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First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association donate to Osterhout Library

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Happy birthday to Lydia Elynnor Sutton!

<p>HAZLETON &#8212; Speaking to about 100 members of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta said that at a time when Congress &#8220;can&#8217;t seem to pass anything,&#8221; they somehow managed to approve a five-year transportation bill.</p><p>Speaking for the 16th time at the chamber meeting, held at the Best Western Genetti&#8217;s Inn &amp; Suites on Route 309, Barletta, R-Hazleton, said passing the legislation was &#8220;a big deal&#8221; and one that is critical to the country&#8217;s economy.</p><p>&#8220;When you can&#8217;t get the long-term promise of federal funding, you get uncertainty for businesses and jobs,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;You cannot plan a project if the funding is unknown.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta said municipalities and counties in turn won&#8217;t commit funding if there is doubt about the federal dollars.</p><p>&#8220;People in Congress say infrastructure is and should be a priority,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;If they truly believe that, then make it a priority and approve the funding.&#8221;</p><p>In December, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Fixing America&#8217;s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a piece of five-year legislation to improve America&#8217;s roads, bridges, public transit and rail transportation systems and reform federal surface transportation programs.</p><p>The House voted 359 to 65 in favor of the FAST Act Conference Report. Signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 4, the FAST Act is set to provide $305 billion in funding over five years.</p><p>&#8220;Federal funding is like a fumble in the NFL &#8212; everybody dives on it,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;This will create and sustain jobs and that will spur economic development.&#8221;</p><p>That was welcome news to the Chamber crowd. Barletta tied the infrastructure issue to manufacturing, saying despite cumbersome regulations, higher wages and higher taxes in the U.S., the country&#8217;s infrastructure network allows far quicker delivery of products.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s another reason why we must invest in our transportation infrastructure,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Homeland security was next for Barletta, who sits on the House Counter-Terrorist Intelligence Sub-Committee. He said much of the information he has he can not share.</p><p>&#8220;But what I can tell you is that ISIS is a real threat around the world and right here at home,&#8221; he said. &#8220;ISIS has said that best spilled blood is American spilled blood.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta said the terrorist group is radicalizing Americans through social media sites and they have managed to use encryption to avoid detection.</p><p>&#8220;The top priority for national security is to keep you safe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We are always concerned about what the federal (government) is, or isn&#8217;t doing to protect us.&#8221;</p><p>Waving a copy of the &#8220;9/11 Report,&#8221; Barletta said he will always be a loud voice to protect the American people. He said many terrorists enter the U.S. legally with a visa, then they overstay their allowed time and go off the grid.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a national security problem when you don&#8217;t know who anybody really is or where they are,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Barletta said the terrorists only stay in the U.S. long enough to commit some horrific attack.</p><p>As a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, Barletta said he asked to be removed from the committee, but then-House Speaker John Boehner wouldn&#8217;t hear of it. Barletta said he is glad he didn&#8217;t get what he thought he wanted at the time.</p><p>&#8220;With state Sen. John Yudichak, who is a Democrat, we started Operation Gang-Up and out of that came the SHINE program, which is now expanding to Hazleton later this month,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;More than 600 students drop out of school per year in Luzerne County. Since we started the SHINE program with Wilkes University, we have seen an 80 percent improvement in those at-risk students.&#8221;</p><p>SHINE is an after-school program to help at-risk students change the direction of their lives, Barletta said, noting that 85 students at the Hazleton Area Career Center and the Maple Manor Elementary/Middle School will begin March 29.</p><p>A former mayor of Hazleton, Barletta is unopposed in the Republican primary this year. He will face another former Hazleton mayor, Democrat Michael Marsicano, in the November general election.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, holds up a copy of the 911 Commission Report during his talk at the Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast at Genetti&#8217;s in Hazleton on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_redcarpet01.jpg</photo0><caption0>U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, holds up a copy of the 911 Commission Report during his talk at the Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast at Genetti&#8217;s in Hazleton on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_redcarpet02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, was guest speaker at the Hazleton Chamber Of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast at Genetti&#8217;s in Hazleton on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_redcarpet02.jpg</photo1><caption1>U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, was guest speaker at the Hazleton Chamber Of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast at Genetti&#8217;s in Hazleton on Wednesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Barletta: Solid infrastructure key to spurring the economy