BEEF RECALL HITS 6TH DISTRICT SCHOOLS

2/18 Message from Sam Rasoul:

Roanoke, VA-The largest beef recall in U.S. history is extremely troubling due to the fact that "downer" cows were used for processing beef products for human consumption. We believe that Congressman Goodlatte and the House Committee on Agriculture should investigate further into the need for adequate oversight to ensure the safety of our nation's food supply.

The fact that "downer" cows could be non-ambulatory due to the fact they could have BSE (mad cow disease), salmonella, E. coli or other diseases means that these cattle could potentially harm humans if consumed.

Congressman Goodlatte has consistently opposed the banning of "downer" cows from being processed for human consumption.

As experienced in 2003 with a sharp decline in beef exports, disease outbreaks in cattle can also have a profound effect on the cattle industry as a whole. Large beef importers such as Japan and Mexico have refused in the past to purchase beef imports from the United States due to a mad cow disease outbreak in 2003.

The Sam Rasoul for Congress campaign believes we must be diligent not to let powerful lobbyists and special interests impact the quality of our nation's food supply by preventing proper oversight. Not only do we risk endangering the health of our citizens, but we also risk damaging our agricultural industries.
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3/28 6th District School Systems Affected By Beef Recall:

AMHERST COUNTY
SHENANDOAH COUNTY
AUGUSTA COUNTY
BEDFORD COUNTY
HARRISONBURG CITY
ROANOKE COUNTY
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf

The Importance of Positive Campaigning - Column by Sam Rasoul

Life can be rough.

All of us have hit rough bumps along the road. Growing up in a working-class family, sometimes carrying the burden of bringing home the presents for the family during the holidays, convinced me a teen-ager should not have to take on such responsibilities.

In perspective, though, my challenges growing up are trivial compared to the real problems so many around the world, and even in our local communities, face every day. The stories I have heard in my year of campaigning for Congress in Southwest Virginia would humble the worst of complainers.

The hardships of our world make many of us into cynics, constantly wondering why the proverbial glass is half-empty. Complaining is so easy and cynicism can become second nature to those “stuck” in the routine of life, just trying to get through each day.

America needs a reason to believe why we can accomplish the improbable. Just as “ask what you can do for your country” landed humans on the moon, our country needs a reason to believe again.

Our grassroots movement over the past year is larger than any one election or than my candidacy alone. My values guide me to a commitment that delivers a positive message full of reasons why we can be practical idealists. This practical idealism gave birth to a nation yearning for freedoms and justice for all.

Elections and candidates will come and go. Hopes and dreams built overnight into tall peaks can be swept away by a flood of corruption, selfishness and power scavenging.

I believe it important for me to stay steadfast in my convictions to deliver a positive vision that sees an America 50 years from now with a generation that can promise a prosperous future for their children. This American spirit is why we love our country so much, and though the temptation of negativism that pervades our political arena will sometimes whisper in my ear, I will not, and must not, allow that darkness to pull me in the wrong direction.

While others will most surely use negative tactics against me now and in the future, I owe it to the citizens of our great Republic to remain a carrier of truth, an explorer of knowledge, and a champion for justice.

American Made Energy

Here is a recent column by Sam that I thought you should all see.

ENERGY SOLUTION: MADE IN THE USA
Column by Sam Rasoul
FEBRUARY 29, 2008

Last September I bought a hybrid car, which I had long wanted. The decision to buy at that time was a practical one: campaigning in the 6th district required driving from Roanoke to Woodstock with a side trip to Lynchburg. I had to decrease gasoline costs. At the same time I wanted a comfortable ride. Just when I needed it most, I was able to buy the first American-made hybrid sedan on the market.

That car symbolizes the solution to three serious problems we face.Despite Congressional efforts to ignore the facts, over the past decade the United States has lost 3 million jobs in manufacturing, jobs that paid a living wage and provided benefits such as health insurance and retirement packages. Over those same ten years, our leaders slowly and reluctantly acknowledged a potential global environmental crisis and accompanying energy crisis. While lobbyists push Congress to keep $18 billion in big oil subsidies, every hour we spend $41 million on foreign oil, oil we buy most often from countries that lack stability or democracy, threatening our national security.

We can no longer afford denial or procrastination. One answer to the three-pronged environmental, energy, and job crisis, a sustainable solution, is the creation of "green collar" jobs. We can and must produce clean, renewable energy, and we can and must insist every phase of that production takes place in the United States at the hands ofAmerican workers. At the same time, we must increase energy efficiency, including retro-fitting buildings, jobs which by their very nature will stay at home. Wrapping up a house and sending it to China for aninsulation upgrade is impossible, of course, but we also must make sure our wind turbines and solar panels are not manufactured offshore. As George Sterzinger, executive director of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, explained "it makes no sense . . . to wean America off its dependence on foreign oil only to become dependent on other countries for products in sustainable energy production."

Private industry is already increasing production of wind and solar and other renewable energies. For instance, when a Maytag factory closed in Newton, Iowa, a company making wind turbine blades decided to take advantage of the skilled workforce already in town. This company once built boats but moved to turbines a few years ago because they saw more opportunity for growth. The wind turbine company guaranteed 500 jobs within three years with decent entry salaries.

However, private industry can't carry the burden alone. We can make an opportunity out of a crisis, an opportunity to put America back to work while at the same time taking the first steps in long-term solutions to energy, environmental, and national security issues. The Apollo Alliance, dedicated to creating high-wage jobs and energy independence, projects that with sufficient federal commitment, we could add more than 3 million jobs to the market over the next ten years.

But do we have the political will? The federal government will have to provide incentives and make a serious investment in our future. We need a Congress that will extend the investment tax credit for renewable energy. We need a Congress that will extend the tax credit for efficient new housing and commercial building and appropriate additional funds forthe Weatherization Assistance Program. We need a Congress that will invest in job training programs geared toward clean energy production.We need a Congress that will help US automakers produce cars that rely less and less on petroleum and a Congress that will significantly raise fuel economy standards (raising the standards from 27 mpg to 35 mpg over the next 15 years is neither significant nor serious) . We need a Congress that will encourage local sources of renewable energy and open the electricity grids. We need a Congress serious about the environment, energy, jobs, and national security, a Congress, as I have said before,that sees beyond the next 4 years to the next 40.