McSally reflects on Washington dysfunction in district speech

There was a polite murmur when U.S. Rep. Martha McSally asked a packed Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce luncheon whether Washington, D.C., is dysfunctional.

The assembled community and business leaders seemed unsure how to react to their invited guest speaker’s question, but McSally continued, willing to accept the whispers as tacit agreement about the gridlock in Congress. She pressed on as she explained her accomplishments in her first 10 months in office.

The luncheon Friday was the second time the freshman Republican, whose district includes Tucson, gave her State of the District speech. She spent the day before in Sierra Vista highlighting the bills she has introduced, including one recently signed into law.

After a brief overview of the problems in Congress — including a few seconds where she sang a portion of “I am just a bill” from “Schoolhouse Rock” — McSally said she has focused her energies on economic and security issues.

She touted her success in helping pass the “border jobs for veterans” bill, noting it should help the Department of Homeland Security with chronic staffing problems — due to security checks, it can take up to a year to fill some positions.

Men and women leaving the military could easily find work, for example, in Customs and Border Protection since they already have gone through the arduous background checks, she said.

McSally also touted her work in including Southern Arizona projects in a recent highway bill, noting the importance both the proposed I-11 and Sonoran Corridor will have on the Southern Arizona economy.

“Everything we asked for is in that highway bill,” McSally told the crowd.

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The Douglas Port of Entry, she said, also desperately needs more federal funding. She called current conditions there are a security issue and an economic opportunity to increase trade with Mexico.

“This is a great port, but it is so small,” she said. “It is not just about Douglas. It is about Southern Arizona and the rest of the country taking advantage of a new port of entry.”

McSally wants to keep the Tucson postal processing center open, saying she wants the Government Accountability Office or the Office of Inspector General to study whether any closures are sensible, noting the post office is increasingly the “last tactical mile” for packages.

The former A-10 pilot also touched on the current defense budget bill, noting her efforts to keep the squadrons of the close-air support aircraft as well as the EC-130 flying out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

She also said she wrote amendments to prevent any “back-door” attempts to retire the aircraft.

“We were going to have squadrons of A-10s in the boneyard if the president had got his way,” she said.

McSally told the crowd she is optimistic President Obama will sign the defense bill, which has already passed the House and the Senate.

“I haven’t checked the news today, but the President says he is going to sign it,” McSally said.