Recent Developments: Pitts Votes NO Again . . .
This time against small businesses, and we are scratching our heads!  Why?

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to pass legislation to boost lending for and provide targeted tax relief to small businesses. The legislation addresses the needs of small businesses with the Small Business Lending Fund Act and the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act.  The vote passed by a margin of 241-182.  Our Congressman, Joe Pitts, a self-proclaimed champion of small businesses, voted NO. 

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Lois Herr comments on the Gulf Coast oil spill

The BP oil spillING (it isn't over) is a regional nightmare and national tragedy. Lives and livelihoods have been lost. Environmentally it is a disaster with global implications for oceans know no boundaries, birds and fish know no nationality. We have failed in our stewardship of resources; whether we claim it is a result of corporate irresponsibility or lack of government regulation, we have failed and now pay the consequences. Read more...

On the Road with Lois

This past weekend, Lois attended the Catherine Baker Knoll Dinner at the State Democratic Committee Meeting.  There, she had the opportunity to talk with Dan Onorato - Democratic Candidate for Governor, Scott Conklin, running for Lieutenant Governor, and Joe Sestak - the PA Democratic party candidate for U.S. Senate.  At the Saturday morning caucuses, Lois  spoke with the Labor, Women's, and LGBT caucuses and at the Regional Caucus before leaving for door-to-door canvassing in Lancaster City, attending the PrideFest event in Buchanan Park, and supporting Patrick O'Keeffe at his Saturday night fundraiser.

Lois and Dan Onorato	Lois and Scott Conklin	Lois and Joe Sestak	Lois at O'Keeffe event

Lois visits the Hans Herr House on the day of the Lancaster County Food Festival

Lois visited the Hans Herr House on June 12th,  the day of the Lancaster County Food Festival. Proceeds of the day went to re-creating a Native American longhouse on the grounds of the Hans Herr House.  Mennonites and Native Americans co-existed peacefully in Lancaster County from 1710, when the Herr's and their friends arrived seeking religious freedom and a place to farm. William Penn stressed to the immigrants that they were to treat the Native Americans as equals.

Lancaster County Democratic Women's Association Endorses Lois

The Lancaster County Democratic Women's Association has endorsed Lois K. Herr for Congress. The Women's Club of Lancaster City-County was organized in 1928 and chartered in 1942 by the Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women.  The purpose of the LCDWA is to insure the election of Democratic women to elected office in all branches of government and to promote the advancement of women in both the private and public sectors. 
Read more about the Lancaster County chapter of the Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women at http://www.lancasterdemwomen.com.

Lois Herr Within Single Digits of Joe Pitts
New Poll Shows Incumbent “Unusually Vulnerable” in PA-16

A poll conducted last week in Pennsylvania’s 16th District by Public Policy Polling (PPP) shows Democratic challenger Lois Herr trailing seven-term incumbent Joe Pitts by only nine points (44-37%) as the general election campaign begins. Only 41% of those polled believe Pitts deserves re-election. More...

Pennsylvania Postal Workers Union Endorses Lois

The PA Postal Workers Union endorsed Lois Herr for the 16th Congressional seat on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. The union is an affiliate of the American Postal Workers Union and the AFL-CIO.

Congressional Candidate Lois Herr Supports New Service To Help New Mothers

Today, Congressional Candidate for Pennsylvania’s 16th District, Lois Herr, highlighted text4baby – a new, free mobile information service providing timely health information to pregnant women and new moms from pregnancy through baby’s first year.

Each year in the U.S., more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely and an estimated 28,000 children die before their first birthday – signifying a public health crisis.  The infant mortality rate in the U.S. is one of the highest in the industrialized world, and for the first time since the 1950’s, the rate is on the rise.

An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB), "text4baby" delivers timely health tips via text messages to those who need it most.  It is made possible through a broad, public-private partnership which includes the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Voxiva, CTIA-The Wireless Foundation, Grey Healthcare Group (a WPP company) and founding corporate sponsor Johnson & Johnson. Read more from Lois on "text4baby".

Visit www.text4baby.com.

Lois Herr- Democrata para el Congreso – PA – 16
Soluciones mas que  idiologia, la resoluciones en lugar de politica.

Lois Herr, entiende los dificiles y problematicos en que vivimos. Y trae su combinacion de negosios, communidad y agricoltura, que necesita nuestro distrito congestionar en Washington.

Herr respecta los valores de su familia y su historia en esta area- Immigrante menonitas que se fugaron  persecucion y viajaron  a los Estados Unidos en el  ano 1710,  buscando  liberta religiosa y trayendo con ellos el sentido de communidad, administradores de la tierra, y un comporomiso conl la coexistencia pacifica con los demas.

Mas directamente, su Padre entrenador IRA HERR- le enseno a competir y ganar mientras siempre jugando limpio. Su Madre, profesora Kathryn Nisley-Herr enseno a traves de sus 103 anos, le enseno que se puede adaptar a un mundo en  cambio sin perder los propio valores fundimentales. Mas...

