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 As the Mayor of the City of Freeport, I am called upon to solve many problems. Thankfully, many of those problems have local solutions and we’ve tackled and solved a great number of them over the five years I have been in office. Everyday more people approach me and say, “Mayor, I really need a job.” There are things we can do locally to bring jobs to northern Illinois; however, the loss of jobs in our area and throughout our country is not a local problem, but a national one. It is one issue that must be addressed by our federal government.
 That’s the number one reason why I am running for Congress. We need representation in Washington that understands how critical the loss of jobs – particularly manufacturing jobs – is to our communities. Our working families are feeling the pressure of soaring health care costs, rising grocery prices, and higher prices on just about everything else. We need representation that understands that there is a difference between fair trade and free trade. We won’t be able to bring jobs home to our country if we
are competing on an uneven playing field. As long as we have an import-export imbalance with countries that don’t compete fairly on human rights, fair wages, and the environment, we won’t be successful in bringing jobs back to the United States. I want to make our local corporations more competitive by rewarding them when they retain and keep jobs in the United States. I am committed to investing in a strong and more educated workforce.
I take pride in the open door policy that I’ve maintained during my tenure as Mayor and I pledge to continue that transparency as a US Congressman. No single person has all the answers and I know from experience that a great deal of wisdom, as well as a wealth of ideas, comes from the people I represent as Mayor. Listening to their concerns has definitely made me a better mayor. My pledge to you is that I will work with others to find a solution to our ever growing list of problems. We live in the greatest nation and we can solve any problem as long as we do it together.
George Gaulrapp
Congressional Candidate for the Illinois 16th District
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