Rep. George Gekas (R): Dirty Dozen 2002
Pennsylvania's 17th District
2001 LCV Rating = 0%
106th Congress LCV Rating = 3%
Lifetime LCV Rating = 17%
View George Gekas' Race At A Glance page.
George Gekas has failed to put the interests of voters in the 17th Congressional District first by voting to weaken the public's right to know about toxics in their communities and against funds to protect open spaces.
Opposed Protecting Water Quality & Farmland
Despite the growing need in central Pennsylvania to improve water quality and protect farmland, Gekas opposed giving farmers in his community $7.7 million annually to conserve their land and prevent runoff, supporting instead a policy that would allocate $5 million less. Agricultural activities are central to the economy of the 17th District, accounting for roughly 7,000 jobs in 2000. However, between 1992 and 1997, the amount of farmland diminished by thousands of acres and the district lost over 60 full-time farms.
Additionally, central Pennsylvania contains approximately 160 impaired waters due to runoff and abandoned mine drainage. Voluntary conservation programs were established by Congress to help farmers and the environment by providing them with supplemental income for idling vulnerable lands and adopting environmentally sensitive farming techniques. In Pennsylvania, the large demand among farmers statewide for these programs has created a $30 million backlog in enrollment requests. Under the policy Gekas supported, over 50,000 farmers in the state would have been denied the technical assistance required to implement these programs.
Voted Against Tougher Arsenic Protections in Drinking Water
A 1999 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report found that arsenic in drinking water causes bladder, lung and skin cancer, and may cause kidney and liver cancer. The NAS also found that America's allowable arsenic level of 50 parts per billion was too high, threatening the health of families across the country. After a decade of study that proved the health risks associated with arsenic - on one of the most important public health decisions of the last five years - Gekas voted to delay stronger protections for arsenic in drinking water and to prohibit the EPA from enforcing existing laws.
Worked to Weaken the Public's Right to Know about Toxics
In 2000, polluters in the 17th District released approximately 2.8 million pounds of toxics into central Pennsylvania's air, land and water, while four of the nation's most polluted toxic waste dumps, known as Superfund sites, have contaminated the local environment with PCBs, lead and dioxins. Families in these communities have a fundamental right to know about the origins and amounts of toxics released in their neighborhoods as well as the health threats. The Toxics Release Inventory was created in 1986 to provide this information, but had not been significantly expanded until 1994 when the EPA added 286 toxics to the list of chemicals that must be reported.
On an issue that received national attention, Gekas voted to block public disclosure of the 286 chemicals and prevent additional industries, including chemical and allied products-wholesale, from telling the public what they emit into the air and water.
The Race
Due to congressional redistricting, George Gekas will run against fellow incumbent Rep. Tim Holden (D) in a newly drawn 17th District. Although the new district leans Republican, it is not the GOP stronghold it was in the past. The old district voted for Bush over Gore 61-37%, while the new 17th gave Bush a 56-41% advantage.
Holden, who worked to promote voluntary conservation programs and reduce pollution in his district, is a strong campaigner with a moderate record that is consistent with the values of central Pennsylvania voters. While Gekas starts the race with a narrow advantage, he is one of the most vulnerable anti-environment candidates running for Congress in 2002. Political analyst Charlie Cook rates the 17th District one of eleven �s-up�ces nationwide.
