Congressmen Larson Fundraises At Elmers

By Ruth Bruno
Staff Writer

Connecticut Congressman John Larson was in Central Connecticut as he made an appearance for his fundraiser at Elmer’s Bar, and discussed the various platforms he is currently running on. Larson is preparing for the coming election season through fundraising events where he hopes to gain local support through constituents in the manufacturing and industry sectors.

“We need to expand in areas, whether it be insurance, finance, banking…these are areas that we are focusing on because the most important thing you can do for the country is to help people move into a job that will sustain them throughout life,” said Larson.

As he has in the past, Larson said he will focus on reviving manufacturing in the Connecticut region. Larson says he wants to renew and add funding to the state government contract with Pratt and Whitney.

The contract was last renewed in 2013 when Larson and Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy along with Congresswomen Rosa Delauro pushed successfully to settle a $508 million contract for the production 38 new F-135 engines.

“The F135 engines built here in Connecticut continue to be a driving force behind our manufacturing base, in addition to playing an integral role in our nation’s long term military future,” said Larson. The last addition to the contract with Pratt and Whitney raised the sum contracted to $1.1 billion. Larson hopes to add on funding to the contract if he is re-elected.

I’m proud to stand with our state’s congressional delegation in support of this funding and will continue to push to ensure that our state remains at the forefront of America’s defense industry into the future,” said Larson in 2013, shortly after the renewed contract was announced.

While Larson hopes to increase manufacturing through U.S. military defense spending, he did take time to address concerns from students in the New Britain area who are concerned with consistently rising tuition prices.

“We’re going to continue to support education at the federal level and help lower the cost over all of educating our students and providing opportunities—private and public,” said Larson.

However Larson emphasized that he feels it is the responsibility of the student to actively oppose tuition increases, saying he is limited at the federal level.

“Stay involved,” Larsen told students who were worried about lack of research funding. He advised students to learn which respective agencies need funding and to outline the benefits that funding would bring to a university campus.

“When the general assembly is looking at their budget and you’re not included in that budget, you got to have a good reason why you should be included. You have to put that on paper, advocate and go in front of the general assembly,” said Larson encouraging students to advocate on their own and their universities behalf.

He also introduced his platforms he would be running on which focused mainly on securing job growth. “We live in a knowledge-based society and if we’re not focused on knowledge and what that means in terms of job opportunities for the future, we cannot compete globally.” Larson went on to discuss his plans to support bills that would secure an education for anyone who had served in the United States military.

Larson, a graduate of CCSU’s class of 1971, has been a representative for Connecticut’s 1st district since 1999. He is running again with the Democrat Party for re-election this year.

Feature Image Courtesy of Wyatt Bosworth.