JUANITA PEREZ WILLIAMS FOR CONGRESS
Omnibus Bill. So named as the large size and scope limit opportunities for debate and scrutiny. It is the tax bill, passed unread by your purchased leaders. John Katco voted for this bill.
John Katco is a Trumper. This is the tax bill supported so much by folks who have no idea what is in it. Buried deep in its 2200 pages you will find it is designed to hide the diminishment of health care for all. This is a Trump technique. Katco is fine with this. It is a 1.3 trillion-dollar expense with fully 82% of this going to the 1%. That is over a trillion to the 1%, which is 1000 billion. 1000 million is a billion. All just to the super rich. The rest is not remarkable and serves appeasement. You get a few hundred in feel good money. It is a National disgrace fully supported by John Katco. Take a drive in the Hamptons on Long Island. You will note statues in front of mansions worth far more than your home. As Central New York infrastructure crumbles, Jobs are lost, Town and City issues are left forlorn, Public Education is left to squander, John Katco voted to give the 1% your taxes. Polls reveal that without Juanita Perez Williams we are very likely to lose this seat again. John Katco can no longer claim to be a moderate. This tax Bill he voted for is beyond extreme. Time and again he supports Trump and his extreme agenda.
Following a well fought Mayoral campaign on both sides Juanita Perez Williams was waiting on the sidelines, taking a breath and following events. In the meantime her extraordinary efforts in the Mayoral race did not go unnoticed. Local, State, and National officials had been encouraging her to join the Congressional race. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – DCCC – is the official campaign arm of the National Democratic Party in the House of Representatives. Their focus is determining, supporting and electing “top tier” Democratic candidates throughout the country. Their mission is to take back the House of Representatives. Democrats need to win at least 24 seats to reclaim the 218-seat majority. Those chosen as “top tier” candidates have sound personal qualifications and have demonstrated strong abilities to design and build winning campaign strategies. Juanita was one of 33 to be chosen in this elite “Red to Blue” program reserved for those with the highest potential across the land. The DCCC observed that Katco’s support of the Tax bill and other missteps have tarnished his moderate image. They believe he is vulnerable and Juanita is our best chance to retake this seat.
Juanita not only has the best chance of winning but it is glaringly clear that if she does not run that this seat will almost certainly be lost again. I am baffled at the few local Democratic Party officials that have condemned Juanita’s participation,
when in fact, it is legal and proper and so clearly affords the best opportunity to regain this vital seat. These local officials need to understand this race is about America, not about dislike of perfectly proper process. This is a calling that outweighs the mysterious disapproval of clear legal process and strongly increased potential to win a Congressional seat. America needs us to win. Please know that Juanita has every regard and respect for all that has been achieved. But also please know she and most others in the Local party feel with great certainty that her run is in the best interest of the Democratic Party, and above all, the American people. The Trump agenda is grave and damaging to the very fibre of this land. That is why Juanita is running.
As the Corporation Council for the City of Syracuse and Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York and as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Staff Judge Advocates Corp, Juanita has a wealth of legal and prosecutorial experience. On her first day she will be fully prepared to deal with the folly and the investigations and the legal processes inherent to Trump’s enormous trail of legal woes. She will insure partisan interference and corrupt activity is addressed and fair process is observed. Juanita will be a shining example of the words of General Douglas McArthur: Duty, Honor Country.
As you read you will see that Juanita Perez Williams has an impressive array of professional qualifications that set her apart from most Politicians. Fully in keeping with, and strongly complementing these qualifications, Juanita has the gift of her birth as a Mexican American Woman. She also served 5 years in the United States Navy achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander. These attributes have forged a belief system that embraces Women’s Rights, Immigration Fairness, Human Equality and the major component missing in today’s Government, Political Integrity.
