Guest Column: Meehan delivers a full account of redistricting

After the recent Daily Times editorial (“7th redistricting is a product of weakness”), readers deserve a fuller accounting of my work to “bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats” and find bipartisan solutions for southeastern Pennsylvania.

The editorial took issue with a number of votes, including ones to require a balanced budget and protect Pennsylvanians’ 2nd Amendment rights.

It’s worth noting that a CNN poll this summer showed that 74 percent of Americans support a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and the idea received broad bipartisan support in a House vote this year. And no wonder, since our debt has risen 50 percent in just the last three years to now exceed $15 trillion, making it bigger than the value of our entire annual economy.

National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity legislation, which ensures Pennsylvanians’ 2nd Amendment rights are protected when they leave the state, passed the House by an even more bipartisan margin than the balanced budget amendment, with 47 Democrats supporting it. If the Daily Times criticized Sen. Bob Casey’s, D-Pa., vote for this measure in 2009, I missed it.

What was most curious about the editorial is the bipartisan work it chose to ignore. Recently I joined with Rep. John Carney, D-Del., in writing to President Obama to support a long-term highway bill – and the jobs and road improvements it will create. We enlisted 111 members to sign it with us, including 62 Democrats and 49 Republicans. I also joined with 100 Democratic and Republican colleagues to urge the debt supercommittee to “go big” and put “all options” on the table for closing the deficit, including more tax revenue.

In addition, I joined with Sen. Casey, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and others to introduce legislation to protect life sciences manufacturing jobs in our region, and I continue to work together with my Democratic colleagues – in public and behind-the-scenes – to save our refineries in the southeast. I was an early supporter of President Obama’s call to extend the payroll tax reduction, and I fought the extremes on the right and left to avoid a government shutdown and debt default this summer.

I have cast votes to protect worker rights, often at odds with Republican leadership. I was one of just seven Republicans to oppose legislation to strip the National Labor Relations Board of its ability to protect union rights. I authored an amendment to prevent a postal service control board from breaking postal unions, a proposal my Democratic colleague Stephen Lynch, D-Ma., said was “on the side of the angels.” Readers interested in learning more about these bipartisan efforts can visit my website, www.meehan.house.gov.

I will continue to be an independent voice for jobs and fiscal responsibility in Pennsylvania, and take every opportunity to bridge the partisan gap on behalf of the people I am honored to represent. They can make their own judgment about my record, if only they had access to all the facts.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7, is resident of Upper Darby.