McCarthy puts spotlight on kids from Stockdale High and Fruitvale Junior High

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) gives us his view of Capitol. Hill:


 It was winners’ week in Washington D.C.  First up, Sona Shah, a junior at Stockdale High School and winner of the Congressional Art competition for the 22nd district was on Capitol Hill.  Sona was in
town to take part in the opening ceremony for the exhibit where her charcoal and pastels piece, “Playing Art,” will hang for a year.
  Fruitvale Junior High was also here for a visit after they took first place at the National History Day competition.  Their topic was Disturbing the Peace: The Freedom Rides, an Innovation that Changed
the Civil Rights into a National Movement.  Coincidently, while talking with them on the Capitol steps, I was able to introduce them to Congressman John Lewis (D-GA).  Congressman Lewis was a major leader in the Civil Rights Movement and an organizer and keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in 1963.  He gave them a first-hand account of the history they had been studying.

 

  Looking through the suggestion cards from my America Speaking Out town hall, a common theme was that Californians need jobs.  I could not agree more, last year at this time, state unemployment was 11.3%, and today it is 12.4%.  While some believe the $787 billion spend and borrow stimulus that was signed into law in February of 2009 is working, our national unemployment numbers have yet to support such assertions.  There are better ways to gain jobs without government programs spending billions of dollars we don’t have, and I have supported solutions that would have crated twice the jobs at half the cost of the stimulus, as well as a no-cost jobs bill.  We need more commonsense alternative solutions on how to get our economy going again, and I encourage you to join the discussion at AmericaSpeakingOut.com.

  Each week I give you an update on how my colleagues and I are trying to rein in Washington spending through YouCut, where you vote to cut wasteful Washington spending initiatives.  This week, we proposed an idea that even the President endorsed the day after we announced it-amend federal law to allow for the accelerated sale of unneeded federal properties which could save taxpayers up to $15 billion.
While several Democrats joined Republicans in supporting this cut the American people voted for, there were not enough of them to make this savings a reality. To vote for next week’s round of cuts, go to:
http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut.

  My office also welcomed Cassie Reeves from Bakersfield for a summer internship.  She started working in the Bakersfield office this week and will finish out her internship in Washington D.C.  She is a graduate of Bakersfield Christian High School and is a junior English major at Cal Poly SLO.

  Have a great weekend.