Perkinson

Harry Perkinson declared his candidacy for the 4th Congressional District seat at the York County Democratic Party's campaign kickoff earlier this year.

Perkinson, 60, a York County resident for 23 years, said his focus as a congressman would be to improve educational opportunities for children, grow the district's manufacturing base and preserve the environment.

He said it's time for the region to send a message to Republicans.

"There's a party that thinks that this seat is going to be a slam-dunk," Perkinson said. "They thought that when Mr. Platts was still running, and they're going to have a vicious campaign amongst themselves" to succeed Platts.

Area voters must tell Republicans that "they've forgotten how to govern, they've forgotten that the middle-class in this country is the backbone of this nation, and that big government is measured by the amount of intrusion into our lives, not its size."

Perkinson said the national debt is of concern, but "the current debt level is not the crisis that some candidates are claiming."

He said interest rates on U.S. treasuries are at historic lows and, if there were a crisis, interest rates would be much higher.

"Compare our government bond interest rates to those of Greece, Italy and Portugal, where crises exist," he said. "Our primary concern should be getting our national economy booming again, even if we have to assume more debt."

The debt will be corrected by "getting the economy booming again," through the preservation of local government positions such as teachers and first responders and by investing in job-generating projects encompassing infrastructure, transportation systems and new energy systems.

"That is precisely what was done with the debt left from World War II, which was a higher percentage of our gross domestic product than where we are currently," he said.

Perkinson who works for a Texas-based defense contractor from his York Township home.