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Peabody, MA – Congressman John Tierney released the following statement in response to today’s announcement by the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting.

“The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting had a difficult job to do and it is gratifying to learn that they were responsive to the many people who attended their public hearing and sent in communications asking that the existing 6th district communities be kept together. The commonality of interests, shared experiences, contiguous boundaries and the area's history made a compelling case for why the district is too important to separate and everyone who helped present that case can be proud of these successful efforts. The residents of Billerica, Tewksbury and a part of Andover will recognize a lot of commonality with other Sixth District communities. I look forward to becoming acquainted with new neighbors, meeting with existing friends there, and listening to people's concerns and ideas. I thank the State Legislators for their hard work.”

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Washington, DC - Congressman John Tierney released the following statement today in celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
 
“As the Jewish community begins the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, I offer my heartfelt wishes for a good New Year. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year and is a time to reflect on the last year and to celebrate the possibilities of the year to come. Along with the men, women, and children celebrating in our area, this High Holiday offers us all an opportunity to recommit to our shared values of helping those in need, and strengthening our community. May the days ahead bring forth a year of peace for our nations and our longtime ally, Israel.”

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This article originally appeared in The Lynn Daily Item on June 21, 2011.

LYNN - The word of the night during the Redistricting Committee public hearing in City Hall Monday was cohesiveness.

Approximately 700 elected officials, business and non-profit owners and residents packed City Hall Auditorium to tell a 13-member panel that cohesiveness was one important reason why the Sixth Congressional District should not be split up.

"I think it would be a travesty to put Lynn in any other district," said Rep. John Tierney (D-Salem), who led off the hearings.

Charged with having to redraw the state map in order to reduce the number of districts from 10 to 9, the Redistricting Committee has been crisscrossing the state holding public hearings and gathering testimony from elected officials, residents and business owners.

Tierney pointed to the Sixth District's natural geographic boundaries, its distinct features and its shared history of nearly 170 years as reasons to keep it together. He noted, as did nearly all of the 50-plus speakers who followed, that culturally and economically the district simply worked well together.

City Council President Timothy Phelan spoke to the fear, also echoed by many, that if Lynn were to become part of a district that included Boston it would become lost in the shadow of the bigger city.

"We are not Boston," he said. "I love the city but I don't want to be part of that city in any congressional district."

He also warned the committee that if a map were drawn that did put Lynn in a district with Boston it would be "an impediment of monumental proportions that will take decades to overcome."

Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll spoke for a panel that included mayors and town managers from Peabody, Saugus, Beverly, Newburyport, Salisbury, Amesbury and Danvers.

She pointed to a spirit of collaboration between the communities that has led to regionalization of services in many areas including police and fire dispatch services.

While elected officials touted cohesiveness, non-profit and business owners along with residents showed ample proof of its existence.

Four different college presidents, from both private and state schools, stood together to lobby to keep the district together for the good of education. Likewise two representatives stood to speak on behalf of a half-dozen different hospitals speaking of the need to keep the district together from a medical standpoint.

Both organizations were afraid that in the shadow of MIT, Harvard and the many teaching hospitals in Boston, they would lose out on state and federal funding. The organizations were also worried that if the district was altered they would lose that singular voice in Washington provided by the one representative from the Sixth District.

Veterans, local action groups, social service organizations were also recognized.

Speakers were by-and-large mindful that the Sixth Congressional District does have to change and offered solutions such as bringing Haverhill, Lawerence and Methuen back into the district's fold. Others suggested that adding Andover, Woburn or even Lexington might be smart moves.

State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, chairman of the Redistricting Committee, reminded the audience that task before them was not an easy one. Just as Lynn does not want to become part of Boston, smaller communities in the western part of the state didn't want to join Springfield.

"It's very basic," said Lynn resident Drew Russo. "The Sixth District makes sense. We're people that have come together tonight because we work well together."

To see the original article, click here.

Health insurance companies must spend the bulk of their premiums on paying for medical coverage rather than executive salaries and administrative expenses, says U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney.

The Salem Democrat on Tuesday advocated for the Affordable Care Act, which went into effect Jan. 1.

