GALESBURG – Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) Wednesday, saying the Democrat incumbent is a "champion" for Illinois families. Unfortunately, Illinois families know that is not the case, her Republican challenger Patrick Harlan replied.
"When it comes to supporting Illinois families, Cheri Bustos consistently votes the wrong way, siding with corporate elites and party interests over the people she was elected to represent," Harlan said in a statement. "We need a representative in Congress who will protect manufacturing, support the Rock Island Arsenal and our military, and fight for farmers in our district."
Harlan listed legislation that Bustos voted against that harmed people in the northwestern Illinois 17th CD:
- Bustos voted NO on H.R. 4775, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act, which the National Association of Manufacturers said would add "another layer of red tape that will hold back job creation."
- Bustos voted NO on H.R. 4909, the National Defense Authorization Act, which was designed to helped fund the Rock Island Arsenal and the military.
- Bustos voted NO on S.J. Res 2, which would stop onerous over-regulation from the Corps of Engineers and the EPA. Instead, Harlan said, Bustos favors more government to over-regulate farmers' fields, ditches, streams, and ponds.
Harlan, a truck driver that lives in Galesburg, leads the local TEA Party group and is involved in the Knox County Right to Life group.
Harlan points out that he is a direct contrast to Bustos, who was set into office by Democrat titles such as Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Senator Dick Durbin and now Vice President Joe Biden. She's heavily backed by the far Left in D.C., including pro-abortion and environmental groups.
"I do not have a degree nor am I a millionaire. I am typical blue collar working class man trying to provide for my children and succeed in this economy," Harlan says about himself on his website.
"I am tired of politics keeping good hard working families down. I have devoted my life to Jesus Christ and ask that his will be done in my life," he says. "This is the direction I have taken. I am here to serve families, single moms, the disabled, the elderly, and the veterans."
More at HarlanforCongress.com