July 13th, 2009, Subject: On local issues, Holt is involved
The June 25 letter "For issues that matter, where is
Rush Holt," attacking Rep. Rush Holt, DN.J., needs clarification. It
was long on attacks and short on facts.
For months, it was Holt who successfully pressed the State Department
to take the Sean Goldman kidnapping case seriously. It was Holt who
secured passage of a provision in the State Department authorization
bill requiring the Obama administration to develop additional legal and
other tools to help prevent other international parental kidnapping
cases from dragging on for years.
On BRAC, it was Holt who led the fight to save Fort
Monmouth in 2005. It was Holt who subsequently called for Justice
Department and Defense Department Inspector General investigations of
potential wrongdoing by Army officials involved in the BRAC process.
And it was Holt who spearheaded the effort to keep funds flowing to the
fort so vital communications and intelligence programs needed by our
troops were not jeopardized.
As for the Laurelwood housing issue at Naval Weapons
Station Earle, Holt has made it clear to Navy officials that the issues
raised by local residents must be addressed. To that end, Holt
supported an effort to require the Government Accountability Office to
report to Congress on the cost and security implications of the Navy's
proposal to open the housing to the general public.
The letter asks what Holt "does in Washington." Ask
homeowners who benefit from his property tax' relief deduction,
children who benefit from his work to extend the Children's Health
Insurance Program, first responders who benefit from the federal
funding he secured for new equipment and the hundreds of thousands of
constituents who benefit from his representation in Congress.
Marilyn Maguire
Middletown