The legislation includes a provision that Tierney spearheaded, requiring insurers to spend 80- 85 percent of health premiums on medical care.

In addition, the provisions will cut government overpayments to insurance companies, reduce the costs of prescription drugs for senior citizens and provide them with free preventative health services.

“History has shown us that health insurance companies put profits and bonuses ahead of the health care of their customers,” the Congressman told The Daily Item Tuesday, noting the act was a necessary step toward reforming the nation’s health care system. “I’m committed to ensuring that insurance companies follow the law and consumers are provided the full benefits of their health insurance premiums.”

The Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010 put in place comprehensive health insurance reforms to hold insurance companies accountable, strengthen Medicare and lower health care costs.

As a result, insurance companies will be required to spend premium dollars primarily on health care.

This article was originally published in the Lynn Daily Item on January 5, 2010.

Washington, DC - Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) issued the following statement after President Obama signed a bill repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy into law:

“Having consistently supported the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ I am very pleased that Congress and the President have made this change a reality,” Congressman Tierney said. “Today’s bill signing marks an important step toward ending discrimination in our military based on an individual’s sexual orientation. This repeal has significant support from both the military community and the public, and I urge military leaders to act promptly in implementing the new law. Today, we bring to close a chapter in our history that is marked by discrimination, and begin a new period where our armed forces once again reflect our American values of freedom and equality.”

 Congressman Tierney supported the bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” when it passed the House of Representatives on December 15. The Senate passed the same bill on December 18.

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Gloucester —Each year, as part of GateHouse Media’s Gifts of Hope campaign, the Cape Ann Beacon focuses on a charity during the holiday season, doing what we can to help that charity help the people of Cape Ann. This year, our Gifts of Hope charity is The Open Door.

As the holiday season rolls around and so many people sit down to feasts to celebrate Thanksgiving and the December holidays, it is important to remember those who don’t have any feast to look forward to.

The Open Door in Gloucester is doing everything it can to make sure that no family has to go without a feast this holiday season.

“Right now we are focused on the holidays,” said Julie LaFontaine, director of the Open Door. “We want to make sure everyone has the chance to enjoy Thanksgiving and their December holidays at home with their families.”

The Open Door started up in 1978 as an emergency food resource for families and individuals on Cape Ann. It continues today to provide year-round food assistance to residents of Gloucester, Rockport, Essex, Manchester and Ipswich.

The Open Door provides free, nutritious meals and emergency groceries to those in need, as well as other services to the community including a job-training program and a summer lunch program for children.

The Open Door also operates a thrift store, Second Glance at 2 Pond Road, Gloucester. Second Glance offers reduced cost items and referral for free items. All proceeds made at the store go to support the hunger relief programs at The Open Door

There are many ways to help The Open Door this holiday season. They are running a series of food drives right now and are continually collecting food donations at the food pantry on 28 Emerson Ave., Gloucester.

Donations of all kinds of food are welcome. Some of the foods that The Open Door is always looking for are peanut butter, tuna fish and juice. On their website, foodpantry.org, there is a full list of foods The Open Door wants and needs donations of.

Besides donating food to The Open Door another really tangible way to make a difference is a cash donation of any amount.

Donating just $25 buys a Holiday Basket for a family. These Holiday Baskets include a turkey, stuffing mix, potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, apples, cranberry sauce, gravy, and dinner rolls. Last year, The Open Door distributed 1,275 turkey dinners with all the trimmings to families throughout the region.

The first of this year’s Holiday Baskets were distributed last week with the help of Congressmen John Tierney.

Tierney worked with the Open Door and other volunteers to unload the first major shipment of nearly 350 turkeys and to distribute food for thanksgiving meals for local families and senior citizens.

Another way people can help is by following in Tierney's footsteps and volunteering. LaFontaine described volunteers as the muscle that allows the Open Door to help the way they do.

The Open Door is open 52 weeks a year and they need volunteers every day. There are volunteer opportunities at the Food Pantry, at the Second Chance thrift store, and helping with the Community Meals.

