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Your view: Kudos for judge in handing down tough sentence

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Their view: The impeachment of the American people

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser on Thursday said the 9th Congressional District he represents would be the ideal place to locate Amazon&#8217;s HQ2 complex.</p><p>Meuser, R-Dallas, has written Jeffrey Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, to encourage him to locate the company&#8217;s HQ2 headquarters in his district, which covers a chunk of Luzerne County.</p><p>Meuser&#8217;s letter comes in the wake of Amazon&#8217;s recent decision to cancel plans to locate its planned new headquarters in New York City.</p><p>&#8220;Our communities offer a strategic and ideal location for the world&#8217;s fastest growing company,&#8221; Meuser wrote. &#8220;A two-hour drive from New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania&#8217;s 9th Congressional District &#8212; comprised of all or parts of Schuylkill, Northumberland, Montour, Luzerne, Lebanon, Columbia, Carbon and Berks Counties &#8212; is situated along the U.S.&#8217;s eastern seaboard, part of a region that includes more than 50 million people and generates a fifth of America&#8217;s gross domestic product. There is literally 60 percent of North America&#8217;s population within a ten hour drive.&#8221;</p><p>Meuser went on to write that his district is home to a skilled and motivated workforce, and responsible, pro-job governance &#8212; all of which he says fit Amazon&#8217;s stated parameters for its new facility.</p><p>&#8221;The backbone of Pennsylvania&#8217;s 9th Congressional District is an educated, hard-working, and world-class workforce,&#8221; Meuser said. &#8220;Our residents take pride in their work and are committed to doing a job well. Amazon would be fortunate to include more of our residents among its ranks.&#8221;</p><p>Meuser said if Amazon were to invest and create jobs in Pennsylvania&#8217;s 9th, it would be creating a renaissance of new opportunities for a former coal-rich area that needs a great American business, like Amazon, to give thousands of families and job seekers the chance at the American dream.</p><p>&#8220;I appreciate your consideration of this request, and welcome the opportunity to coordinate a walk-through of our communities with local and state officials,&#8221; Meuser said.</p><p>In the letter, Meuser noted the Amazon HQ2 plan calls for the creation of 25,000 new jobs and construction of a $2.5 billion headquarters.</p><p>Meuser said Pennsylvania could offer Amazon an affordable and common-sense environment to do business.</p><p>&#8220;Thanks to low energy costs, minimal red-tape, effective community revitalization efforts and forward-thinking community leaders, our area would welcome the presence of a new, responsible employer committed to strengthening local economies,&#8221; Meuser wrote.</p><p>He also said he can attest to the strength this area from his own personal experience.</p><p>&#8221;Not only did I choose to raise my family and help build an international manufacturing business in and around these very communities, but as Pennsylvania&#8217;s Secretary of Revenue, I worked to help create the right opportunity with performance based tax credits for Shell Energy to invest in an ethylene cracker plant in Pennsylvania,&#8221; Meuser wrote. &#8220;This was, and is, the largest private investment made in Pennsylvania, and it is currently under construction in western Pennsylvania.&#8221;</p><p>Amazon recently pulled out of a deal that would&#8217;ve had the Seattle-based company redevelop a Long Island City site in exchange for $3 billion in state and New York City incentives. Influential Democrats in Albany and the city opposed the deal, according to the Associated Press.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Jeff-Bezos-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bezos </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Jeff-Bezos-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bezos </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL101618Meuser2-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meuser </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL101618Meuser2-7.jpg</photo1><caption1>Meuser </caption1><photoCredit1></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>

Meuser to Bezos: Bring Amazon’s new headquarters to Pa.’s 9th District