Allen stops by city, discusses sequestration

BY MICHAEL ZITZ

The Free Lance-Star

Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen was greeted Saturday by 70 local volunteers and by State Del. Mark Cole (R–Fredericksburg) and state Sen. Bryce Reeves (R–Spotsylvania) when he made a stop at his Fredericksburg campaign office at Central Park, according to a press release.

Sen. Reeves said change is needed in Washington, according to the release, and, “The person who is going to lead this change is my good friend George Allen.”

Allen spokeswoman Emily Davis said he brought young people from the audience to stand with him and told them: “This election is about your future. In America, we should only be limited by our imagination and hard work.”

  Davis said Allen outlined his policy priorities, including stopping $487 billion in defense cuts that could take effect via sequestration in January 2013 if a budget deal is not reached.

  When a congressional “super committee” was unable to come up with a solution to slow the increase in the nation’s debt last November, automatic, across-the-board cuts were scheduled. Unless a deal is reached, sequestration could cost Virginia over 200,000 defense-related jobs.

“These defense cuts will adversely affect our military readiness,” Allen said, according to the release. But he added that, “We’re losing control of our own destiny because of dangerous levels of debt.”

   Davis said Allen cited his support for offshore drilling, telling the crowd that on the first day in the Senate he would introduce a bill to allow Virginia to explore for oil and natural gas off the coast and then use the royalties for roads and transportation. He added that, “With Mitt Romney in the White House, we’ll have a President who is saying ‘yes’ to Virginia on energy.”

 Fredericksburg was Allen’s second campaign stop of the day. He held a veterans forum in Dale City Saturday morning. Following his Fredericksburg visit, he made his way to the Northern Neck for an event with the Republican committees of Northumberland, Lancaster and Richmond counties.

Brian Coy, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, responded that, “Virginians need a leader like Tim Kaine who has laid out a fiscally responsible path forward to avoid these devastating sequestration cuts, not more Washington-style blame shifting and finger pointing.”

Michael Zitz 540/846-5163

mikez@freelancestar.com

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