Campaign Launch Remarks

Statement

I've spent this last year traveling the District, talking, and listening, to people in diners and at soccer games, meeting with small and big business owners, first responders and teachers. People, like so many moms and dads, who work incredibly hard every day to give their kids every opportunity to have a shot at the American dream.

Like me, people love living here and raising their family in New Jersey. They want their kids to have the best schools with great teachers, and grow up in safe, clean communities and have access to good paying jobs. They want fewer potholes and safer roads and trains that break down less, so they can get home and kiss their kids goodnight. They believe in equal pay for equal work and want to pay less in taxes, at all levels, and want less red tape to open and operate a business. And when they grow old, they want to know that their Social Security checks, which they worked hard for, will always clear and that Medicare will be available to them. They believe in opportunity for all, but also expect responsibility and hard work from all.

And when it comes to their public officials, they want leaders who lift everyone up, not those who divide us because of how much they make, or who they love, or because of their gender or religion. They want someone who stands by our police, fire, and EMTs, and our vets when they go off to war, and come home, and someone who will protect our country's interests -- here at home and abroad against terror and the likes of al Qaeda and ISIS. And they want us to stand strong with our friends against enemies around the world -- in the most uncertain regions -- friends like Israel.

More than anything, I heard that people are sick and tired of the partisan bickering and the yelling, the nastiness that they see on TV, in the papers, and online. They want their leaders to start acting like grown-ups and doing what we all do every day in our workplaces, and homes -- sitting down with people we don't always agree with, working through our differences, and getting things done.

I've heard loud and clear, that they want a new member of Congress -- a Congressman who will solve problems instead of creating them … who will work hard and have their backs here in New Jersey, not worry about fighting for some national Tea Party agenda.

That's why I'm proud to announce today that I'm running for Congress here in New Jersey's Fifth District.

I'm running for Congress because I think we need someone in the Fifth District who will bring a get-things-done approach to Washington. Someone who will be pro-business and pro-family. Someone who is smart and tough. Someone who's fiscally conservative, but also socially progressive. Someone who will actually bring people together, regardless of what party they belong to -- and will work to create jobs, invest in our future, and stand up for Jersey values.

That's what people here are looking for. And the truth is, a lot of the folks I talked to -- many of them proud, lifelong Republicans -- have come to realize that we just don't have that kind of representation here in the Fifth District -- and that it's time for a change.

Scott Garrett isn't pro-family. He's not pro-business. He's Dr. No to everything -- and that "no" hurts families here in New Jersey.

We need a champion because it's becoming increasingly hard to recruit and keep people and companies in our state, especially here in Northern Bergen County. We are losing companies and their employees by the day, including big ones like Mercedes, Benjamin Moore, and Hertz -- not to mention small businesses like the dry cleaners and restaurants that depend on the traffic from those office parks.

Why? It's expensive to do businesses here. It's expensive to live here. The property taxes, the regulations, the corporate taxes, the train and bus fares we all have to pay are too high and seem to keep going up. And Scott Garrett, and his failure to fight for us, adds on yet another tax. In all, New Jersey has been rated 50th in business friendliness -- that means dead last -- and 45th out of 50 states in terms of cost of living. That's simply unacceptable.

Now, it wasn't always this way -- and it certainly doesn't have to stay this way. We can fix this. I know first-hand how hard it is for businesses in this area. How families are forced to make tough decisions. I grew up about twenty minutes from where I live today and come from a long line of Jersey small business owners. One of my grandfathers had a small neighborhood grocery store in Jersey City and, my other grandfather, after serving in WWII, returned to open up a sporting goods shop. Joe Torre was Pop Pop's favorite customer. My other grandfather, Manny, ran a lumber yard down the Jersey Shore, near Asbury Park, where we still love to go in the summer.

Just out of high school, my dad started his own business selling toothpaste, shampoo and Russell Stover candy out of the basement of his house. My great grandmother, or the boss, as he called her, answered the phones.

My dad's business grew and he moved it from West Orange to Fairfield, where I grew up stocking shelves, helping in the warehouse, and ringing up customers at the register -- back when I could barely see over the store counter. My mom taught elementary and then nursery school. I had a great education at Grandview and Gould Schools and then West Essex Public High School. I went to University of Pennsylvania for college, Oxford, and then Harvard Law School. We were very lucky -- and my parents and grandparents never let us forget that.

It wasn't always a straight path -- because I had become interested in public service and the ability of elected officials, at their best, to do good, important and meaningful things. Along the way, I learned from the best. I landed a job as a Senate Page for then Senator Frank Lautenberg, as an intern for Speaker of the House Tom Foley, and then as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton.

