Bailey: A true gentleman who practices family values

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

In the April 15 edition, a letter stated that Congressman Steny Hoyer was recently observed assisting a stranger who was struggling with her luggage on an airliner ["Hoyer practices the family values we cherish"].

The letter also stated, "It is refreshing to find that the hypocrisy of representatives and senators in Congress is not part of Hoyer's service to us and he practices without fanfare the very values which we expect from our elected officials." While Congressman Hoyer's assistance in helping a perfect stranger is notable, this action alone hardly qualifies him as a gentleman or as one who practices the family values we cherish.

While most citizens in Maryland's 5th District do not personally know Mr. Hoyer, what we do know about him is his voting record in Congress over the past 28 years. Does his legislative record truly reflect the "family values we all cherish?"

Hoyer on abortion: Hoyer voted 28 times between 1993 and 2003 to use taxpayer funds to promote proabortion bills; voted against partial-birth abortion bans and/or protection of the unborn 10 times between 1995 and 2004; voted against parental notification with respect to minors receiving abortions five times between 1993 and 2002. Hoyer also voted against traditional marriage.

Hoyer had the audacity to have voted himself a pay raise every two years and for every congressional budget that is sending our nation deeper into debt.

A true gentleman and a person who practices family values would have advocated for the protection of the unborn, promoted the centuries-old definition of marriage between a man and a woman and would have been a wise steward of his nation's financial resources.

Congressman Hoyer is exactly the type of representative who has served way too long. Steny is an overpaid, self-serving individual who has confiscated our taxpayer funds to finance exorbitant salaries, pensions and perks. It is past time for Steny, along with just about every other congressman and senator currently in office, to be sent back home in the next election.

What we need are men like Collins Bailey. Bailey has committed to not accept any pay, health care or retirement benefits after being elected. If re-elected, he will serve only two terms. He believes serving the country is a privilege, not a career.

Collins will press for raising personal tax exemptions to $15,000, balancing the budget and cutting government waste. He will work to initiate bills promoting tax decreases, protection of the unborn, recognition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, will refuse to vote on any bill he had not read and he will vote against raising congressional pay.

That, my friend, is the sign of a true gentleman and one who practices real family values.

Tom Belote, La Plata