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Democrat Gerry Connolly is the new Congressman from Virginia’s 11th District
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Gerry Connolly (D) new Congressman from Virginia's 11th District.
In the November election, Democrat Gerry Connolly got 55 percent of the vote as he defeated his Republican opponent, Keith Fimian, in the race for the House seat from Virginia’s 11th Congressional District. Connolly will replace the outgoing long time Republican incumbent, Tom Davis, who chose not to run for reelection.
Connolly has been an immensely successful Democrat in county government. Connolly’s career as an elected public official began in1995 when he was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. He has been Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors since 2003. Fairfax is one of the largest and most affluent counties in the nation, with a population of over one million and a county annual budget in excess of $4.5 billion.
Connolly has an M.A. in Public Administration from Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard in 1979, Connolly was a Senate staffer for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ten years. In 1989, Connolly joined SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) where he served as the vice president of the Washington Office.
In his campaign for Congressman, Connolly frequently cited his 10 years working on the staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he laid out four goals that he would pursue if elected to Congress: To end the war in Iraq; to combat climate change; to fix No Child Left Behind and to provide all Americans access to healthcare.
During the campaign, when asked about the use of torture on prisoners and holding prisoners without rights at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, Connolly said, “I believe that torture is fundamentally wrong and runs contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States. I wholeheartedly agree with the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that the deprivation of Habeas Corpus rights to Guantanamo Bay prisoners constitutes a violation of the Constitution. Torture is not an American value.”
Regarding Iraq, Connolly said, “I believe we should set a timetable for withdrawal of combat troops and begin bringing them home responsibly. Iraq sits on the third largest oil reserves on the planet -- it is time for Iraq to take responsibility for its own security and reconstruction,” adding, “We must renew our commitment to stabilizing and rebuilding Afghanistan. The fight for Afghanistan is a fight the U.S. must win.”
As for Iran and nuclear weapons, “I believe we can continue to work diplomatically with the international community to convince Iran that developing a nuclear weapon is not in its interest. Iran needs to know that its use and deployment of nuclear weapons will have dire consequences.”
When asked about the War on Terror, Connolly responded that the War on Terror is not a war that can be exclusively fought with military means. According to him, "It's absolutely critical that we utilize the tools of diplomacy as well. We must engage our allies and stay focused on the central goal: identifying and dismantling terrorist structures and organizations. The War in Iraq has distracted us from that goal.”
On domestic issues, Connolly defended Social Security and Medicare as two of the most successful government programs in the history of our nation and we must work to strengthen them. He added that there are a number of reforms that can guarantee the solvency of these programs for the next 50 years. “We need the political will and bipartisan cooperation to make them happen.”
Connolly said that it is unconscionable that 47 million Americans -- many of them children -- are living without access to quality health care. “I will work across the aisle to bring people together and develop a plan that provides universal, affordable and accessible health care.”
On environmental issues Connolly is proactive. He believes that the Bush economic, environmental, and energy policies have been disastrous and have caused real damage. “We need to reverse those policies,” adding “The federal government needs to acknowledge that climate change is real and must be addressed aggressively. We need to focus on conservation and invest in research for alternative sources of energy. We need a broad-based energy policy that increases domestic production and focuses on the development of renewable sources like wind, solar and bio-fuels. We need to deploy technology to spur conservation and efficiency.”
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- Different Approaches for Dealing With Social Security - Edward Gramlich
- Saving Social Security - Diamond, Peter A. and Peter R. Orszag.
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- Social Security Trustees Report _ 2008
- Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Europe, 2002
