Representative Fitzpatrick's actions have
once again returned to the pattern that has largely defined his political
activity throughout the semester. Over the
week, he has met with veterans both in his home
district [1] and in Washington.
[2] We have long seen an emphasis placed
on bills and other efforts to protect the rights of veterans specifically, and
continuing to meet with them is consistent with this emphasis. In this particular case, he met with veterans
in his home district to help raise awareness and register them for the Bucks County
Veterans ID program. This program, which
Fitzpatrick clearly supports, offers veterans discounts at local businesses as
well as other benefits.
On the national
front, Fitzpatrick is once again emphasizing his bipartisan activity. He is doing this through support for the Credit
Access and Inclusion Act, legislation introduced by Joe Manchin, a Democrat,
and Mark Kirk, a Republican, in the Senate.
This bill is the Senatorial counterpart to his own bipartisan bill with
a similar intent: “increasing [Americans’] ability to access credit and
removing the often incorrect moniker of ‘High Risk’ from their borrowing
ability.” [3] In Fitzpatrick’s opinion, this is a “common
sense” bill that, by its nature, should trump party lines and agendas.
This week was
very typical for Fitzpatrick. Once again,
we saw the balancing act that he has played throughout my analysis of him
between his work with constituents on a personal level with his work on the
national level. We see his efforts to
continue to solidify his grasp on a particular group of voters (i.e. veterans)
in his home district, while also supporting a bill with mass appeal at the
national level that, according to Fitzpatrick, has the potential to benefit
millions of Americans. [4] Fitzpatrick’s
continued emphasis on bipartisan cooperation is also evident in this bill as
well, another point that Fitzpatrick has long loved to highlight, and enjoys to
do so even more now in the wake of the governmental shutdown. Overall, while this week failed to produce
any huge headlines for Fitzpatrick, it has confirmed that it is “business as
usual” within his camp.
Sources:
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