Lentz Holds Town Hall Forum on Jobs and Economy in East Goshen for Sixth Stop on Economic Tour

Press Release

More than 80 people discuss jobs, energy policy, infrastructure spending

Representative Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, held an hour-long town hall forum on the economy last night in East Goshen to discuss plans to generate more jobs in the District and to field questions from voters. The event was attended by more than 80 people, who raised concerns about a range of issues, including how to encourage local companies to expand their work force, the nation's energy policy and infrastructure spending.

The forum was the sixth stop on Lentz's 10-week, 25-stop economic tour of the district, which was launched at the end of July to give local business leaders and working families a chance to air their views about the economy.

During the town hall, Lentz said that over the past decade too much of the nation's focus was on creating wealth through risky investments, instead of encouraging companies in industries that created good-paying jobs to expand. Lentz said that tax loopholes that encouraged U.S. manufacturers to ship jobs overseas should be closed, and incentives should be given to companies to invest in new equipment and create more jobs locally.

"When I see new legislation in Congress, my first question will be what will this do to create jobs in my District?" Lentz said. "Our economic policies need to be more focused on producing things in America. If we are making things in America, then there are jobs here in America."

Lentz has visited a number of manufacturers in the region as part of his economic tour, and he said stops at successful local manufacturers like American Crane & Equipment and Peak Beam Systems had shown him the best way for local businesses to compete with low-cost producers overseas was by creating innovative new products and focusing on quality. Lentz said he supported tax credits for research and development to encourage growth in these areas.

"These are the kinds of activities that we need to be supporting," Lentz said. "We should be doing everything we can to support companies that innovate and make products that are in demand in the U.S. and overseas."

Lentz has made saving and creating jobs the cornerstone of his campaign for Congress. He is the only candidate with a published plan to get our economy moving again and the only candidate who supports Wall Street reform and the creation of a consumer financial protection agency to ensure another collapse does not happen. Lentz has also pledged to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas while his opponent Pat Meehan has signed a pledge that has bound him to oppose legislation that has been introduced to end those tax breaks.

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