Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur Speaks At January Chamber Luncheon

U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who represents Ohio’s Ninth Congressional District, spoke at the January 16th meeting of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce at Brennan’s Banquet Center. Congresswoman Kaptur is serving her sixteenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, is the senior-most woman in the House and the longest-serving woman from Ohio in history, and ranks 17th in seniority among 435 members of the 113th Congress. Although a veteran on Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Kaptur is relatively new to the eastern part of the Ninth District which encompasses the 141 miles along Lake Erie’s coastline – in the Congresswoman’s words: “a sapphire and emerald necklace” – from Toledo to Cleveland.

Sante Ghetti, Director of Government Relations at COSE, introduced Congresswoman Kaptur to the audience of one hundred Chamber members and guests. The Congresswoman thanked the Chamber for the opportunity to introduce herself and spoke at length about her background, her reasons for choosing to serve the public, and the challenges and opportunities that our district faces in 2015 and beyond. Her presentation ranged from her first race for office (“my Catholic guilt set in, spurred me into running”) to her 17-year legislative battle that she waged to have a World War II memorial built on the National Mall (“this is how things move in Congress”), from the 2008 economic collapse to the toxins and algae that caused the loss of drinking water to a half-million residents in Toledo last summer. The Congresswoman was open, engaging, and optimistic about the future of her district. In reflecting on our area’s image at the national level, the Congresswoman cited the need for a collaborative approach to create “a coastal connectivity” that could be transformational for the Lake Erie coastline. Answering questions from the audience, Congresswoman Kaptur discussed the Affordable Care Act and offered her view of the role of today’s culture in politics.

Lakewood Mayor Mike Summers spoke briefly about the recent announcement regarding Lakewood Hospital and extended an invitation to Chamber members to attend the January 28th community meeting at Beck Center for the Arts. Congresswoman Kaptur also encouraged the audience to look at this news as an opportunity: “There might be ideas that aren’t in the heads of anyone in this room yet.” The biggest round of applause came when the Congresswoman invited Mayor Summers to be her guest at the January 20th State of the Union address.

Lakewood Chamber CEO/President Patty Ryan thanked the members of the Chamber’s Legislative & Governmental Affairs Task Force, chaired by Nicole Hatem Farley, and this month's meeting sponsor COSE│Council of Smaller Enterprises for bringing Congresswoman Kaptur to our January meeting.

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Volume 11, Issue 2, Posted 1:08 PM, 01.20.2015