Jarvis Johnson for Congress

WELCOME

BIOGRAPHY

THE ISSUES

Jarvis Johnson for Congress
Why I should be your Congressman

The people of the 18th Congressional District of Texas deserve an effective representative who will work to build coalitions that help move the entire community forward. They deserve one who will work with our President and is respected by fellow Democrats. The 18th Congressional District deserves someone who can generate new ideas and bring dollars back to the community on his own. We don't need one who will take the credit for the work of others and treat the constituents as an after-thought.

Constituents' and veteran's concerns have not been addressed over these past 16 years. We have suffered in the way of education; economic development-loss of jobs; and limited access to health care.

Dollars have not come back to our district to address deficiencies in the education system. When our youth are not adequately prepared to compete, they are unable to secure paying jobs. They are not able to open businesses of their own. Our crime rate increases dramatically; poverty rates increase at the same time. Our current representative in Congress has allocated funds for law enforcement and to build prisons. Instead, I want us to change our focus to educating our youth, and bringing businesses back to the communities. We need to make prevention the focus rather than punishment after the fact.

Proven Leadership:

While on Houston City Council, I have worked tirelessly with our city's business and civic leaders to help create economic opportunities for our community.
I brought 1.9 Billion dollars back to District B for infrastructure projects.
I've spent most of my life working hard to keep area young people in school by providing quality after-school programs, mentorship programs and teaching them to be leaders.

Economic Development, Jobs and Go-Green Initiatives:

I will make it my priority in Congress to recruit businesses within the 18th Congressional District to prepare them to compete for federal contracts.

I have been the most forceful advocate on behalf of small and minority/women owned businesses and professionals in their effort to win city contracts. My efforts resulted in the â€œunbundling" of large contracts to allow opportunities for Small and Minority/Women owned businesses to go after and secure city contracts. I sponsored the Proximity to Opportunity Seminars in partnership with the airport system to get Small and Minority/Women owned businesses well versed on the bid and contracting system.

As a City Council Member, I obtained $1.9 Billion in infrastructure projects that are designed to draw business to the area, create jobs, and to improve the quality of life for residents in the district.

We must make sure that the major financial institutions that are benefitting from federal government assistance or bailouts are investing that money back into our businesses, communities, and schools. When we increase the amount of business that is brought into our communities we will increase the jobs and tax base of that community. We must be more aggressive about bringing well-paying jobs into the 18th congressional District. When we bring jobs and new business, we increase tax revenue for local schools and municipal government.

We are currently witnessing a major transformation of our economy from 20th century manufacturing to go green technologies. The 18th Congressional District has an abundance of underdeveloped and affordable land that can be used as a major recruitment tool to lure the clean and environmentally friendly companies into our communities.

Education:

We must put the highest priority on closing the achievement gap, eliminating the drop-out rate, and making sure that all the children of the 18th Congressional District get a quality education.

I will make sure that the Department of Education redirects resources to underserved areas in the 18th Congressional District. If we do a better job in underserved areas of the 18th Congressional, then that in turn will increase our tax base and our public schools will benefit. As the former Executive Director of Phoenix Outreach Community Center for 10 years, our after school programs for our inner-city youth were structured to help keep our students in school. I am proud of my record in helping our students stay focused on getting an education. As a member of the Houston City Council, I have consistently demonstrated my commitment to educating our youth. I provide internships and mentor young men and women to ensure that they learn the importance of preparation for a college education. As a council member, I have led the effort to expand funding for after school programs. When proposed budget cuts threatened to close neighborhood schools, I led the effort to keep them open.

I support President Obama's guiding principles for reforming public education which calls for â€œproviding a high-quality" education for all children. I embrace President Obama's initiative that focuses on early childhood education, reform and investment in K-12 education, and restoring America's leadership in higher education.

The "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" includes $5 billion for early learning programs, $77 billion for reforms to strengthen elementary and secondary education, $5 billion in competitive funds to spur innovation and chart ambitious reform to close the achievement gap, and $30 billion to address college affordability and improve access to higher education. I will be aggressive in making sure our federal dollars are brought back to schools in the 18th Congressional District and follow our children into the classroom.

Paid for by
The Jarvis Johnson for Congress Committee