Jenerette: Change due in Congress
Last Updated on 2/9/2010
Published on 6/3/2008
By Jason Lesley
jlesley@gtowntimes.com
Katherine Jenerette says she has entered the Republican primary for the First District Congressional seat out of frustration with the GOP.
"The Democrats have a home team advantage now," Jenerette says, "and Republicans need a congressman who can go toe-to-toe with them. We've had a Republican Congress for six years, and we can have more of the same or we can have someone in there that will make a difference.
"I am not afraid to say what needs to be said and push legislation for family and values, fiscal responsibility, national security and subjects like immigration and border control. Republicans have let liberals run their agenda. Republican values and principals on issues of life, health care, Social Security and marriage issues have been put on the side burner. The Republican members of Congress need to do a better job of getting out our messages and sticking to them."
Jenerette joins four-time incumbent Henry Brown of Hanahan and Paul Norris of Johns Island in the Republican primary on June 10.
Jenerette worked for Rep. Brown as a U.S. Congressional field representative for the 1st District and says that job provided her with valuable experience.
"My time as a field representative for our district allowed me to understand the nuts and bolts of local, state and federal government at work with one another," she said. "I understand our business concerns, our tourism industry, our environmental concerns, our veterans' issues and needs, and our growing retiree population's concern for their future.
"But most of all, I understand that government and being a congressman is about people who get up in the morning, go to work, or send their kids to school, open the doors of their businesses and do the best they can in a bureaucratic framework."
A Georgetown office
Jenerette promises to re-open a congressional office in Georgetown and be more accountable to the voters.
"If I could, I'd set it up right in the Rice Museum Clock Tower if that would make it easier for people to find the office with blinking lights that say "I'm Katherine Jenerette, your very own congressman, come on in, coffee will be waiting for you."
Jenerette said that her legislative priorities are: the economy, national security, health care, education, roads and infrastructure, out-of control spending, Illegal Immigration and compulsory military service.
"The top three problems that I'm hearing about are the economy, the economy and the economy," she says. "Of course, the price of gas is part of the economic problem. And people have a hard time understanding how gas prices have essentially doubled in the past two years. That hits everyone's budget real hard, whether you are an individual going to work, or a business trying to operate in the green - that's a real big problem.
"The blame is not hard to pinpoint. It's the Congress. Whether we like it or not, 435 elected representatives set the budget and policy agenda for this entire country. The president can't do it by himself, the courts can't do it by themselves, and so if you have problems with what's going on in this nation today, you do not have to look any further than your own congressman and the other congressmen in Washington, D.C. I'm not saying that the problems are easy to fix, but at least we should be honest enough to put the blame where it belongs."
Gulf War veteran
Jenerette says she is not a typical politician. She is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, and a U.S. Army Reserve officer. The name Jenerette has been prominent in South Carolina's political circles for decades.
"I don't want to mention the Capital steps, but the name Jenerette is synonymous with politics in South Carolina. Put me on a stage with five men running for office and I will stand out because I'm more than just a pretty face in a skirt - I'm an Army Airborne Paratrooper and I drive a pick-up truck and I'm 39-years old. I think Jenerette name recognition will come under its own steam."
Jenerette received a direct commission last year, and Sen. John McCain presented her lieutenant's bars in a ceremony in North Myrtle Beach.
"As a U.S. Army veteran of the Persian Gulf War, I know how we were treated compared to the bad treatment our Korean War and Vietnam War veterans received," Jenerette said. " =As a commissioned officer still serving in the Army Reserves I see how things are today, but it still is a long way from where we should be. Our veterans should be treated like our rock stars because of what they have done for our country; no nation can last long if it asks its young men and women to put on the uniform and risk the ultimate sacrifice for their nation and then turn around and forget them. As a congressman, our veterans and their families will not be forgotten by me and I will aggressively carry their issues to Washington and fight tirelessly for their health care, their education benefits, and a New GI Bill that is more then overdue.
"As for our active duty, Reserve and National Guard personnel and their families, they have to have the best equipment, the best leadership, the best living conditions that we can provide and the best support system when they deployed overseas. I will not stand by and allow any politician to use our troops as a political football for their political agendas. For me it's personal, and they will have a fight on their hands.
"Withdrawal from Iraq will not remove security threats and reduce our vital interests from that area. Iraq and the Middle East do not stop being in our long term national interests just because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some naive congressmen and Sen. Barack Obama say so."
Jenerette has sought office before, running for the Horry County School Board in 1998 and a state Senate seat in 2004. She said she favors a federal hiring freeze and the Fair Tax, a plan to eliminate the income tax by significantly raising the sales tax.
After coming home from the Gulf War, Jenerette attended Coastal Carolina University on a cross country and track scholarship. While in the Army, she competed in the U.S. Army Europe Track and Field Championships, and as a walk-on at Coastal Carolina she was named to the NCAA Track and Field Big South Conference in 1994. She graduated from CCU with a degree in history in 1995 and received her masters degree from USC in Columbia in 1997.
Jenerette is married to Van Jenerette, and the mother of four children. Van Jenerette served as a policy adviser to Brown and was a candidate for the First District congressional seat in 2000.
"If elected," she said, "I will be a congressman that will be everywhere at all times for all the people of our district. I'm old enough to know what needs to be done as a congressman, and I'm young enough to 'hit the ground running' and make things happen. Nothing against being older, I would like to be there some day myself, but our times call for an aggressive, optimistic, realistic approach to the job of a U.S. Congressman in the 1st District South Carolina in the 21st century."
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I can only surmise that the truth about Katherine Jenerette is being suppressed either out of compassion because she can't possibly win or because they are saving the ugly details for later in the year should she compete against the democrat. Posted by a well informed voter on 6/9/2008 |
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Very impressive candidate! Let me know how I can help. Posted by Tom Harris, LTC, USAR (Ret) on 6/4/2008 |
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The TriCounty (Charleston,Berkeley and Dorchester)area has had the pleasure of meeting Katherine Jenerette and more and more people have become convinced that Katherine is the right choice for Congress and the status quo is not getting the job done. She advocates for pro-life, military and veterans, conservative judges,less government she does not just lip service the issue. She has ideas and the courage to present them. She has a handle on what needs to be done for the 1st District and the concerns of the people. She has our vote June 10th. Vote Katherine Jenerette! Posted by on 6/4/2008 |
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Katherine Jenerette is a wake up call to the Republican Party. She is a new Conservative with Reaganesque principles that believes in the sanctity of life, small and functional government, 2nd Amendment, and reforming the tax code. Katherine is what our district needs for a changing economy and she will best represent us. That's why I am voting for Katherine Jenerette for Congress. Posted by neilsean73 on 6/4/2008 |
