There is a second chair. Her name is on it.
Invitation for Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan to join me in an open forum in the Sixth District
Two people are asking this district for the same job. You should be able to hear both of them, ask both of them questions, and decide for yourself.
What happened, in order
On behalf of my fellow constituents and me, I made a simple request made on August 19: for Congresswoman Houlahan and me to sit down and have a forum with the people of Chester and Berks. No conditions. Any format. Any moderator. Any date. Anywhere in the Sixth.
Congresswoman Houlahan’s campaign did not say no. It set a price of admission. Before she would even discuss a forum, I had to publish positions on nine national issues.
I answered all nine. They are on this page. They belong on the record. They are not a substitute for the questions families here actually ask — about the cost of insurance, a house, a closed hospital, or the independent doctor who still treats your kids.
A website cannot replace a public conversation. That is why the invitation has not changed, and never will. It is unconditional. It is still open.
I wrote Congresswoman Houlahan this invitation and asked for a public community conversation this fall. Not a debate built to score points. A conversation between two veterans, on the issues that reach kitchen tables here, with questions from the community. I offered to use a date already on her calendar. I offered a long-form, one-on-one conversation if a larger forum was not her preference. I asked for a response by September 4 so there would be time to give the public notice.
Her campaign manager, Sue Walker, replied with this email and thanked us for the invitation and said serving in Congress is not a role to be taken lightly. I agree with that sentence. The rest of the letter said that before any joint discussion could be planned, I first had to expand my website and take public positions on nine national issues: the SAVE Act and the ballot, 2020, ICE, organized labor, the minimum wage, reproductive policy, the Epstein files, Iran, and President Trump.
Those questions belong on the record. They should never have been a ticket into a room with the people of this district.
In a letter to our community, I published the nine answers in full, so no one can say they were withheld. The same week her letter arrived, the Chester County Medical Society asked both of us what we would do about the rules closing independent practices in this county. I answered the doctors. Her campaign wrote that it would not participate in questionnaires on any topic this cycle, and pointed them to a website.
After October 1 the House is home for more than five weeks. There is nothing more important in those weeks than standing in front of the people who live here. Next week this campaign will announce an open public forum in the district, in October. I will be there. The video and transcript will be published the next day. The second chair will have her name on it.
What this is about
Families in this district are paying more each month for health insurance than they pay on their mortgage. The typical first-time homebuyer in this country is now around forty. Brandywine closed. Jennersville closed. They have not come back. The independent doctors still standing are being squeezed by payment rules written by people who will never meet them.
That is a Tuesday here. It is also the conversation a website cannot have with you.
You are being asked to trust one of us with your family’s safety, your ability to afford a life here, and your community, for the next two years. You should not have to take that on faith from either of us.
The nine answers, on the record
These are the positions her campaign asked for before it would discuss a forum. The full letter is in the PDF below. This is the record, in short.
Elections
Only American citizens should vote in American elections. That is the law. I support a version of the SAVE Act that requires a state or federally issued ID, with the same transparency standard Pennsylvania already has: full and public disclosure of who voted. We should not make it hard to vote. We should make it hard to cheat.
2020
Joe Biden was elected President. I will not spend a term relitigating it. After January 6th, I deployed to Washington with the National Guard to help secure the peaceful transfer of power to him. I took that oath seriously then. I take it seriously now.
Immigration and ICE
Public safety here starts with local police. I am proud to have the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, Chester County Lodge. Washington should do the work only Washington can do: the border, the cartels, human trafficking, and serious criminal offenders. It should stay in that lane — and be held accountable when it does not.
Organized Labor
Workers have the right to organize and to bargain. I have spent twenty-five years in rooms where those contracts get negotiated, usually with the company on the edge of failing.
The minimum wage
Pennsylvania’s has been $7.25 since 2009. The Commonwealth should raise it. No one in Chester or Berks is one wage vote away from affording a house here. I would rather spend my time on the things that actually put homeownership within reach.
Reproductive policy
My position is the current TRICARE rule: coverage when the life of the mother is at risk, and in cases of rape or incest. I will not vote for a national ban. That is the standard military families already live under. People of good faith disagree here. I am not going to pretend otherwise.
The Epstein files
Release them. Protect the victims. Hold offenders accountable regardless of party, wealth, or title. Congress should hold itself to that same standard, starting with the taxpayer-funded settlements used to bury misconduct in its own building.
Iran and war powers
Congress declares war. Congress controls the purse. I will not rubber-stamp an unauthorized war or unauthorized spending — including from a president of my own party.
President Trump
Congress declares war. Congress controls the purse. I will not rubber-stamp an unauthorized war or unauthorized spending — including from a president of my own party.I will work with President Trump, as I would with any president, when it helps this district. I will tell him no when it does not. Specifically: spending that routes around Congress, military action without a vote, and healthcare, where my plan is mine. I am a Chester County Republican. I intend to vote this district.