With the LancasterRoots300 program events of May 6-8, I traveled the route that immigrant families (Herr, Kendig, Funk, Miller, Bauman, and Mylin) took in 1710 from where they disembarked in New Castle, Delaware, and Philadelphia to the Pequea Valley near the Susquehanna River.

Knowing that my own ancestors took part in this venture gives me a sense of connection to the land, the people, and especially their values. Searching for a land of religious freedom and economic opportunity, that first group of Swiss German Mennonites took the chance to sail for America on the Maria Hope on July 30, 1710. They made it safely to America on September 6th - the only record of a colonial trans-Atlantic passage without loss of life - and began the arduous trip through the woods of Pennsylvania to the lands that William Penn had granted them.

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Lois Speaks to NOW about Activism in Politics

At the Mid-Atlantic Regional NOW Conference, May 1, both Lois Herr and Donna Edwards (MD-4) spoke about the need for activism and involvement in the political process.  The Conference, held at Bowie University in Maryland, brought together NOW members from seven states.  As an endorsed candidate, Lois thanked NOW for the endorsement and spoke about the issues of her campaign that make it of national interest. Representative Edwards told the group about how she has been able to make an impact in her first term and the work she has done both in Washington and in her home district.

Volunteer for Children

Lois serves on the board of the Greystone Therapeutic Riding Center (formerly known as Lancaster Therapeutic Riding Center).  The center cut the ribbon on its renovated facility on April 24th.  Established in 1981, the organization recently enhanced its facility and its quality equine programs for children and adults with disabilities.

"As a board member and former volunteer," Lois noted, "I am enthusiastic about the professionalism of the instructors and the cooperative nature of the horses and ponies used in the program."  She added, "above that, there is the satisfaction of watching riders learn, grow, and enjoy the opportunity to participate in a riding  program."

Those interested in volunteering or participating in the program should go to www.greystonemanortrc.org or call 717-615-9222.  No experience is necessary - Volunteers receive excellent training; what you need is a love of people and/or horses along with a willingness to serve.  If you want to support the program financially, call and ask about the Legacy Fence Project!

Picture above: Board Members Lois Herr, Crystal Mills, Elizabeth Newell, Tim Keller.

Legislative Item:
Constitutional Amendment Limiting Soft Dollars in Federal Elections

Lois Herr strongly supports Chris Dodd's proposed Constitutional Amendment which would regulate the corporate raising and spending of funds designed to influence legislative actions. Left unchecked, the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn a 100 year old safety net of precedent preventing corporate malfeasance would jeopardize the rights and opportunities for all Americans to be heard.

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Herr Receives WCF Endorsement

The Women’s Campaign Forum (WCF) has endorsed Lois for the for U.S. House of Representatives. 

WCF works to improve women's representation by empowering women from all walks of life to become voters, activists, volunteers, and most importantly, candidates.  You are a role model for women nationwide and we are proud to be part of your team.  We thank you for your leadership and proudly endorse your candidacy!

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America Must Maintain Quality Education for All

Quality public education has been the ladder into the middle class for generations of Americans, and it must remain so. We cannot reform and improve our public schools by draining money from them for vouchers.

No matter how well meaning, the “No Child Left Behind” bill is failing, because it has not been funded.  It is hypocritical to make an eighth-grader “responsible” for her test scores while professional politicians don’t take responsibility for funding schools, teachers and students.

Rather than reducing Pell Grants and Federal loan guarantees for college students, as Joe Pitts advocates, we must make it a national goal that higher education should be in the 21st century what high school became in the 20th – available for all. Read more...

More Than Ever Before, I Need Your Help To Defeat Pitts
Joe Pitts' Amendment to Health-Care Reform Endangers Our Reproductive Health and Rights

The House of Representatives passed an historic bill intended to reform our country’s broken health-care system. While there is much good in the bill, an amendment sponsored by my opponent, Rep. Joe Pitts, is a direct attack on the freedom and privacy of American women.  The Stupak-Pitts amendment to the bill, which passed the House 240-194, has dangerous consequences for women and violates President Obama's promise that no one will lose the coverage they have now.

In a cynical and ideological move, anti-choice members of Congress led by Pitts and Rep. Bart Stupak, have adulterated the new health-care system to deny women the right to use their own personal private funds to purchase health insurance with abortion coverage.  In doing so, the amendment makes it virtually impossible for private insurance companies to offer such coverage to any woman, even if that coverage is not subsidized by the government.

Watch MSNBC Discuss Right-Wing Radical Joe Pitts.

The vast majority of private-insurance plans currently cover all reproductive health services; Pitts’ amendment prohibits companies that participate in the new system from continuing those existing plans. More importantly, putting such restrictions on insurance companies and women is equivalent to denying quality heath care for women by restricting access to abortion. This is a radical change that goes far beyond existing policy, and it violates the commitment that nothing in the new health-care system would eliminate existing coverage for individuals.