The Open Door serves residents of Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex and Ipswich. The Open Door can be reached by e-mail at info@foodpantry.org, by telephone at 978-283-6776 and by mail at 28 Emerson Ave., Gloucester, MA 01930. Donations can be made online at foodpantry.org

This article was originally published in the Cape Ann Beacon on November 30, 2010.

Salem, MA – Tonight, Congressman John Tierney thanked voters and volunteers for their support and commitment on Election Day. During his victory speech at the Hawthorne Hotel, John expressed his gratitude and reaffirmed his commitment to fight for middle-class families, small business owners, seniors and veterans.

“Thank you to all of the voters who supported my campaign today, as well as the volunteers across our area, whose energy and commitment helped us achieve this victory," John said. "Together we focused on the critical issues facing our community and talked with voters in every city and town about our efforts to find real solutions to these challenges. Tonight I pledge to carry on my work in Congress to protect middle-class families, put Main Street’s priorities before Wall Street, strengthen our education system, and get local residents back to work. Lawmakers and citizens on both sides of the aisle must come together to resume our efforts to get our country back on the right track, and ensure that all of our families can make it in America.”

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Peabody, MA – Today, Mayors Kimberley Driscoll (Salem), Michael Bonfanti (Peabody), Bill Scanlon (Beverly), Donna Holaday (Newburyport) and Thatcher Kezer (Amesbury) endorsed John Tierney for reelection to Congress. Citing his work to revive our local economy, strengthen our education system, improve our national security, and get residents back to work, Mayors Driscoll, Bonfanti, Scanlon, Holaday and Kezer announced their formal support for John Tierney.

“John has worked with us to improve the quality of our drinking water, combat the abuse of prescription drugs, provide additional health services to low-income residents, mitigate flooding and beach erosion, enhance transportation options for residents of all ages, and expand education and job-training programs. If not for the recent federal legislation that Congressman Tierney championed, huge numbers of teachers, firefighters, and police officers in Massachusetts would be out of work,” the local Mayors said.

“I want to thank Mayors Driscoll, Bonfanti, Scanlon, Holaday and Kezer for their long standing support and commitment to our community,” John said. “Together, we have worked to revive our economy, create and save jobs and protect the priorities of middle class families. I look forward to our continued partnership on behalf of local families, seniors, and small businesses.”

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PEABODY, MA— While John has worked tirelessly to protect middle-class families in the 6th district and around the country, Bill Hudak would support policies that would wipe out middle-class Americans.
 
“Mr. Hudak's out of touch policy proposals, including eliminating the Department of Education, supporting a radical tax agenda and repealing Wall Street reform would wipe out middle class Americans,” said Tierney spokesperson Laura Keiter.

Examples of Hudak’s  harmful policy proposals:

Bill Hudak supports a radical economic agenda that favors Wall Street bankers over middle-class Americans. Bill Hudak supports a radical economic agenda that favors Wall Street bankers over middle-class Americans. He has said that he would roll back policies which were recently put in place to rein in the Wall Street excess which cost us 8 million jobs, caused the deepest recession in 70 years and cost millions of hardworking Americans their retirement savings.

Bill Hudak’s out of touch education plan would mean less funding for local schools, causing local property taxes to sky-rocket, and making it more difficult for students to pay for college.  In addition to stating his desire to eliminate the Department of Education on two radio interviews, Hudak also indicated his support for this radical plan when he filled out the Greater Boston Tea Party Federal Legislative questionnaire. On the Bostonian Rap radio program, Bill Hudak said "I see at the Federal level in particular, there is a monumental failure on the part of the federal government.  Which my view is, it has to get out of education all together.  Because you cannot from Washington legislate or dictate what is happening in a community that might be hundreds or thousands of miles away."

Eliminating the Department of Education would end Pell Grants and other aid to help students pay for college. There are 125,000 Pell grant recipients in Massachusetts and 185,000 federal student loan borrowers would not receive assistance if the Department of Education were eliminated. Funding for Title I, which assists low-income and minority schools, would be eliminated, causing major budget deficits for cities and towns, including 88 Title I schools in the 6th District.

