House Minority Leader Boehner attends fundraiser to support Rep. Virginia Foxx

By J.R. Munoz-McNally
jmcnally@statesville.com
Sunday, October 7, 2007

The top-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives was in Statesville Friday evening for a fundraising event for Congresswoman Virginia Foxx.
Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader, said he considered Foxx a friend and was “glad to help out” at the gathering, which was expected to draw 140 guests.  Boehner, from Ohio’s 8th District, said he sees helping Foxx as part of ensuring the GOP reclaims the majority in the House.

“We need to move Republicans back to what makes us Republicans,” he said. “I think some Republicans had gotten more concerned about holding on to the power than with doing what was right.” Boehner said the GOP needed to reach out to people’s imagination.  “We need to be the party of new ideas and change,” he said. Most Americans “are tired of all the partisan bickering,” he added.  “We need to be adults and we need to disagree with each other in a respectful manner.”
Lawmakers, he said, tend to get bogged down by one or two topics, while other important issues get lost in the shuffle.  “There are at least a half-dozen issues that need our attention,” he said.  The current brouhaha over the States Children Health Care Program is a matter of clearing out the abuse.

“Democrats and Republicans worked on that program together 10 years ago,” Boehner said. “When we built the program it was designed to help poor children, but if you look at it, that is not what it’s doing.”  In New Jersey, for example, nearly half the people on S-CHIP are adults. 

Boehner is no stranger to controversy. He most recently made headlines and garnered the ire of Democrats when he responded to a question about the rising American death toll in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  “The investment that we’re making today will be a small price if we’re able to stop al-Qaida here,” he said earlier.  But Boehner told the R&L that at the time he was asked the question, on CNN, he had been awake for a long time and did not understand the question was related to human life.  “In terms of money, it is a small price to pay if we can prevent another al-Qaida attack,” Boehner said.  Boehner said the story was kept alive by his detractors.

“Washington is a cruel town,” he said. “And Democrats will stoop to any level to create something out of nothing.”  Boehner said he feels good about his party’s chances in next year’s presidential and congressional elections.

“I am more optimistic now than when I took over in this position back in January,” he said. “Because I know there is one person who can galvanize the Democratic Party and that person is Hillary Clinton. If she ends up with her party’s nomination, I feel very good about the Republican chances of keeping the White House and even taking back the House.”

Meanwhile, Boehner said the current occupant of the White House deserves an “A-plus.”  “He’s got the toughest job in the world,” Boehner said of President Bush. “He was only in office for eight months when 9-11 happened and there is no question that his presidency since that day has been to fight terrorism. And he has prevented another terrorist attack on our soil, and that’s really incredible when you think about it.”

Foxx said the fundraiser, which was held at the home of William and Tina Morgan on West End Avenue, was an indicator of how important Statesville is to her. 
“I get a lot of support from my friends in Statesville,” she said. “People here have been very kind to me and I’ve worked hard to let them know that their city means a lot to me.”

William Martin said it was the second event he has hosted for Foxx. He said he held one last year that turned out to be one of her top fundraisers.

“We like Virginia and we want her to stay as our representative,” Martin said.