Chet Edwards For Congress

October 23, 2006
Eagle Editorial:
U.S. House of Representatives, District 17

Bryan-College Station Eagle
Eagle Editorial |

Texas Congressional District 17 includes Brazos, Grimes, Madison, McLennan, Hill, Bosque, Hood, Somervell and Johnson counties and portions of Robertson, Burleson and Limestone counties. This is the second election cycle for this district since the Legislature redistricted congressional boundaries.

When Brazos County was put in the newly drawn 17th Congressional District slightly more than two years ago, people of this area were quick to warm up to Chet Edwards, who had represented the Waco-Temple-Killeen-Fort Hood area in Congress since 1991. Since winning in the newly configured district two years ago - the only Democrat in Texas targeted by Tom DeLay to do so - Edwards has been a frequent visitor to Brazos County. In fact, he may be a more frequent visitor than even the much-admired U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady when he represented Brazos County.

Edwards certainly was no stranger to this area, having graduated from Texas A&M in 1974. In the past two years he has worked hard with A&M to receive$114 million in federal research dollars, money that was not included in the Bush budget. Edwards has worked with city and county leaders to get $20 million for badly needed highway projects not included in the administration's budget. He is strongly supportive of efforts to keep Americans safe, and he has long been a strong supporter of our troops and veterans. He has led the fight to keep the Veterans Administration hospital open in Waco and has worked to make sure our veterans get all the benefits they were promised.

Taylor is the latest in a series of attack-dog Republicans trying to unseat Edwards.

Personally, Taylor is a pleasant man with a fine background. He served this nation well in the Marines, including during the opening days of the war in Iraq. But he is irritating when he claims such service gives him the "moral imperative" to represent veterans - something Edwards has done extremely well for close to 16 years. Taylor pledges to work to keep the VA hospital in Waco open - again, something Edwards has been working hard to do. Taylor says he would like to expand access for veterans' medical care to include doctors in private practice.

Both Taylor and Edwards support America's efforts in Iraq, and both say it would be wrong to unilaterally pull our troops out of that country until the Iraqis are ready and able to take over.
Taylor says he would work to bring an interstate highway through College Station and Bryan. Edwards already has helped secure funding to build better, safer roads.

Both men also call for securing our border. Taylor favors erecting a fence along a portion of the border with Mexico and employing the latest technology to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. Edwards also favors a wall in certain places and using technology. He calls for hiring 6,000 additional border patrol agents and wants an employee verification system so the government can hold businesses accountable for whom they hire.

Where Taylor gets nasty is in his attack ads. He showed in the spring primary that he is willing to run ads telling partial truths or making claims the facts don't support. Unfortunately, Edwards has responded in kind, and the campaign has devolved into a "did-too, did-not" spitting match.

Efforts to portray Edwards as a typical Democratic liberal just don't hold water. Even a cursory glance at his record shows he is a moderate conservative. He is doing and has been doing for 16 years what Taylor says he wants to do.

We see no reason to dump a good representative for an unproven newcomer.

The Eagle recommends a vote for U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards for re-election.