arizona, wants to pursue a guest-worker program and thinks No Child Left Behind needs to be adequately funded. Bee says he would not have voted for the recent Wall Street bailout, saying it should have included more accountability for taxpayers.
Giffords voted against the first version of the bailout, saying thousands of calls from constituents were split, with 50 percent saying “no” and 50 percent saying “hell, no, don’t vote for this legislation.”
After the stock market plunged, the tone of the calls changed. Retirees in Green Valley were losing their nest eggs. Giffords said the bill was improved, so she voted for the final version.
“It’s a messy bill,” she says “but ultimately, there is no maybe.”
She took a carefully measured, well-informed stand based on the best interests of her constituents.
Giffords is a principled, hard-working congresswoman who does her district proud.
She deserves another term.
