Up & Coming Weekly

May 31, 2016

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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JUNE 1-7, 2016 UCW 9 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I have chosen to def ine my Campaig n for t he 8t h Dist r ic t Con- g ressiona l seat as being par t of a Revolut ion whose t ime has come. It is a rhetor ic a l st atement telling of t his t ime in which our f undamen- t a l nat iona l pr inciples have been dest royed and t he revolut ion is to restore t hem as t hey once were. Our Declarat ion of Independence beg ins by telling of t hese pr inciples as our being "ent it led" to live "un- der t he laws of nat ure and nat ure's God." T he second parag raph de- clares t his as where our ina lienable God g iven r ight s are sec ured, and t he only Just reason gover nment s are inst it uted. In public int roduc t ions I a lmost a lways tell of my poor and dif f ic ult upbr ing ing , of enlist ing in t he A r my and event ua lly becoming a Golden K night . I tell of st ar t ing a business ( Paraclete A r mor & Equipment), becoming successf ul, t hen building t he w ind t unnel ( Paraclete X P Sk y Vent ure) and now operat ing t he R a- eford A ir por t and Sk ydiv ing Center. Dur ing t his per iod I have been blessed w it h a wonder f ul family; and w it h my w ife, si x children and four g randchildren st ill live and work in R aeford. I tell t his stor y to descr ibe my liv- ing t he A mer ic an Dream and being able to achieve a ll t his bec ause of t he oppor t unit ies and protec t ion t his nat ion g uaranteed to a ll it s cit izens equa lly. I decided to r un for of f ice as I saw t hese same oppor t unit ies under at t ack , and not f rom some foreig n ent it y but f rom our ow n gover nment . Our ideas of mut u- al securit y (protection f rom men and gov- er nment) declared in our Founding Doc ument s cont ain t he for mula for civ ilizat ion. President Ca lv in Coolidge said of t hese idea ls in a speech he gave commemorat ing t he 150t h anniversar y of t he Decla- rat ion of Independence: "If anyone w ishes to deny t heir t r ut h or t heir soundness, t he only direc t ion in which he c an proceed histor ic a lly is not for ward, but back ward toward t he t ime when t here was no equa l- it y, no r ight s of t he indiv idua l, no r ule of t he people. T hose who w ish to proceed in t hat direc t ion c annot lay claim to prog ress. T hey are re- ac t ionar y. T heir ideas are not more moder n, but more ancient , t han t hose of t he Revolut ionar y fat hers." T he Revolut ion is to reest ablish t he ideas t hat made us t he g reatest nat ion in t he histor y of t he world. T hese pr inciples w ill work here again if reest ablished as t hey were at our founding , and if ex por ted w ill reproduce t he same ef fec t any where t hey are put into prac- t ice. No mat ter how many people we let into our count r y it c an never be enough to ma ke any dif ference in t he world's condit ion, but we c an ex por t t hese ideas, and we should. Our unique ideas are t he answer to rev it a lizing our nat ion and advanc- ing t he world. T his is t he revolut ion. Pledg ing my life, for t une and sacred honor, Tim D'A nnunzio, Candidate Nor t h Carolina's 8t h Cong ressiona l Dist r ic t Pr imar y OPINION TIM D'ANNUNZIO, Congressional Candidate COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200 Friends and Neighbors by TIM D'ANNUNZIO Congressional candidate Tim D'Annunzio Our community faces a drug epi- demic few know about. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6.5 million Americans abuse prescrip- tion drugs. This prescription drug abuse often leads to addiction to harder drugs like heroin. Together, there has been a 200 percent increase in opioid drug overdose deaths since 2000. Seventy-eight Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. Every community in America has been af- fected by this destructive abuse. Addicts, however, are not the only victims of this epidemic. Organized crime from drug traf- ficking infiltrates our communities. Families suffer as they watch loved ones succumb to addiction, and more than 20,000 babies a year are born with complications stemming from opioid drug use during pregnancy. That's why this week I worked with my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass 18 sepa- rate pieces of bipartisan legislation to attack from all angles this nation- al epidemic. To keep these stolen or improperly obtained drugs out of our communi- ties, we passed two bipartisan bills to give law enforcement the tools they need to prosecute drug traffickers. To help babies born with compli- cations and also help their mothers, we passed legislation creating a pilot program to enhance funding f lexibility for substance abuse treat- ment agencies which care for post- partum women and their children. For example, residential treatment programs, as autho- rized by this legisla- tion, can provide a stable environment for mothers to defeat their opioid addiction, while learning the skills needed to be a giving mother. Our legislative package also includes multiple bills to educate healthcare providers on the best practices when prescribing poten- tially addictive drugs, as well as prescribing alternative treatments. Finally, the legislation authorizes $103 million to establish a stream- lined, comprehensive opioid abuse grant program, designed to pro- vide states and local governments maximum f lexibility to combat the opioid epidemic in the most effec- tive manner for their community. These grant programs are fully paid for by trimming wasteful spending elsewhere, ensuring no additional burden to the taxpayer. By working together with local governments, nonprofits, faith- based organizations, families and loved ones – we can work to defeat the scourge of prescription drug ad- diction in our communities. Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) is Chairman of the Con- gressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, and serves on the House Financial Services Committee, with a special focus on supporting small businesses, community banks and credit unions. Combatting the Opioid Epidemic by CONGRESSMAN ROBERT PETTINGER Seventy-eight Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. ROBERT PETTINGER, Congressional Candidate Congressman. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200

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