Letters to the editor | Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019: Focus on Congressman Josh Harder
Town halls show Harder’s transparency
My husband and I are so pleased that we voted for Josh Harder. His frequent town hall meetings are very informative, and the telephone town hall is a great idea for people who can’t get out to a meeting. This transparency is so important during the political turmoil we find ourselves in right now. His efforts for education, jobs and agriculture in the Valley are proving to be formidable, and being able to personally discuss these issues with him is quite refreshing. Keep up the good work, Josh!
Nancy Israels, Modesto
Harder helps all constituents
I am writing to say how pleased I am with our congressman, Josh Harder. I attended his town hall meeting in Manteca. The number of young adults in attendance was surprising and refreshing. Harder made it clear that he is working for all people in his district; party affiliation makes no difference to him.
He has co-introduced a bill that would fix a loophole in the student loan repayment programs for doctors to help retain and attract 10,000 more doctors to areas that sorely need them.
He introduced the bipartisan Youth Workforce Readiness Act to fund after-school programs that give our students the skills they will need to enter the workforce.
He helped secure the biggest economic development grant from the federal government in Stanislaus County history to help expand the Valley Occupational Learning and Technology (VOLT) institute at Modesto Junior College.
Mary Salvador, Manteca
Our congressman is in tune
As a resident of the Central Valley for the past 35 years, I would like to express my appreciation to Congressman Josh Harder and his efforts to improve economic and environmental conditions.
Harder looks at the entirety of the issues that our region faces. He is advocating for more federal funds to be used toward vocational education to ensure that our young adults will be successful in the workforce. He also realizes the need for more medical doctors, which is what our valley is so desperately lacking. Harder supports Valley water rights, which is vital to our agriculture industry, which feeds not only our country but the rest of the world as well. Additionally, Josh Harder has kept his promise of being accessible to the constituents in our district.
Sandra Celoni Silveira, Turlock
Harder listens to young people
This letter is a salute to the youth of our communities for inviting Congressman Harder to student-organized town hall forums. Teens and young adults stepped up to microphones to ask Harder searing questions, requested answers to troubling social situations, shared personal stories, conducted issue surveys, offered solutions and asked why the government continues to ignore the needs of young Valley residents. Clearly they want to be equal partners in our democracy. Their concerns are worthy of our attention.
Harder continues to reach out beyond partisan boundaries to all populations of the district to pull us together to find solutions to complex issues. We will be losers if we don’t work together to do more to address the substantive concerns of our youth: affordable college, good jobs, medical and mental health care, and living with an impacted environment due to climate change. Just take a moment and digest this: they are the first generation targeted by gun violence as they sit in their classrooms, and active-shooter training is inherently traumatic. They are deep thinkers, these phone-tapping, social-networking kids, and they are socially, politically and ethically engaged.
Trudy Silveira, Modesto
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor | Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019: Focus on Congressman Josh Harder."