It was a different time back then in Washington. I learned from my mentors that even if you didn't always agree on policy, you could still sit down, find common ground, and make progress. President Clinton worried less about an idea being a Democratic or Republican one -- he just cared about whether it made sense for our country. That's the same lesson I learned in the private sector, at Ford Motor Company and Microsoft, and, then, at the Federal Communications Commission, where I led up the first office of Public-Private Initiatives, looking for ways to help create jobs in the tech and telecomm sectors without burdening businesses with unnecessary regulations. The goal was always clear: it was about finding solutions and getting something done, even if both sides only got 80 percent of what they wanted.

The truth is, a lot of folks I've talked to have come to realize that my opponent, Scott Garrett, simply isn't that kind of leader. He is one of the most rigid, right-wing members of Congress. His own staff brags that he was the Tea Party before there was a Tea Party. In fact, he's actually a founder of the Freedom Caucus in Congress -- whose goal is to impose an extreme agenda that is far from Jersey values. He has no vision and as Scripture says, where there is no vision, the people perish.

I'm running for Congress because we need to kick out the Tea Party, kick out the do nothing approach, kick up our economy a notch, and make North Jersey a place where more businesses want to open up and grow, not pack up and leave. If we can draw more companies here, small and large, and keep and grow others, we will create more opportunity and jobs, expand revenue, and ultimately lower our taxes. I want the next J&J, Inrad, Thorlabs, Audible.com, Stryker, and Uber to come here to North Jersey -- to towns like Hackensack and Newton and Northvale.

And that's not a pipe dream. Think about it for a minute. We have so many assets here in North Jersey. We have some of the smartest minds in the country coming out of our high schools and colleges. We have proximity to the financial capital of the world. We have a long history in pharmaceuticals, biotech, energy, hospitals, and thanks to our Bell Labs, we have some of the fastest broadband in the country. The entire back end of the New York Stock Exchange is in Mahwah, just a few miles from here. And, of course, we have beautiful lakes, great shopping, incredible pizza -- and Bruce Springsteen. And it's why I chose to launch my campaign here at Inrad Optics because they are tapping into all New Jersey has to offer -- our people, our energy, and our ingenuity.

But these businesses need a champion, someone who make things less complicated and less expensive … someone who will be in their community, come to their meetings, listen to them, be involved, and make their case to Washington -- and then work with others to get things done.

Scott Garrett is an absentee Congressman at home and a rigid, uncompromising, and ineffective Congressman in Washington. It's the worst of both worlds and it's holding us back. I will be a hands-on Congressman. You will see me, meet with me, talk with me, and share your ideas with me. I will take your causes to Washington, reach across the aisle, and build coalitions to get things done.

I will work with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to pass comprehensive tax reform to get lower rates and more certainty for companies, so they can compete globally and create jobs here at home. Our tax code is outdated, ineffective, holds us back and costs us jobs. Let's fix the code and close loopholes, just like President Reagan and Speaker O'Neil did by working together in 1986. And I'll work to cut unnecessary spending, regulation, and red tape that's in the way of the private sector, our engine of economic opportunity.

I will also work to pass comprehensive immigration reform, so that millions of people can participate legally in the workforce and pay their taxes -- and, as I saw at Microsoft, help us keep some of the brightest minds here after they study at the likes of NJIT, Ramapo, Fairleigh Dickinson, or Princeton.

Because, as I learned in business, we can't just cut our way to success. We need to invest. Invest in STEM education, in research and development, in energy, science, and technology -- the keys to our nation's competitive edge. That's why I founded JerseyOn, a nonprofit committed to connecting low-income students to the Internet, so they can compete in the new economy. And just like Eisenhower did in the 1950s, I will work to fix our infrastructure, our crumbling roads, bridges, and tunnels, and get our mass transit system back on the rails. One third of our roads and bridges in New Jersey are considered unsafe for travel and cost drivers an average of $1,951 dollars a year. Why would business want to come here if our infrastructure is crumbling?

You know, these are all issues that the US Chamber of Commerce has also been a staunch champion of, because, as they put it, "A positive future will not come automatically. It will not happen through divine intervention. We must work for it. We must earn it."

Speaking of earning it, right now, here in the Fifth District, for every single hard-earned federal tax dollar we are paying out of our pockets, we are getting back about 33 cents in federal spending. Compare that to a place like West Virginia, where they get about $4.23 back for every dollar they pay out in taxes. The difference is astonishing -- and it is attributable to Scott Garrett's inaction and inability to deliver for the people of our District.

