Conor Lamb

Well, the federal funding spicket for Pennsylvania continues to flow thanks to Conor’s efforts and hard work on behalf of his state. This time, it comes in the form of desperately needed funding for the PA Department of Transportation. In the December Covid stimulus package, Conor fought for the inclusion of roughly $10 Billion to be dedicated to helping bolster state transportation systems badly affected by the pandemic. This includes PennDOT, which is now nearly out of money due to lost revenue from the combination of an increased gas tax and reduction in driving. The department will now have access to roughly $400 million in federal stimulus funding, which will allow them to keep almost all of their 50 existing projects going. And that means folks keeping their jobs too!

Talk about a nice start to the year in securing $22 million to begin construction work on the Montgomery Locks and Dam, located on the Ohio River. Part of a larger $1.8 billion construction project known as the Upper Ohio Navigation Project, Conor helped secure this grant money from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Montgomery locks are some of the oldest locks on the Ohio River system at over 70 years old and are at risk of failure. If there IS a major failure it will close the Port of Pittsburgh. Though this project, which will take 7 years to complete, should safeguard that. One thing we can be sure of is there will be many infrastructure spending bills coming from this Democratic controlled Congress.

Conor is known as one of the more moderate members of Congress, making deals and friends with politicians from both sides of the aisle. However, on Wednesday, he felt the urge to speak out as the objections to his state’s election results were being debated. “We know that the attack today, it didn’t materialize out of nowhere, it was inspired by lies — the same lies that you’re hearing in this room tonight. The members who are repeating those lies should be ashamed of themselves, their constituents should be ashamed of them.” His pointed words caused some drama, which escalated as Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) got into an altercation with Political Playlist leader Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX). Lamb continued, “The truth hurts.” He voted to impeach the president yesterday.

Between helping draft the stimulus framework on the Problem Solvers Caucus, to taking his state’s Republican Senator Pat Toomey to the woodshed over his 11th hour threat to tank the deal, Conor has had a busy close to the year. But one thing that jumped out was that he co-sponsored a worthy bill called the Veteran’s Valuing our Widows and Widowers (VOW) Act along with under-45er Brian Mast (R; FL) which now awaits the President’s signature. Part of a larger Veteran’s Health Care package, the VOW Act ensures that widows and widowers of Medal of Honor recipients receive the same support that was given to the veteran. And as a former marine, Conor knows the importance of financial security for the families of those who served. Speaking of family, Christmas came early for Conor and his wife Haley, who welcomed a newborn son Matthew this week.

You may have heard that the House passed legislation legalizing marijuana at the federal level last Friday. Fun Fact: this is the first time either chamber of Congress has voted on the matter. The bill, the MORE Act, passed mostly along party lines, but is unlikely to pass the Senate. It would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and expunge some marijuana-related criminal records. While important, Conor called out the elephant in the room regarding COVID, “we should be working every minute to get a deal done and get money to people who need it. Instead the House is voting on a piecemeal marijuana bill that won’t become a law.” Does this seem like a valid use of Representatives’ time to you?

In a recent interview, Conor spoke about his vision and predictions for the future of Congress and, more specifically his own Democratic Caucus. Beyond touching on his concern that Trump is ‘selling false hope to his followers’ regarding the presidential election, Conor spoke about the so-called ‘divisions’ in the Democratic party not being between two defined groups, but between a small set of members. His remedy? To focus on policy instead of personality. He also stressed the importance for PA politicians to focus on the economy and infrastructure before ducking a question about running for Senate or Governor. “My first child is due in three weeks. When I come up for air, we’ll talk about it.” Fiiiiiine.

Conor eked out a victory by about 9,000 votes in this hotly contested district outside Pittsburgh. Long seen as a rising star in the Democratic party, Conor ran as a moderate Democrat closely aligned with President-Elect Biden’s agenda and even outperformed him in some of his counties. However, his Republican challenger Sean Parnell, a closely aligned-Trump supporter has yet to concede, citing the same unsubstantiated voter irregularities the Trump campaign has. What’s especially interesting is that both these men are both military veterans below the age of 40 (Conor a former Marine Corps Judge Advocate and Sean a decorated Army Ranger). Young veterans running for congress is an ever-growing trend in our political landscape and regardless of party, we’re excited to bring attention to these servicemembers!

Conor, a Marine veteran, flipped his Pennsylvania district from Red to Blue in 2018 and he’s now in a closely watched race to keep it that way. His opponent and fellow veteran, Sean Parnell, is attempting to link Conor to the far-left wing of the Democratic party, despite Conor maintaining his stance as a moderate. Interestingly, Conor’s previously very purple district was redrawn to now lean more heavily Democrat. Regardless, this race is one to watch since, as one scholar puts it, “These two candidates really are, in some ways, proxies for what is happening on the national level.”

We all have a long list of things in our lives that were cut short by COVID, and for many veterans the stakes couldn’t be higher. This is why Conor has introduced a bill that will extend benefits to veterans whose registered apprenticeships were put on hold or halted all together. Many of these individuals have to meet a minimum number of apprenticeship hours to receive their full Monthly Housing Allowance – a mandate impossible to meet at the moment. “Veterans should not lose the benefits they’ve earned through their service due to circumstances out of their control,” Conor said. Seems fair, what do you think?