Chris Carney in the Middle East

A few months ago I said Chris Carney would be a different kind of Congressman than we are used to in northeastern Pennsylvania. Not just worried about pork but a national leader involved in the decisions of war and peace. Brett Lieberman chidded me for that assertion but he has hit the ground running. Carney was the only Pennsylvania Democrat invited to a White House session on the Iraq war. On his recent trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and

other countries in the region he got the same message, the United States needs to open a dialog with Syria and Iran on the war in Iraq, echoing the message delivered to him and other visiting congressmen by leaders in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey. “It was pretty remarkable. It was the same message from three different national leaders,” he said. Now Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the United States would join the meeting and that Washington supported the Iraqi government's invitation to Iran and Syria. And the congressman said he is drafting legislation that would require the Bush administration to report on the progress of shifting responsibility for securing the country from American to Iraqi military forces.

On the home front he has helped get Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding for severe storms and flooding that occurred from November 16-17, 2006.

Thanks to his Communications Director Rebecca Gale for the pics of Congressman Carney in Kuwait with Towanda resident Keith Gallew, his wife Yvette and Joseph Donahue from Williamsport. Wilkes Barre residents Chief Warren Officer Deaven and Lieutenant Colonel Gail Vonderheid. And one in Iraq at Balad Air Force Base with Brigadier General Mike Terry from Dickson City.