By Randy Economy
US Rep. Linda T. Sanchez painted a less than rosy and enthusiastic picture about the nation’s economic climate during an address to business and community leaders in Cerritos last week.
Sanchez, who represents the greater Southeast Los Angeles County area in the US House of Representatives, said that Washington DC has become a political boxing ring with partisan politics trumping over “the real needs of all Americans.”
Sanchez said that citizens are still suffering from the effects of a prolonged economic drought but also took light of record low approval numbers of Congress.
“In a recent survey, Congress was just as popular as the Ebola virus, so I guess we have nowhere else to go but up in the opinion polls,” Sanchez joked, but her comments made a dramatic point.
“Look, Congress has lots of work to do. I get it. We are bogged down with politics to the extreme,” Sanchez said.
“You’re either totally to the right, or stuck at a Tea Party or too far to the left these days in Washington, DC. Everything is a fight and every political pundit has an opinion every night on the news programs on the east coast,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said that she has enjoyed “getting away” from the Washington DC “rat race” during the recent summer break.
“There is no middle in Congress anymore,” she stressed.
After visiting the local business group, Sanchez toured the John Crane facility in Cerritos to highlight the role their products and services play in protecting the environment.
“Supporting our local businesses and manufacturers remains one of my top priorities in Congress,” said Sánchez.
She praised the Cerritos business and the site’s 44 employees who she said “are turning out first-class industrial products that not only contribute to economic growth and jobs here in California, but also provide environmental benefits worldwide.”
Sánchez toured the facility at the invitation of the company’s managers, who showed her the innovative solutions John Crane delivers to energy service customers to improve equipment reliability and performance.
“John Crane is creating products here in California that help people all over the world. High-quality sealing technology is making it possible for us to develop and use energy resources in America and around the globe in ways that are more efficient and reduce emissions for everyone.”
Staff members with Sanchez told Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper that her two back-to-back appearances in Cerritos were an opportunity to “voice her support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to reduce methane leakage, including methane escaping from the rapidly expanding oil and gas market.”