Congressional candidates speak last week at firefighter association meeting

During the course of their regular monthly meeting, the Limestone County Firefighters Association welcomed and provided a platform for Congressional Candidates Renee Swann and Pete Sessions, as the Republican primary runoff election quickly approaches, set for July 14.

Over a gumbo and jambalaya dinner at the Groesbeck Fire Station, the Firefighters Association President Charles Bratcher thanked those in attendance and introduced the candidates before offering them the floor to make opening statements, a portion of which are included below.

Swann and Sessions are competing for the Republican position of the 17th Congressional District, as incumbent Representative Bill Flores (R) announced his retirement in September of 2019. Whoever wins the Republican primary runoff will go on to face a Democratic candidate in the general election on November 3, 2020; though, it is worth noting that the Texas’ 17th Congressional District has a consistent history of being a red district.

SWANN: “I’m a serviceoriented person. My entire life has revolved around helping and doing, and it is in my nature to find a solution. I believe the choice this year in who goes to Congress to represent you is an easy one, because there is a big difference between me and Mr. Sessions. Mr. Sessions has been in Congress for a long time; he listed his career as a politician, I listed mine as Chief Operating Officer for a business, and in that business, we dealt with needs. Some of those needs were very desperate needs, some of them were problems that others would shy away from, but I didn’t, so I have relationships. My time would be in the district. My opponent has run for Congress in four different districts, so it seems to me that he likes Washington more than his own backyard.”

SESSIONS: “I’m running for Congress because I was asked to do this. I was a retired business consultant and worked 22 years in the United States Congress. Last October I had a Limestone County Republican Party and two other party chairmen call me and ask me to come back. We had seven republican members of Congress from Texas who decided they were not going to re-run in what I consider to be the most important election in our election, the Presidency aside. I’m here to tell you tonight that experience does matter. I ran the House Rules Committee and during that period of time and my career, I have passed four more pieces of legislation off the floor of the House of Representatives more than any other Texan in the past 47 years. That is because I was the go-to person for conservatives and for my party.”

Swann has been endorsed by incumbent Flores, and Sessions has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Each candidate offered several examples of their qualifications and experiences that make them the best fit for the job and worthy of your vote.

West Lake Limestone Volunteer Fire Department (WLLVFD) Chief Allen McWhirter eloquently reminded candidates of issues that are important to firefighters of this county, as volunteerism continues to fade but the need for services do not.

“One of the ways we’re combatting that is to start financial incentives for people to participate in the fire departments. Those financial incentives help overcome the cost of volunteering, because volunteering isn’t free, that person has to pay to volunteer. The challenge with that is if any volunteer firefighter or first responder receives more than $600 a year, $12 a week, that person has to pay taxes on that money. That’s a disincentive for a person to accept an incentive that’s created to financially pay for volunteering. So what I would like to see is somebody who will step up and sponsor some legislation that would say volunteer firefighter and first responder incentive programs are tax exempt. That would help us get people into the fire station to come and do the jobit’s still volunteering.”

Officials such as County Judge Richard Duncan and Emergency Management Coordinator Matt Groveton were in attendance for the meeting, as well as many regular citizens and volunteer firefighters from departments throughout the county. After opening statements were made, candidates responded to a handful of questions from members of the audience.

Groveton drew attention to recent peaceful protests nationwide, clarifying that he was not referring to instances of looting or violent rioting, and asked whether candidates believe there is a race problem in this country in relation to treatment by the police.

SESSIONS: “When you look at what is happening in this country, it is the left that is behind the movement that you see now. They are taking advantage of a circumstance. But if you ask the question do we have a race relations problem, I will tell you that we have, in our country, circumstances where we commonly disrespect all sorts of people and I see it on a regular basis and you do too. I am not going to say it’s an African American problem, it’s a Hispanic problem, it’s an Indian problem, it’s a Pakistani problem… It is a disinterest in each other’s success in some regard. If you actually look at the police in regard to the issue, some might say, conservative or very conservative, that there are a handful of murders where a police officer shot an unarmed, or maybe in the back, an African American person. But what I will tell you is that in all these communities, and Chicago is the prime example, there are thousands of shootings against each other. They have disrespect for each other and there’s something about this generation or this country, and we do have to heal that, but we have to acknowledge it. I don’t think it’s just police officers, I think it’s all of us.”

SWANN: “All virtues matter, all morals matter. If we re-establish a set of principals and live it out in front of our neighbors and show our virtue, our kindness, our devotion to God, our devotion to principals that this country was founded on, our inalienable rights… then we don’t discuss differences that we look at in a gene pool. That’s the very glue of what our country is. I live those things, I was raised on those principals, and the reason I got into this race is I looked at my grandchildren and I’m fearful that the generation now that has become so dulled down to what happens in Washington that they don’t take an interest, they think it is a done deal, and it is because career politicians have made a career in Washington instead of living within their communities and setting the example. I’ve lived here for 38 years in Waco, Texas. Virtues matter, and when virtues matter, all lives matter.”

For more information about these candidates, visit their websites as follows:

Swann: https://reneeswannforcongress.com/

Sessions: https://www.petesessions.com/