A campaign video from Lindsey Simmons, one of the announced Democratic Party candidates in the 4th Congressional District:
The transcript:
Lindsey Simmons: In the summer of 2017, my husband, an Apache pilot for the United States Army, deployed to the Middle East for the second time.
He had his mission, and I had mine.
A few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant with our first child. Nothing prepared me to make that call half a world away.
Hi husband. Guess what?
Our baby allowed us to focus on our growing family…instead of the war.
And my mission? It changed.
Chris: Getting all excited over there, huh?
Lindsey Simmons: To making sure my baby knew his daddy’s voice.
Chris: That’s the gist of it, though. I love you!
Lindsey Simmons: During my fourth month, Chris was deployed to a new forward location in Syria. Local Kurdish allies helped supplement the unit’s limited provisions with additional supplies. Including food.
Because of that alliance, Chris returned home‚ just in time for Jace’s birth.
Mission complete.
Not long after, President Trump first signaled the U.S. would abandon our Kurdish allies — the same people who helped my son have a father.
So, I contacted my Congresswoman, Vicky Hartzler. Well I really hope to hear something from your office. But I never did hear anything. We didn’t receive a phone call. An email. Not so much as a form letter from her office.
I’m a seventh generation Missourian, from a hard-working farm family. And I put myself through Harvard Law School. I don’t give up. And so, I thought I’d go to a town hall meeting. Turns out, Congresswoman Hartzler hasn’t held a town hall in five years. She must have been too busy.
It’s been almost a decade since Congresswoman Hartzler had to campaign and earn the votes to keep her job.
That changes now.
I’m Lindsey Simmons, and I’m on a new mission. To be the first active duty military spouse in Congress.
And get this – the day after I announced‚ her office called to apologize for not getting back to me.
You shouldn’t have to run for Congress to hear from your Congressman. Based on their actions over the past month, if President Trump and Congresswoman Hartzler wore the uniform, they’d be court-martialed.
Reporter: 1,000 US troops are caught in the middle, looking for the safest way out.
Lindsey Simmons: I’m not the only wife whose husband’s third deployment is made less safe by reckless foreign policy. I’m not the only mother whose watched schools on our military base lose funding to build a wall.
I’m not the only daughter whose mother hesitates to retire, because of the cost of health care.
And I’m not the only member of a farming family that’s collateral damage in a trade war.
And I have had enough. I’m answering a call to serve because our families deserve better. It’s time to take our home back. And this is a mission we must complete.
Previously:
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): token Jews (March 7, 2019)
