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Times Leader receives $30K state training grant

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright is a Democrat but he insists he is not a strong supporter of sanctuary cities and he favors building a wall where it makes sense.</p><p>The congressman also told the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday that he aspires to be a &#8220;cardinal.&#8221;</p><p>Cartwright, D-Moosic, wasn&#8217;t referring to attaining a high ranking in the Catholic Church &#8212; he was referring to the 12 sub-committee chairpersons within the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. Cartwright sits on the committee &#8212; he is the second-highest ranking minority member.</p><p>But Cartwright said the key to gaining influence is to be on the right committees while your party is in the majority.</p><p>He said if the November mid-term election goes as many &#8220;experts&#8221; have predicted, Democrats could gain the majority in the House. He said to accomplish that, Democrats would have to retain every incumbent currently serving in the House and also &#8220;flip&#8221; 23 seats from Republican to Democrat.</p><p>&#8220;We are hearing that it&#8217;s more probable than not,&#8221; Cartwright said.</p><p>Cartwright, 57, is seeking his fourth two-year term in the House, this time in what is now the 8th Congressional District. He is opposed by Republican John Chrin, 55, of Monroe County. The campaign has seen a lot of television advertisements, and Cartwright said those from his opponent&#8217;s camp contain incorrect information.</p><p>He said one Chrin claim is that Cartwright voted in favor of sanctuary cities. Cartwright refutes that, saying he is not a strong supporter of sanctuary cities, having voted against proposed legislation.</p><p>&#8220;We have to have comprehensive immigration reform,&#8221; Cartwright said. &#8220;We have to secure our borders. There should be heavy fines and stricter penalties for offenders. I also favor building a wall where appropriate, but not where mountain goats can&#8217;t climb.&#8221;</p><p>Cartwright went on to say he does not favor deporting &#8220;12 million souls&#8221; &#8212; noting they should be paying taxes &#8212; and he is not in favor of amnesty.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Kitchen table issues&#8217;</strong></p><p>In his newly drawn district, Cartwright said there are 100 dairy farmers &#8212; 45 in Wayne County alone.</p><p>&#8220;So I was pleased to see the dairy market open up in Canada,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Cartwright said it is time for the Democratic Party to return to what he called &#8220;bread and butter issues&#8221; and &#8220;identity politics.&#8221; He said the best way to increase jobs is to improve infrastructure and increase manufacturing.</p><p>&#8220;These are what I like to refer to as kitchen-table issues,&#8221; Cartwright said. &#8220;These are issues that affect working class families and we need to focus on these issues.&#8221;</p><p>Cartwright said he voted against last year&#8217;s tax bill because 83 percent of the money saved went to the highest 1 percent earners. He said he opposed it because it also drastically reduced the corporate tax rate &#8212; taking it from 35 percent to 21 percent. And for multi-national corporations, Cartwright said the rates were even more egregious &#8212; from 35 percent to 15 percent.</p><p>&#8220;That is just a massive incentive to off-shore more jobs,&#8221; Cartwright said. &#8220;I spoke out against this on the House floor. These big corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders and they will take advantage of these rates by taking their business abroad.&#8221;</p><p>Cartwright said he has been and always will be a strong supporter of keeping Social Security and Medicare strong. He said both need to be &#8220;shored up,&#8221; but he favors an increase in cost-of-living adjustments and better prescription rates through competition.</p><p>Cartwright said he co-sponsored H.R. 6505 &#8212; the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act of 2018. He said the Veterans Affairs Administration and Department of Defense is already allowed to negotiate with drug companies.</p><p>&#8220;If the VA is allowed to negotiate with drug companies, Medicare should be allowed as well,&#8221; Cartwright said. &#8220;No wonder prescription prices are so high.&#8221;</p><p>Cartwright said one debate is scheduled with Chrin &#8212; Oct. 29 &#8212; that will be televised on WVIA.</p><p>He said he has agreed to more debates, but none have been scheduled.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, meets with the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101118Cartwright1.jpg</photo0><caption0>U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, meets with the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101118Cartwright2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, meets with the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday. The lawmaker says he supports building a wall, but only in spots where it makes sense. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101118Cartwright2.jpg</photo1><caption1>U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, meets with the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday. The lawmaker says he supports building a wall, but only in spots where it makes sense. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101118Cartwright3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, meets with the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101118Cartwright3.jpg</photo2><caption2>U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, meets with the Times Leader editorial board on Wednesday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></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>

Cartwright rails against sanctuary-city claim, supports border wall in some spots