McCarthy, a Democrat, has earned another term as the 4th Congressional District representative. She is a strong advocate for improving the country's health and education systems, and hers is still a powerful voice on the issue of gun control, even though, she says, the Congressional leadership prevented her and like-minded colleagues from winning renewal of the 10-year-old ban on assault weapons, a bill that recently expired.
McCarthy's constituents can be sure, however, that she will continue to fight to keep weapons off the streets. Because of her tireless fight for gun control, she still hears criticism that she has been a one-issue candidate. The criticism is unfair, because she has fought good fights on many other fronts.
Despite representing a district that is almost three-to-one Republican, McCarthy is liberal on social issues such as abortion, on which she is pro-choice. She votes her conscience, favoring whatever position she believes to be the correct one.
She says she does not regret her vote to give President Bush the authorization to deploy U.S. troops in Iraq, though she believes she was misled by the president. McCarthy maintains that in order to gain the support he needed from Congress, Bush was not truthful about the reasons for going to war. Now, she says, she fully backs the troops and believes that their mission must be completed.
Garner, a Republican who has been the mayor of Hempstead for the past 15 years and recently served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says he is ready for the challenge of representing the 4th District in Congress. He is a strong challenger to McCarthy, possibly her toughest test yet. He has cleaned up the streets of Hempstead, reducing violence and drug traffic, and has brought new business to the community.
Garner's presidency of the Conference of Mayors served him well, making him familiar with the Washington, D.C., scene and keeping him abreast of such issues as homeland security and the war on terrorism. Garner says that although he doesn't like to see the number of American casualties the war in Iraq has produced, he fully supports the president, and believes the U.S. must finish its mission there and bring democracy to the region.
Garner says he has worked hard to take guns off the street, and is anxious to solve the AIDS/HIV crisis in his community. He also makes sense when he says that Congress could use another African-American Republican.
But McCarthy's work in Congress is not done. She says she is determined to help bring about Medicare and prescription drug reform, and to deliver more money for education to her district. She has shown a penchant for reaching across the aisle and working with Republicans as well as Democrats, and her knack for bringing federal money home to the communities she represents cannot be overlooked. She has secured funding in the 2004 Transportation Reauthorization Bill - money that has yet to be allocated - for pedestrian walkway improvements, traffic safety and sidewalk and asphalt upgrades in such communities as Valley Stream, Rockville Centre and Lynbrook. She has also won $100,000 for the expansion of an after-school program in Hewlett for at-risk youth. These programs are the results of McCarthy's diligence and her knowledge of how to win grants. She has put a full-time grants coordinator to work to ensure the district gets its fair share.
McCarthy deserves to continue to represent the 4th District, and we think she's earned your vote on Nov. 2.
