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2008 Elections : NOW PACs Profile
Sam Bennett (D-Pa., 15th District)
CEO pushes for government accountability for schools
March 25, 2008
Congressional candidate Sam Bennett is an avid women's rights supporter, committed community leader, and a skilled entrepreneur poised to undertake progressive political initiatives once elected. Bennett believes that it is time to bring the U.S. troops home from Iraq and end the war. She says, "Supporting our troops is not leaving them in Iraq to referee a religious civil war, with no plan, no mission and no end in sight. People here and across America support our troops with all our hearts, and we want them home."
Bennett is determined to improve U.S. health care, deeming it too expensive, too bureaucratic and too exclusive. She supports universal health care so that everyone can benefit from quality hospitals and medical staff. Bennett knows that it is unfair for people to have to choose between medicine and other necessities. As a result, she plans to reduce the pressures that expensive health coverage puts on working families when elected.
Bennett also resolves to work to end our dependency on foreign oil. She intends to enact a program of alternative energy development and commercialization including wind, biomass, hydrogen, solar and water power. Bennett opposes the No Child Left Behind Act, citing the unfairness of holding "a nine-year-old kid responsible for her test scores when George Bush and Charlie Dent refuse to invest the money to improve her education. It's not fair to hold teachers accountable until the government is doing its share."
Bennett's strong convictions for progressive policy-making started in her hometown of Allentown where she has lived for 20 years. She is the Statewide Director and CEO of a nonprofit organization she founded called Properties of Merit of PA, Inc. Bennett's organization spurs citizen involvement and "bottom-up" private and public investments to revitalize communities. In 2006, Gov. Rendell funded the program so that Bennett could expand it statewide.
Bennett's abilities go far beyond her leadership and organizational skills. After graduating from SUNY in Oneonta, N.Y., Bennett, an entrepreneur, launched a cookie company and began purchasing, renovating and managing local rental properties. After relocating in 1986 to the Lehigh Valley, Bennett took a corporate business management position with Bell Atlantic.
Driven to make a difference in her Lehigh Valley community, Bennett founded Good Neighbors, a parent and community advocacy organization for the Allentown School District, in 1998. She has ran for office three times since, losing narrowly and improving her standing with each consecutive election.
Bennett helped to ensure current Mayor Ed Pawlowski's surprise win by running the most effective GOTV effort in county history. Following his election, she was appointed the chair of the Allentown Democratic Party and vice-chair of the Lehigh County. In 2004, Bennett was named Lehigh Valley's Regional Field Director for America Coming Together.
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