Jackson, a former West Chester Twp. resident, has served as chief of staff since 2010. He also previously served as chief of staff for Boehner when he was minority leader.
Though born in Washington, D.C., the Jackson family lived in West Chester Twp. for 20 years. Jackson is a 1978 Lakota High School graduate.
$332K for Neuhardt
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to buy $19 million in broadcast airtime in 24 House districts for this fall’s elections, and a Dayton-area Democrat is among the candidates who will see the benefits of that investment. As reported in Roll Call, the DCCC will spend $332,000 to support Sharen Neuhardt against Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, in the new 10th District.
Democrats argue that redistricting made the race more competitive. The district includes all of Montgomery and Greene counties and part of Fayette County.
The DCCC, however, can cancel its reservation or shift money to different markets if the race doesn’t appear heated enough to invest in.
Turner focuses on debt reduction in bill
Turner last week added language to the FY 2013 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill requiring unspent congressional office funds to be returned to the Treasury Department and allocated toward debt reduction. The provision kept that money from being spent on other budget purposes.
Turner partnered with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., on the issue. The two requested the language in a Feb. 23 letter to chairmen of the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the issue.
Brown, Portman work on trade issue
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, this week asked the U.S. trade representative to weigh in on the Mexican government’s decision to shut American producers out of producing pipes for the nation’s drainage and sewage system.
ADS, a Hilliard-based company that employs more than 700, said Mexico’s decision to implement a technical standard that would bar the use of all high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes unfairly shuts them out of that market.
Brown, along with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Reps. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Twp. and Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, wrote to Trade Representative Ron Kirk in November 2011 to ask him to weigh in on the ban.
However, the country “has yet to rectify its discriminatory certification regime, and continues to ignore the existing technical standards under Mexico’s own law,” Brown wrote in a letter to Kirk sent last week.
Brown asked Kirk to consider using a newly created Interagency Trade Enforcement Center to pursue the issue further.
Portman sponsors prayer inscription bill
For a brief moment on the Senate floor last week, Sen. Rob Portman appeared to take off his senator’s hat and put on a pastoral hat instead.
Discussing a bill he’s introducing that would have President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer inscribed on the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., Portman took a break from espousing the virtues of the bill to recite part of that prayer on the Senate floor.
“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity,” Portman recited. “Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.”
The bill, which he and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., discussed on the 68th anniversary of D-Day, passed the House earlier this year. It was sponsored there by Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta.
Roosevelt offered the prayer over a radio broadcast the night after tens of thousands of U.S. and Allied Forces stormed the beaches in Normandy, France. The battle was widely believed to be the beginning of the end of the European front of World War II.
The prayer, Portman said, “brought strength and inspiration to many during what was a very challenging time for our country.”
He said he hoped the inscription would serve as a permanent reminder of the sacrifices made that day, as well as the “power of prayer during a difficult time.”
Jessica Wehrman and Jack Torry cover Washington, D.C., for the Dayton Daily news and The Columbus Dispatch.
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