Sunday, January 04, 2015

Allyson Schwartz's Farewell Message

from the inbox:

Happy New Year to you and your family. My wishes for a healthy, productive year for all.

As I conclude my decade of service as a Member of Congress, I want to thank you for your support and involvement in my campaigns, not only for Congress, but for my earlier races for the State Senate, and most recently for Governor. Your confidence and trust, your advice, and your active engagement enabled my success not only as a candidate but as an elected representative.

I am proud of what we accomplished together - promoting new ideas and working to address our nation’s most significant challenges. I stood up for the values we share, influenced major legislation, and helped elect others to office on the local, state, and national levels. As the only woman in the Pennsylvania delegation, I know our work made a difference for the women and families in our state and in the nation.

As a Member of Congress, I sought to use innovative ideas that work to find common ground, as well as turn these ideas into action. This included successfully extending tax credits for energy efficient buildings, incentives that have changed the way physicians write prescriptions to reduce errors and save lives, tax credits and grants to start-up biotech companies to sustain this important industry locally and nationally, and changes to improve access to primary care for America's seniors.
As the daughter of a Korean War veteran, I am particularly proud that the first piece of legislation I initiated helped veterans coming back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to find meaningful work through employer incentives.

Ensuring all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care has been a priority for me throughout my professional life – and I am proud of the role I played in the achievement of health coverage for all Americans, protecting Medicare, and enhancing access to care for women and children. Today, many more Americans – millions, in fact – now have access to quality, affordable health coverage.

Here in the Congressional district, I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with local community and civic leaders to make Philadelphia and Montgomery County better places to work and to live through projects like making the North Delaware Greenway a reality – creating new parks and bike paths along the beautiful Delaware River, and Main Street revitalization projects throughout Montgomery County.
I have been proud to stand up for women's rights, equal pay, and for the opportunity for women to be leaders. Quite simply, we all succeed when women succeed.

Thank you for your involvement and encouragement throughout my time in elected office. Your support made it possible for me to have had this remarkable opportunity to serve the people of the Philadelphia and Montgomery County, as State Senator for 14 years and as a Member of Congress for 10 years.

I am both proud and humbled by my service. It is my hope that it will encourage others to value public service and consider the challenges and opportunities that come with running for office. And, I look forward to our working together again in the future.

I conclude on a personal note. As many of you know, my Mother came to this country alone at the age of 16, a refugee of the Holocaust. America offered her safety, freedom, and opportunity.  Her experience of resilience and hope inspired my love of our country and my commitment to public service.
While my Mother did not live to see me elected to office, I know she would have been thrilled.

May we, each in our own way, in the public or private sector, work to ensure security, health, opportunity, and justice in our great nation.

With gratitude and best wishes to you and your family.
Allyson
Allyson Y. Schwartz
US Representative

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