Argall Announces Run for United States Congress

By ARGALL FOR CONGRESS

TAMAQUA—State Senator Dave Argall announced today that he will seek the Republican nomination for Congress in the 17th Congressional District. Senator Argall has been approached by numerous everyday citizens who are not pleased with the direction of this country.
“I have been proud to work with many of our friends and neighbors to revitalize our local neighborhoods and our downtowns,”Argall stated. “However, after many months with little progress from our federal leaders in curbing job loss, increasing debt, and more importantly a lack of desire to improve our national security interests, I have agreed to do what people in many of those neighborhoods have asked me to do—I have decided to run for the United States Congress.

According to Argall, this country is suffering from massive unemployment numbers of over 10%, massive debt over $13 trillion, and massive uncertainty of how we are to protect our citizens. “Working families can no longer afford to take their kids out on a Friday night, and quite frankly they can no longer afford to sit back and watch President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Tim Holden tear at the fabric of American values,” Argall added. “This country is in real distress and it has been made clear to me by hundreds of people across the 17th District that they want change and they want it now.”

More simply, Argall explained his candidacy in these terms: “When Troy Sanders, a Pottsville trucker, was the first person to ask me to enter this race his message was very simple. Troy stated, “This area, this nation, is on the wrong track. Dave, we need to change Congress, but we can’t change Congress if we don’t change our Congressman.” Argall continued, “When more than 300 people joined a “Facebook” page to encourage me to run for Congress, and others began a “Draft Dave blog” with the same purpose I began to think more seriously about entering the race. Subsequently, more and more requests kept coming in, including one from my 19 year old daughter, Elise,”

“My final decision came down to appeals like this: In the 1960’s Rudy Ghergel hiked for 3 days through the mountains to escape communism in Romania and Yugoslavia and come to the United States so that he could live as a free man. Had he been captured, he would have faced a very long prison sentence, or he could have been shot down at any time in cold blood during his escape. When someone like Rudy Ghergel looks me in the eye and reminds all of us that, in his words, ‘In a democracy people are supposed to have a real choice for Congress,’ I finally agreed to these continuing requests from Troy, Elise, Rudy, and so many others. Today, I pledge to all of you my very best, my all-out maximum effort, as a candidate dedicated to change the direction of our current Congress, “Argall explained.

“This candidacy is not about me, it is about the hard working men and women across this district–people who are struggling with rising gas prices, rising healthcare costs, and rising unemployment.” Argall concluded. “This candidacy is about creating family sustaining jobs, creating a sense of well-being that currently does not exist, and most importantly creating an environment where workers are working and businesses are doing business.”

Argall currently represents Schuylkill County and portions of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Monroe counties in the State Senate, and previously served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. His major emphasis in the General Assembly has been rewriting laws to revitalize small towns and cities, as well as an ongoing effort to eliminate the state’s archaic school district property tax. As a local official, Senator Argall has a history of cutting taxes on working families and job creators.

Senator Argall earned a Ph.D. degree in public administration from Penn State and teaches an evening course at Penn State-Harrisburg in state government and leadership studies. A resident of Rush Township, Schuylkill County, Argall and his wife Beth have two children, AJ and Elise, both students at the University of Pennsylvania.

The 17th Congressional district is composed of Dauphin, Lebanon, and Schuylkill counties, and portions of Berks and Perry counties.

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