Hudak has been a vocal advocate for a Flat Tax that would benefit his fellow millionaires over the middle class. Bill Hudak says a uniform tax rate would be "more fair to everybody."  Were his “flat tax” plan enacted, with the Bush tax cuts in place, it would mean a 22% tax cut for the rich, and after the expiration of the Bush tax cuts a 26.6% tax cuts for the rich. A flat tax would eliminate deductions, credits and exclusions which benefit all Americans. These deductions play important roles in our lives and include deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, charitable contributions and pension contributions.

Hudak believes that our laws are burdensome and that we should repeal all of them. Hudak recently stated that he "want[s] to be known that gets into office and has repealed more laws then he has actually introduced.” [Source: Hudak campaign event] In stark contrast, the Democratic-led Congress has recently passed the largest increase in funding for veterans health care in the last 77 years, policies to protect middle-class Americans and to rein in Wall Street excess, and legislation that is expected to save nearly 3,000 jobs for teachers and other education professionals in Massachusetts alone. It is unclear why anyone would want to take away such important legislation.

John has long advocated for policies that protect the middle-class. He has tirelessly worked to help increase college affordability and ensure that all students have access to a high quality education. He supports commonsense reforms that protect consumers and put the interests of Main Street over the interests of Wall Street and was one of only 57 members of Congress to vote against deregulating the big banks. John believes that in order to help create jobs and put people back to work, we must develop an innovative new national policy to ensure that goods and services are made in America.
 
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Peabody, MA- In addition to distorting and misrepresenting his position on dismantling the Department of Education, his vocal advocacy for a Flat Tax that would benefit his fellow millionaires over the middle class and committed desire take away a woman’s right to choose; Bill Hudak has gone to great lengths to mislead the voters of the 6^th district. 

The following list provides a sampling of what voters need to know about Mr. Hudak:

• We all remember last January when Bill Hudak faked receiving an endorsement from Sen. Brown, which included quotes fabricated by Bill Hudak and his campaign.  When asked by reporters about the endorsement and quotes attributed to him, Brown responded by saying “I haven't spoken to Bill at all” and went further to add “I understand he made a press release of some sort. But I wasn't aware of it, and we've asked him to retract it.” 

• When during the debate in Beverly Congressman Tierney called his opponent out for wanting to repeal the financial reform legislation that will protect the middle class, Bill Hudak had the audacity to call Congressman Tierney a liar, even going so far as to say “let me call you a liar to your face.”   Hudak’s shameful statements are doubly difficult to digest given his recorded statements providing his desire to repeal the legislation John passed to protect middle class Americans and return to the policies that led to the greatest recession since the Great Depression.

Perhaps Mr. Hudak had forgotten his own statements on this issue, but he had only recently expressed his desire to “dismantle every law that is a burden on us.”  Burdens that, according to Mr. Hudak include “financial reform that takes more money away from [businesses] and imposes burdens and regulations on them.”

• Recently, in an attempt to appeal to the mainstream voter Mr. Hudak tried to sever some ties to the Tea Party movement.  This is a rather stunning reversal for a candidate that staged and ran a Tea Party event in Gloucester.  Especially, given his attendance at the massive Tea Party event in Washington D.C. where he was not only actively campaigning, but announced his plan for illegal immigrants was to “throw them out.”

• On October 26^th, Hudak stated that Congressman Tierney “had not once done anything of any significance to bring anything to the district other than to go to ribbon cutting ceremonies and say ‘I did this, even when he didn’t.

Throughout his time in Congress, John has delivered for our communities. He has worked to secure federal funds to help improve our community health centers, rebuild our roads, bridges and to mitigate flooding in the 6^th district. As the only member from Massachusetts on the Education and Labor Committee, John has worked to expand education and job-training programs.  John recently received the New England Board of Higher Education‘s Governor Walter R. Peterson Award for Leadership for his commitment to education issues.

John is also a leader on commonsense reforms that protect consumers and put the interests of Main Street over the interests of Wall Street. He consistently advocates for policies which protect consumers against predatory lending practices. John believes that in order to help create jobs and put people back to work, we must develop an innovative new national policy to ensure that goods and services are made in America and expand our Green Economy.

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