Rep. Scott Perry
Harrisburg Patriot-News
In his second term, President Obama should steer a course to ensure the the private sector invigorates the nation’s fiscal health, whether through tax, spending or regulatory policies, said freshman U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, of the 4th Congressional District.
“That to me should be his number one priority,” said Perry. “This country is strongest when everybody is working and contributing not only to their own family but to the greater community. In the face of years now of high unemployment and low growth, I would think that should be his No. 1 priority. But I don’t know that it is quite honestly.”
Perry, one of 81 freshmen in the 113th Congress, said he is willing to “entertain all options” towards solving the nation’s deficit problem. Perry’s district includes Harrisburg, the West Shore and York and Adams counties.
Congress next month must take up the matter of its self-imposed spending limit, which at $16 trillion, it has already surpassed. Republicans, who have fought against tax increases and for spending cuts, have vowed to leverage spending cuts, particularly to entitlement programs, against the raising of the debt ceiling.
“We’ve got to see some leadership in this regard instead of piling more debt on for more programs,” Perry said. “So far, we see nothing as far as I can tell.”
Perry, who as a colonel in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard led troops in Iraq, was reluctant to cite any one single failure of Obama during his first term.
But, in general, he said, Obama failed to forge an effective economic recovery.
“I don’t know that that is necessarily a failure but I think there is room for improvement,” Perry said. “My concern, and I think most people’s concern today is the economy and jobs, and I don’t think leadership from the top has provided the best pathway for that.”
Perry will serve on the Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure committees.
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