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Childers, Nunnelee talk issues By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer  | Photo by Sue Watson
Giving the gift of life
Vonda
Benson of Byhalia gives up a unit of blood for the benefit of others.
EMT Catina Foster takes aim at a vein. The blood drive was held
Thursday of last week in conjunction with the Byhalia Area Chamber of
Commerce quarterly luncheon. |
The
quarterly luncheon of the Byhalia Area Chamber of Commerce presented
the top runners for the U.S. representative seat, incumbent Travis
Childers and state Sen. Alan Nunnelee. The
largest crowd ever to attend the second quarter luncheon – over 140 –
turned out Thursday to enjoy barbecue and hear the Democratic and
Republican candidates in Mississippi’s First Congressional District
race.  | Photos by Sue Watson
Chamber staff
Byhalia
Area Chamber of Commerce part-time staffers enjoy a photo opportunity.
From left are Laura Henderson (membership investments), Jan Sisk
(office assistant), Jennifer Jawhar (office assistant), Sarah Sawyer
(executive director) and Doris Lee (events coordinator). |
The luncheon was sponsored by the local
delegation, state representatives Tommy Woods and Kelvin Buck,
commissioner of transportation Bill Minor and Sen. Bill Stone. Woods
celebrated the large turnout, while Buck touted the diversity who have
come to attend this event, especially during election years when there
is lots of interest in local, state or national offices. Teamwork is becoming regarded by the local delegation as a way to unity and accomplishing goals.  |  | | Travis Childers (left) and Alan Nunnelee |
Woods
also announced that Methodist Hospital is “on go in Olive Branch,” an
objective he has worked for the last 12 years, he said. He then
introduced Nunnelee (R), who laid out his aims if he wins the
congressional seat this fall. He said the attendance at the luncheon is an indicator of interest in the fall election. Nunnelee promised to: • kill Obamacare and replace it with patient care. • secure the nation’s border with Mexico. • treat terrorists as enemies of America and not give them Constitutional Rights. •
stop borrowing money for the national budget. Forty-one cents out of
every dollar in the budget is borrowed, he said, mostly from China. “A
family business or church could not long survive spending that kind of
money,” he said. “The borrower (the United States) is slave to the
lender (China).” • fire speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi the first day he is on the job. “Is
the U.S. stronger or the world safer than when they took over?” he
asked. “Do you believe we deserve better? This is a crusade to save
America.” Stone introduced Childers (D) after thanking everyone for coming out to the luncheon. Childers
praised Melonie Counce, organizer with the Relay for Life that is
coming up in Byhalia and said he is donating the first $100 to kick off
the event, Byhalia’s first Relay. “It’s personal to me,” he said. “My mother is battling cancer today for the second time.” Saying
people in North Mississippi are some of the hardest working in the
country, Congressman Childers said he knows tough times first hand and
that Mississippi is feeling the pinch economically. At
age 16, Childers went to work full-time after the death of his father
left himself, his mother and nine-year-old sister “in the worst shape
possible,” he said. He went to work full-time
to help his mother pay the rent, the bills and to buy school clothes
and supplies, he said. Jobs are his priority for North Mississippi in
Congress, he said. “I’ve never been without a job and am proud to work for my family, hometown, county and state,” he said. As
an employer, his nursing home takes care of 120 senior citizens, he
said, a family-owned business since 1996 that employs about 140 people
daily. “We know what it is like to struggle,” he
said. “My number one priority is jobs. I won’t rest until all those in
North Mississippi who want a job can get one.” Without small business, no one would be hiring today, he said. “That’s why I was so proud to receive the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of Enterprise award last month,” he said. Childers said in Congress the last 27 months there has been plenty of blame to go around. He
voted against the Wall Street bailout, he said. Saying he is in the top
2 percent of independent-minded in Congress, neither party is right 100
percent of the time, he said. He stood up for
2nd Amendment Rights (to bear arms) and accepted the endorsement of the
National Rifle Association. He supports the Right to Life of the
unborn. Childers said he works with both parties. The
representative ended with a story his son told at Northeast Mississippi
Community College when he introduced his dad - that when he was age 6
his father told him “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” “Get going where?” his son asked. “Going to work,” said Childers. “I get up every morning and go to work,” he said. Childers received a standing ovation from his supporters at the end of his speech. |
