Kay Hagan Highlights Record of Results, Leadership in First U.S. Senate Forum
June 21, 2008
GREENSBORO, NC- In the first forum between State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan (D-Guilford) and her opponent, Senator Elizabeth Dole, Kay highlighted her record of results from her time serving the people of North Carolina over the last 10 years in the state Senate, as well as the leadership she’s displayed while balancing budgets, expanding workforce development and creating educational opportunities.
“There was one senator up there today who showed how well she’s represented North Carolina in the past and put forward her ideas to continue to do so in the future,” said Hagan Communications Director Colleen Flanagan. “That senator was Kay Hagan. Her 10 years in Raleigh – advocating on behalf of middle class families, identifying problems and working to fix them instead of sitting on the sidelines, and helping to create a state where the middle class has more of a chance to succeed instead of less – have well prepared her to tackle the challenges Washington has created.”
Kay, who comes from a strong military family, spoke about the need to responsibly end the war in Iraq, enabling us to reposition our military and pursue Osama bin Laden and other terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Kay has begun a series of Veterans Town Halls to speak with veterans about what they believe needs to be corrected in terms of benefits and other services available to them, and their ideas for doing so.
On the topic of education, Kay spoke about her efforts to expand workforce development and invest in the University of North Carolina system to help make it a crown jewel for the state. Kay also spoke about the No Child Left Behind program, which she believes has good intentions, but is suffering because of a cumulative lack of $71 billion dollars from the government. Kay quoted Senator Chris Dodd, saying, “Reforms without resources are like schools without teachers; they just don’t work.” Kay has said that among the committees she would like to sit on, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is a top choice.
Lastly, Kay drew a comparison between the experience both she and Senator Dole have, saying, “When it comes to Sen. Dole and her 40 years of experience in Washington, experience is just means a way of doing business.” Kay said that Senator Dole’s kind of experience has done nothing to help lower gas prices, stop the number of illegal immigrants from coming into our country, or help families send their children to college.
Kay has been traveling in eastern North Carolina for the past two days, talking with consumers at a gas station in Wilmington on Friday, attending this forum, the North Carolina Democratic Party Convention and the Sanford-Hunt Dinner in New Bern, and holding her third Carolina Family Reunion with her family and the families of friends and supporters in Jacksonville.
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