A Republican House candidate used his party’s weekly address to call for a change in Congress this Election Day.
Lee Zeldin, a Republican state senator challenging Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) this November, said that the midterm elections is “our chance to send a message that the challenges we face can’t wait.”
{mosads}It’s a chance to show “that it’s time to turn things back in the right direction,” he added.
Zeldin, a former Army paratrooper and major in the Army Reserves, pointed to the growing government debt, scandal at the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) and economy to call for a shakeup in Washington.
“Instead of courage, we see caution and inaction,” he said. “Aren’t we tired of the way Washington fails to listen to us?”
He called for Congress to repeal ObamaCare, create jobs for more Americans and “put parents in charge of their kids’ education.”
He also called for better treatment of the country’s treatment of veterans, months after outrage over news that dozens of vets around the country died while waiting for care.
“We need to fight for our veterans who fought for us,” he said. “We can’t rest until we know the VA will be able to provide the first-rate, 21st-century care our men and women in uniform deserve.”
“I know we can do this,” he said. “It’s going to take hard work, tough decisions, and embracing the duty we all share to protect and pass on the blessings on which our country was built.”
Zeldin is running neck and neck with Bishop in recent polls of the suburban Long Island district.
Overall, Republicans are expected to pick up between five and ten seats in the House, and many analysts say they could also pick up the six Senate seats necessary to control a majority in the upper chamber. That would leave a split in Washington, with President Obama having to negotiate with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress.
He began his remarks with a quick comment on the Ebola crisis.
“Let me start by saying that our hearts go out to all those affected by the Ebola outbreak,” he said. “Right now, the president and his administration need to be taking every necessary step to protect the American people.”