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Dave Mroz

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Hoekstra for Governor

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HOEKSTRA ANNOUNCES KEY ADDITIONS



HOLLAND, September 25, 2009 – U.S. Rep. and former Fortune 500 business executive Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today announced the addition of three experienced and prominent figures in Michigan politics in his campaign to become Michigan’s next governor.

National Committeewoman Holly Hughes, former Michigan House Speaker Craig DeRoche and John Truscott, Director of Communications for former Governor John Engler, today all announced their support for Hoekstra prior to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference.

“Holly, Craig and John all bring with them a wealth of experience and success in public service,” Hoekstra said. “I wholeheartedly welcome their support for my campaign to begin turning Michigan around and again reach its once-enviable status.”

Hughes is currently serving her second term as Michigan Committeewoman to the RNC, served three terms as White River Township Trustee and is a former member of the Montague Area Public School Board. She is a small business owner working in property management, and her husband is CEO of Master Tag in Montague.

“Pete Hoekstra has proven himself an innovative leader as a U.S. Congressman and Vice President of Marketing at Herman Miller,” Hughes said. “He is the most qualified candidate, possessing the vision and ideas to lift Michigan back off of the ground.”

DeRoche's current focus is on insurance consulting, marketing and technology for multiple carriers in many states. In 2002, DeRoche was elected State Representative. In 2004, his colleagues unanimously elected him Speaker of the House in the Michigan House of Representatives. At the time he was the youngest House Speaker in Michigan’s history and in the country. In his 19 years of involvement in politics, DeRoche has helped hundreds of people get elected to office and to become successful in bringing a positive change to their community, school or state.

“Serving as Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives provided me with a unique perspective on those who are capable and motivated to make a positive difference, and Pete possesses those traits,” DeRoche said. “I am excited to offer him my experience and commitment to helping him win in 2010.”

Truscott, one of the foremost experts in the area of public relations and politics in Michigan, is joining Team Hoekstra as a consultant regarding communications, strategy and policy issues. Having served Governor Engler and worked on the Senate and House staff, he possesses a depth of knowledge and breadth of experience few can match.

Since 2001 Truscott has been the President of the John Truscott Group, one of the leading public relations and management firms in Michigan. He has consistently been recognized for his expertise and knowledge and, more importantly, for his ability to get the job done.

“Having served for one of Michigan’s most successful Governors, I know firsthand Michigan’s issues and how effective leaders respond to them,” Truscott said. “I see that same level of leadership, enthusiasm and desire in Pete to not stand idly by but instead work hard to return Michigan to its rightful spot among our country's leading states to live and do business.”

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U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today voted against eliminating free market competition in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

“The freedom to compete is why the United States is historically the most ambitious and productive country in the world,” Hoekstra said. “The quality of products increases and consumer satisfaction increases. It is true whether it is in business, health care – or education.”

The House today passed a bill that would eliminate all free market options in student lending. The Family Federal Education Loan (FFEL) program – which offers the Stafford and PLUS loans – has historically awarded 70 to 80 percent student loans through free market lenders.

In 1993 Congress created an optional “Direct Lending” program to compete with FFEL “to keep it honest.” Sixteen years later Direct Lending holds 30 percent of student loans and along with it an increasingly higher default rate funded by taxpayers.

Hoekstra attempted to introduce an amendment that would have allowed the FFEL program to continue operating, but it was rejected before even reaching the House floor. The House also dismissed an amendment that would have prohibited new federal mandates on school construction, which has traditionally fallen under the jurisdiction of local school districts.

“Working with the federal government to expand access to higher education has resulted in more efficient and reliable loan products through the FFEL program,” Hoekstra said. “Eliminating free market competition completely will leave all student lending in the hands of the Department of Education, even though it has absolutely no capacity to take on all of the federal loans in the country. It is what happens when government so-called ‘competes.’”


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...

Seven CIA Directors Sign Letter, Represent Presidents Going Back 35 Years

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement after seven previous CIA Directors who served presidents of both parties sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting him to reverse his attorney general’s decision to re-open investigations into CIA interrogations that had been conducted by career Justice Department prosecutors:

"The political witch hunt and endless investigations against the CIA being conducted by partisan ideologues need to stop. As noted by the former CIA directors, ‘if criminal investigations closed by career prosecutors during one administration can so easily be reopened at the direction of political appointees in the next, declinations of prosecution will be rendered meaningless.’

"The Obama Justice Department is wrong to subject the CIA to never-ending second guessing for policies approved and never questioned at the highest levels of the congressional and executive branches. The letter correctly notes the distraction and devastating impact the re-opening of the investigation is having on CIA morale, America’s counterterrorism efforts and our foreign intelligence partnerships.

"For those of us who have opposed the heavy-handed attempts of the Obama administration to review and reverse the national security judgments of the previous administration, the bipartisan nature of the letter shows that there are broad national security concerns about the decisions being made by this president.

"President Obama should heed his own advice, and that of this bipartisan group of CIA directors, that we need to move forward and look to the future on these issues. The best way to do that is to end the re-investigation of the CIA launched by one of his political appointees into the previous decisions made by non-political, Justice Department career prosecutors.

"Mr. President, you may disagree with the judgments of the previous administration and Congress, but the men and women of the CIA who have kept our nation safe since 9/11 should not be the ones you ask to pay the price."