Brown goes to the Senate with strong voter support

With a 450,000-vote margin, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown goes to the U.S. Senate with this message from the people of Ohio: We're unhappy with the war in Iraq; dissatisfied with the United States' trade policies that place American companies at a competitive disadvantage; we want something done about the escalating cost of health care and prescription drugs; and, we expect Congress to deal with the impending crisis with Social Security and Medicare.
How do we know that's the message the 2 million-plus voters were delivering to Brown Tuesday when they chose him over two-term Republican Sen. Mike DeWine? Because those were the issues the congressman from the 13th District ran on.
But come January, Brown and other Democrats, who have decried the heavy-handed governance of the Republicans, will have their chance to prove that they weren't indulging in political gamesmanship. Democrats will take control of the Senate and the House.
During his appearance before The Vindicator's editorial board, the congressman, who once represented a House District that took in a portion of Trumbull County, said working men and women have not had anyone in the Senate to champion causes important to regions like the Mahoning Valley, such as fair trade.
Because of the failure of the Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress to do anything about the uneven playing field, this country's trade deficit continues to balloon, he contended.
Meeting of CEOs
In his interview with Vindicator writers, Brown said that one of his goals is to convene a meeting of the CEOs of major American corporations "to figure out what we do about the delivery of health care in this country."
As for what Brown will do for the Mahoning Valley, we are confident that he will pick up where Sen. DeWine will leave off in support of funding for the Youngstown Technology Center downtown.
Several months ago, there was meeting on the technology center project in Rep. Tim Ryan's office on Capitol Hill attended by Brown and Rep. Ted Strickland. Ryan of Niles, D-17th, Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, who will be sworn in as governor in January, and Brown pledged to protect the 1.3 million DeWine inserted in a Senate appropriations bill.
DeWine has earned the Valley's appreciation for his unwavering support for the project.
We are confident that Brown will not only work with the outgoing senator to ensure the appropriations bill is passed with the grant intact, but will team up with Congressman Ryan to secure additional money for the technology campus that is now being developed in downtown Youngstown.