My research over 35 years of writing this column has shown me that we have more in common than we realize. Our problems are more systemic and to this, Republicans and Democrats agree. They are rooted in a bribery that evolved as wealthy influence overpowered our leadership and the intent of our Founders. Wealth sent our work, the tool of the American Dream to other lands and paid our leaders to allow this. The best that humans can be was purchased. The lesson is that only our finest will lead with honor and far too few are in the arena.
Juanita Perez Williams will pursue the intent of our Founders fully in keeping with the lyrics penned by Lt. John McRae in Flanders Fields. “The torch be yours to hold it high, if ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep”. This Lieutenant Commander from the United States Navy is what we need. A leader that will walk tall and proud and care about process that is fair for each and every American. She will think of that young soldier bleeding out on a battlefield every time some greedy lobbyist wants a decision that dishonors what that young soldier did for us.
She will show peers through example the meaning of honor.
I hope that local media, radio, TV and print will find the time to read this column before they lock in their direction. I wish each of you had the opportunity to see the consistent, intelligent, integrity and thought processes of Juanita Perez Williams. Too often what we hear in the Political arena is misleading distortion. I offer to you that Juanita is a very rare, very fine and decent, intelligent and caring public servant. It is who Juanita is. And if you support her I offer to you, you will be making a significant contribution to the well-being of this land. Juanita is a special and rare individual. I do believe that each of us, in even a small position of influence, has a duty to those that gave their all, to honor and remember what they did, to be the best that we can be. That is what I am trying to do here. Because I know that is exactly how Juanita will perform in Washington.
We have a very special opportunity in Central New York. And readers of Table Hopping have an opportunity to play a very important role in the future of our country. I have been writing this Column for 35 years. We have a wide distribution in Central New York and the 24th Congressional District. When I
have mentioned the Special Forces and the 173d Airborne in previous columns I was speaking as one whose heart and ideas were forged by that experience and when I write about Juanita in this fashion I am putting the integrity of that experience and the integrity of this column which is and always has been written with the finest I am able to be on your behalf, on the line. This kind of accolade would never be seen here unless I had determined with certainty that the subject of such accolade was truly one of the talented few. The few desperately needed and far too rare, to redirect the systemic failures in this great land.
Juanita Perez Williams is running for Congress to represent New York’s 24th Congressional district. She is a Mexican-American whose grandparents migrated from Guanajuato, Mexico. Her parents played an important role in her life, always struggling to make ends meet however devoted to activism in the farmworkers movement. As a child, Juanita participated in one of the first Early Head-Start programs, was a recipient of free school lunches, attended college through the Equal Opportunity Program and in 1986 received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego.
After receiving her law degree, Juanita served five years in the United States Navy Judge Advocates Program (JAGC) where she handled high profile criminal cases, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Upon completion of her military service, Juanita relocated with her family to Upstate New York where she accepted a position with the New York State Department of Education where she worked with Law Enforcement directing investigations in 19 Upstate Counties.
In 2001, Juanita accepted a legal position with Syracuse University and soon thereafter was promoted to Associate Dean of Students. Juanita also served as an adjunct professor teaching legal issues in higher education. During this time, Juanita was selected by then Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to be a member of the New York State Military Selection Review Board. In 2008, Juanita was appointed by then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to serve New York State as an Assistant Attorney General. Two years later, Juanita was appointed by the Mayor of Syracuse to serve as Corporation Counsel and lead the city’s legal office.
Juanita is the mother of four grown children and a grandmother. She sits on several Central New York Boards including Onondaga County Catholic Charities, La Liga (Spanish Action League), Clear Path for Veterans, CNY Workforce Investment Board, Bishop Ludden High School Trustee, is co-founder of UMEA, the new minority chamber of commerce, and is a proud member of the Valley American Legion. I will leave you with what matters most which is embraced in verse from Major John McRae’s poem: “In Flanders Field”. We need those with the bravery and heart to heed this enduring call: The main reason why this United States Navy Lieutenant Commander should be our choice to represent us in the House of Representatives in the Congress of the United States of America.
“Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high”
