TradeReform.org - CO-5: Jeff Crank on trade

CO-5: Jeff Crank on trade

Written by Stumo

Wednesday, 27 February 2008

Jeff Crank is trying to unseat Doug Lamborn in the Colorado 5th District Republican primary. This is a heavily Republican district, which means the primary winner will likely be the general election winner. Lamborn has been criticized as a wacko free trade underwritten by the Club for Growth.

The Coalition for a Prosperous America held a grass roots meeting on trade yesterday. CPA invited all the CO-5 candidates to attend and speak. (CPA does not endorse candidates). Only Crank accepted.

The Crank campaign issued a press release after the meeting saying:

“We must place the American worker and American jobs on the top of our priority list. Our leadership in D.C. has failed us on this issue. While other countries such as China devalue their currency to compete, we in the U.S. are being left behind,” said Crank. “We should support free trade in this country, but fair trade as Ronald Reagan taught us.”

The full press release is below the fold (hit "read more"). Voters need to know what their candidates are saying.

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Jeff Crank for U.S. Congress

For Immediate Release:                      Media Contact: Amber O’Connor
February 26, 2008                                                (720) 219-2023
www.jeffcrank.com

Jeff Crank Vowing Leadership for the American Worker
Crank met with local manufacturing leaders to hear concerns

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Jeff Crank, Republican candidate for Congress in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, today vowed when elected he would stand up and fight for the American worker and be a voice of reason on trade issues in the U.S. Congress.

“We must place the American worker and American jobs on the top of our priority list. Our leadership in D.C. has failed us on this issue. While other countries such as China devalue their currency to compete, we in the U.S. are being left behind,” said Crank. “We should support free trade in this country, but fair trade as Ronald Reagan taught us.”

Crank attended a meeting today sponsored by the Colorado chapter of the Coalition for a Prosperous America at Magnum Tool Corp., a precision machine shop in Colorado Springs servicing the aerospace, medical and high-tech industries. The group focused on issues such as tariffs, taxes, currency manipulation and environmental and safety standards.

Frank Shannon, a member of the local group, said the audience today represented a bi-partisan group of both Republicans and Democrats and various interests of the manufacturing and business industries. Shannon explained that, “President Reagan addressed the trade problems the U.S. was having in the 1980’s, but since then our leadership has not been proactive enough to maintain what Reagan fought for. Our group focuses on educating our communities and elected officials on what the problems are that we see everyday.”

Crank said, “We must send people to D.C. who will lead on these issues, not just talk on them.” The meeting today also included a trade expert from the group out of the Washington, D.C. area, Dave Frengel, who discussed the problems from a national perspective, but also solutions that could be offered by our representatives.

Frengel explained that there is a need to facilitate the national and corporate America perspectives on the issue to do what is best for American workers. He discussed the need for the legislative branch to be involved with negotiations on trade. “There is a need for action,” he said while discussing the options for better accountability in the industry by placing labels of origin on products and placing the U.S. in a more prominent position for the high-tech industry and research and development.

“If we had more leaders in D.C. who understood these business and economic issues and the impact they make on manufacturers and producers in the U.S., we wouldn’t have the problems we’re having,” said Crank.

Crank explained that America has the economic opportunity to solve this problem for our children if we begin to take action now. “Three million jobs in manufacturing have been lost since 1998 in the U.S.,” said Crank. “In Colorado Springs, 17 percent of the employed population was in manufacturing in 1997. Today we have only 6 percent of our employed population in manufacturing. These numbers are astounding and it’s time someone stood up and said ‘enough is enough’ and did something about this problem.”

Crank said that he has already taken action on this issue, and has formed an advisory committee he will be meeting with on March 20 that will continue to advise him during his tenure as a Congressman. “The best way to take a leadership role on this and many other positions is to stay in close contact with the industry leaders who live and breathe our policies everyday,” said Crank. Some of the local manufacturers at the meeting today as well as others from around the 5th Congressional District are members of the advisory group.

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