Ron Johnson appeared on UpFront with Mike Gousha this morning where he discussed his record of real results and called on Harry Reid and Senator Feingold to stop playing politics with Right to Try legislation that would give hope to terminally ill patients.
You can watch the interview here and read key excerpts below.
On a record of accomplishments: “I’ve actually accomplished something. Not only have I traveled tirelessly around the state and listened to Wisconsinites, I’ve taken action and I’ve put myself in a position to actually accomplish things. … [Senator Feingold] is a career politician, 34 years in politics. Literally, what did he ever accomplish? During the same 34 years, I helped start, build, grow a business creating hundreds of Wisconsin jobs, exporting products all over the world. And then during my very short period of time, once I became a citizen-legislator, U.S. Senator, became Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and I’ve got a real record of accomplishments. Senator Feingold has one high-profile failure – campaign finance reform, a lot of which was ruled unconstitutional. I’ve got dozens of accomplishments. Made possible the construction of the Stillwater bridge, working on broadband up in north Wisconsin. It was my amendment that allowed broadcasters to petition the FCC to have their signal carried on satellite so that folks up in northwestern Wisconsin don’t have to watch Vikings game, they can actually watch Packers games. That’s just a very brief overview. As chairman of Homeland Security, passed 83 pieces of legislation, 28 have been signed into law. And they’re not the kind of bills that grow government. They make government a little more efficient, a little more effective, a little more accountable.”
On fighting for Right to Try legislation against Harry Reid’s and Senator Feingold’s opposition: “It was beyond disappointing. [Harry Reid] was playing politics with people’s lives. … 32 states now have passed Right to Try laws in their states. … Completely bipartisan, and we need a federal Right to Try law so those state laws can take effect. And let me just tell you why. Dr. Delpassand, a very courageous oncologist in Houston, Texas, was involved in an FDA trial treating patients with a very aggressive form of cancer. A drug was working. He was butting up against his 150 patient limit. So he petitioned the FDA to allow him to treat another 78 patients. Guess what the FDA said? ‘No.’ Fortunately, Texas has a Right to Try law, but again, you don’t have the protections of a federal Right to Try law. Dr. Delpassand courageously decided to put his career on the line, and he treated those 78 patients. They are alive today because he had that courage. Had he not began treating them, they’d be dead. So what Senator Harry Reid did, he played politics with people’s lives. The fact that we don’t have this federal law will cost Americans their lives.”