With midterm elections
nearing, congressional candidates
Patrick murphy and
mike Fitzpatrick debated education,
immigration, and the
job market in a fast-paced and
informative exchange at the
Lower Bucks campus.
The 90-minute debate took
place on Thursday, oct. 21 in
front of a packed lobby holding
around 200 people, including
community members, stu-
dents, and the press.
Democratic candidate and
incumbent murphy and
Republican candidate
Fitzpatrick are both running
for the 8th district congressional
seat. With Nov. 2
approaching, Fitzpatrick (who
last held this position in 2004
but lost out the following election
to murphy in 2006) and
his opponent are locked in the
final stretch of their campaigns.
The job situation in Bucks
County was one of the first
topics presented to the candidates
by the moderator.
murphy (who attended
Bucks in 1991 and 1992) is a
strong proponent of reducing
the number of outsourced jobs
by filling those positions with
Pennsylvania citizens and college
graduates. He also placed
emphasis on his “make-it-in-
America” program (that refers
to growing industries and
placing those jobs here in the
U.S. rather than outsourcing
to other countries).
But Fitzpatrick responded
that “Under murphy there has
been too much government
regulation and litigation and
not enough reliance on small
businesses and individuals.”
The Republican candidate
said free enterprise and entrepreneurship
will create more
jobs than the government is
capable of. Fitzpatrick was
also quick to point out that
while murphy was in office,
the unemployment rate in
Bucks county rose from 4 to 8
percent.Tensions grew throughout
the debate as audience members
audibly voiced their
approval and disappointment
(in the form of quiet sighing
and laughter).
one notable incident happened
when murphy calmly
berated his opponent with a
barrage of disparaging statistics,
to which Fitzpatrick told
murphy to “keep digging the
hole, congressman,” evoking
laughter and chagrin from the
audience.
Another issue begging to be
addressed was education; an
appropriate topic, seeing as
the event was being held at
Bucks with many students
present.
Fitzpatrick, a Bucks County
commissioner, revisited the
fact that during his career as a
commissioner he helped to
open the Upper Bucks campus
in Perkasie.
The Republican candidate
also discussed the federal government’s
role in education.
He suggested that the government’s
influence needs to be
lessened and local school
directors should have more
say in issues.
murphy responded in an
unusual way: “I fought in the
Iraq War, I lost several of my
closest friends,” he told the
audience.
murphy went on to discuss
his support of the G.I. Bill of
Rights. This bill pays the
tuition fees of post-9/11 veterans.
The Democratic incumbent
also referenced his new program
titled “Green Jobs
Academy” (a venture between
academic and private industry
partners to provide training
programs for the green and
sustainability industries).
“Green Jobs Academy” currently
has several training programs
open to interested students
at Bucks. murphy hopes
to grow the “green” industry
with Pennsylvania college students
and graduates and make
this an integral part of college
education.
An interesting facet of this
debate came in the form of
“video-chatting” between
Bucks students and the candidates.
Several times throughout
the event, the moderator
would direct the audience’s
attention to a large projector
screen in the back of the
lobby.
one student from each
Bucks campus was selected to
provide a question for the candidates
to answer from their
respective campuses via
video-chat. Questions ranged
from social issues to illegal
immigration.
Both candidates openly
agreed that illegal immigration
is an important issue that
needs to be addressed.
murphy and Fitzpatrick
talked highly of “e-Verify,” an
internet-based program that
makes sure employers are
checking their employees’ eligibility
to work in the country.
Both incumbent and running
mate also agreed that the solution
to dealing with the 12
million illegal immigrants in
the country (among them,
35,000 illegal construction
workers in Pennsylvania
alone) was to give them an
opportunity. The opportunity,
however, is to ask the immigrants
to come forward and go
home without any penalty.
“The U.S. would not hold it
against them that they came
forward, but they would go to
the back of the line if they
applied for citizenship,”
Fitzpatrick said.
The candidates’ closing
statements reflected the
rhythm and tone of the debate.
murphy went first, saying:
“I am doing all I can to focus
on bringing jobs back to
Bucks County. Now is not the
time to go back to the same
failed Bush-Fitzpatrick policies
that have driven our economy
down”.