What does this mean for the taxpayers here in the Fifth? It means that our return on investment is one of the worst in the country. And, we have to make up the difference by paying more in state and local taxes -- solely because Scott Garrett, and his Tea Party gang in Washington, don't believe in any government investment, even if it would help repair a train or help a school in our communities.

I call this gap between the amount we pay in federal taxes and the amount we get back in federal dollars "the Garrett Tax" -- and it amounts to about $14,000 a year per person in the Fifth District. That Garrett Tax -- the shortfall of what we pay out and what we get back -- exists because Scott Garrett refuses to deliver for us.

When Hurricane Sandy struck, Garrett came out and said no money for New Jersey. The Garrett Tax.

When the transportation bill was up last December with dollars to fix our roads and bridges, and help fix our rails, Garrett was the only person in the entire New Jersey delegation to vote no, putting the entire burden on our state and local taxes. The Garrett Tax.

When he had the chance to support the Export-Import Bank, a program that makes the federal government money and supports more than 28,000 jobs in our state, he voted no. The Garrett Tax.

I know in business, if you don't get a good ROI, you find a new investment opportunity. I think it's time we repealed the Garrett Tax and focused on getting the investments we need to create jobs and grow our businesses here in the Fifth District.

Let me quickly go over a few more facts, because as my dad always said, and I think he got this from Ronald Reagan, facts are stubborn things.

Here are the facts: Garrett's core agenda is to advance a partisan, no-compromise agenda and to say no to nearly everything -- no to vets and no to homeland security. No to investing in research and development and infrastructure. No to the Arc Tunnel, which would have relieved congestion for commuters. No to raising the debt ceiling, when our country was on the verge of defaulting.

He voted no to equal pay for women, no to Family Medical Leave, no to the Voting Rights Act, and he was one of nine members of all 435 members of Congress to vote no for the Violence Against Women Act. One of only nine to vote no to protect women? Really?

He also voted against funding for mammograms, voted to privatize Social Security and Medicare, and pushed to shut down the Department of Education.

And this is particularly heartbreaking -- Scott Garrett has consistently refused to honor and support some of the most patriotic and heroic members of our communities. Garrett voted against job training, prosthetics, and other support for our veterans who fought for our country overseas. He voted against money for our first responders, who put their lives on the line for us every day, including grants for new, life-saving equipment, and for money for Homeland Security that helps communities find lone wolf terrorists. In fact, in December, Scott Garrett voted against the Zadroga bill -- which included health care for the 9-11 first responders who've grown sick after running into burning buildings to save the lives of thousands, including many people who live here in North Jersey.

Garrett recently told one sick first responder who went to see him about supporting the Zadroga Act that he was sorry, but he couldn't help him, because the legislation gave him "heartburn." He actually told the first responder that.

When it comes to our most basic individual rights and freedoms, it gets even worse. Garrett is anti-choice, even in cases of rape and incest. He votes against advancing stem cell research and even believes that evolution shouldn't be taught in our schools.

And this summer, Scott Garrett told a room full of Republicans that he wouldn't pay his Republican Party dues until they stopped supporting gay candidates for Congress. Yes, he doesn't believe that gay people should be in Congress. And he's never denied that he said that. Imagine if he had said that about African-Americans, Italians, Irish, Jews, or women? BusinessWeek recently dubbed him, "Wall Street's Bigot in Washington." It's shameful.

I know it's hard to believe, but these are the facts, and I think we can all agree that these aren't Jersey values -- and they're certainly not the values that built this country.

So, this brings me back to where I started. This can't be about any one party. It can't be about some national Tea Party agenda. It's about problem solving here, for us, across party lines. It's no accident that I'm here with Amy Ekilson, a Republican CEO from Sussex County, and Cory Booker, a Democratic Senator from Bergen County.

Let's cut the Garrett Tax, let's cut the Tea Party agenda, and let's cut Scott Garrett out of Congress. Let's invest in a new approach by electing someone who wants to attract more businesses and families to New Jersey and fight for everyone -- Democrats, Republicans, and Independents -- across the district in Bergen, in Sussex, in Warren, and in Passaic. Scott Garrett doesn't care about your return on investment. I do.

Together, we can do this -- especially if we bring a fiscally conservative, socially progressive, pro-business, pro-Jersey values approach. I believe if we make the right choices now and the smart investments for our future, our best days will always be ahead of us. As Ben Franklin said, "I see a rising sun." I hope I can earn your vote and be a part of our great state's future.

Thank you and God bless you.

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