Forbes: ‘A good record’

Published 10:03 pm Saturday, June 9, 2012

Congressman J. Randy Forbes, seeking his seventh election to the House of Representatives for Virginia’s Fourth District, says he’s running on his record.

“I think we have a good record of working hard for the citizens we represent,” he said, in between committee meetings on the Hill. “We’re going to run on that record.”

Like most everybody, Forbes believes this election is about the economy and jobs.

Forbes

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“I think that this election is going to come down, as it should, to the economy and the creation of jobs,” he said. “I think we have a record of excellence creating jobs.”

Noting the recent announcement of 1,000 Navy jobs moving to North Suffolk next year, Forbes attributed that to his work in Congress.

His position as chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee positioned him to have a lot of influence on plans to re-task the U.S. Joint Forces Command site in Suffolk for other military uses once the Department of Defense announced its plans to disestablish the command.

“We worked very, very hard to make sure we were replenishing the jobs lost at the JFCOM site,” he said. “I don’t think anybody fought harder for that than I did.”

Forbes added that he continually visits businesses in his district to see how he can help them.

Lastly, Forbes said he wants to reduce government regulations and keep taxes reasonable to help businesses thrive and hire more employees.

He also said he has a plan to “cut through the red tape” and build more roads and infrastructure.

Forbes also has a health care plan he says will result in more research being done on three of the main diseases plaguing Americans — diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

“We need to get a breakthrough in the delay of those symptoms,” he said.

Finally, Forbes pointed out his position as chair of the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus.

“It’s so crucial to Suffolk,” he said. “That’s kind of Ground Zero for modeling and simulation in the country today.”