Dear Voter in the 34th District,

I wanted to write to you about my friend and our Delegate in the 34^th District, Barbara Comstock, who represents us in Richmond, and tell you why I am strongly endorsing her bid for re-election and why I am voting for her as my Delegate.

I have known Barbara, her husband Chip, and their three children, since the 1980s when she first started volunteering on my campaigns and then she later joined my staff in the 1990s. Barbara is one of the hardest working people I ever had working for me and she is thoroughly grounded in the issues that matter to our community. She worked for me for five years on issues of importance to Fairfax and Loudoun County. She then served as Chief Counsel on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. She headed up the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs at the same time I oversaw appropriations for the Justice Department. After her government service she was a senior partner at a Washington law firm before starting her own public affairs and government affairs firm.    

Since her district is largely within my congressional district, we now work side by side on issues such as the Dulles Rail Project, getting jobs for Virginia, and battling human trafficking and the growth of Lyme Disease, among other issues. Already in her first term in the legislature, Barbara has been a tremendous asset for us in the Northern Virginia areafocused on our top priorities. She has been a leader in getting results for Northern Virginia and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the Virginia General Assembly.

Keeping Virginia #1 For Business And Focusing On Jobs And Our Economy

With our challenging economy, Barbara has kept her focus on keeping Virginia one of the best places for jobs:

• Two independent reviews by CNBC and the esteemed Pollina Study have named Virginia #1 for jobs.  
• As a member of the Governor's Jobs Commission, Barbara was a leader in shaping the many job creating efforts that made Virginia #1 for business
• Barbara hass been endorsed by a bipartisan group of local and state business leaders as well as the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce's NOVA BizPAC, the Northern Virginia Technology Council's TECH PAC, NFIB, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, the Associated Builders and Contractors, and others.  
• Barbara also was a leader in passing a Research and Development tax credit to help our high tech industry.

Over the past two years, the General Assembly also turned a $6 billion deficit into a surplus without raising taxes and by cutting spending back to 2006 levels and reprioritizing the budget. According to the respected Pollina study released this fall: "Virginia is the unquestionable brightest star on the American flag when it comes to being pro-business...Virginia is truly in a class by itself." 

Transportation

Transportation was an issue that Barbara worked on in my office and now as a member of the Transportation Committee, Barbara has made transportation solutions a top priority:

• Barbara was part of the winning team that got a $4 billion transportation package finally passed after 20 years of gridlock on transportation.
• Barbara worked to obtain $25 million to widen Route 7
• Barbara passed Virginia's first Telework Tax Credit bill to promote telework and relieve traffic congestion
• Barbara has worked with me and her colleagues to get the costs for the Dulles Rail Project under control and not allow union mandates to drive up the costs of Phase II of the project.

Fighting For Our Fair Share Of Education Dollars And In-State College Spots

Barbara and her husband, Chip, are passionate about education. Chip was first a math teacher in the Fairfax County School System and he now serves as an Assistant Principal at Oakton High School. Barbara is from a family of educators - her mother was a teacher and librarian and her sister has served as a counselor at McLean High School and now serves as a counselor at Madison High.

As a leader fighting for our schools -

• Barbara worked to reverse the $120 million in cuts to our schools in Northern Virginia that were in the outgoing Governor's budget. She rallied with parents, PTAs, business groups and community leaders for this bipartisan victory
• As The Washington Post reported at the time: "Winner: Northern Virginia's schools" and noted that the Governor and Republicans honored their commitment to help Northern Virginia get their fair share of tax dollars it sends to Richmond.
• Barbara introduced legislation to increase the number of in-state college spots for our children. The Higher Education bill that was passed this year, incorporated these efforts to increase in-state spots in our colleges and universities.    

A Leader for Our Community

Barbara has also worked on a number of other issues important to improving our quality of life:

• Barbara has been a leader on bringing more needed attention to the scourge of Lyme Disease in our area and its crippling effects. Barbara passed a resolution this year establishing May as "Lyme Disease Awareness" month permanently. Barbara is also working to introduce additional legislation on this issue.
• Barbara was part of a bipartisan coalition that introduced and passed legislation to battle the growing crime of human trafficking in Virginia
• Barbara founded the first Arts Caucus to promote our arts community and held a ceremony in the Capitol to honor the 40^th anniversary of Wolf Trap.

In closing, I urge you to join me and vote for Barbara on Tuesday, November 8^th. If you need to vote by absentee ballot or if you need other information about Barbara's campaign you can go to her website at www.delegatecomstock.com. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, 

Congressman Frank Wolf