John Adler

John Adler was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 3rd district of the State of New Jersey from 2009 to 2011.

Iraq War and Veterans
According to his campaign website, Adler supports responsibly bringing the troops home from Iraq, initiating serious diplomatic efforts with Iraq and their neighbors to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East. He also said he will fight for a 21st Century GI Bill of Rights that will provide job training, educational services, loans to purchase new homes, health care coverage, and financial assistance to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Adler said he will fight for increased funding for veterans programs and veterans health clinics, push for legislation that would expand research of PTSD and TBI, expand the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) which protects reservists from losing their jobs or getting demotions when they return home from active duty. Adler also supports legislation that provides increased incentives and benefits for those wishing to enter military service, so that servicemen and women do not go into debt while deployed, programs helping to curb the increase of veteran homelessness by fully funding the VA budget and making sure that a portion of that funding goes to programs that help combat homelessness among veterans. Adler supports more health care funding for female veterans, and more substantive research and care for females suffering from PTSD and TBI.

The Economy
Adler said, on his campaign website, that he supports providing targeted tax cuts for the middle class and expand affordable health care, investing domestically in alternative energy solutions, increasing higher education funding and enhanced educational opportunities in science and math, trade agreements that further America’s economic interests and include sensible labor and environmental standards, and boost unemployment assistance and expand job training for displaced workers.

Healthcare
Adler supports higher reimbursement rates for regular check-ups by pediatricians, general practitioners, and internists, the extension and full funding of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP),mandating health insurance for all of America’s children, stem cell research, increased investment in information technology to reduce medical, hospital, and pharmaceutical errors. He also supports tuition assistance and loan reduction for medical students pursuing pediatrics and family medicine.

Education
Adler said he will overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act to help students thrive with far less emphasis on standardized testing, continue and expand the new Recruiting Teachers with Math, Science, or Language Majors program, expand funding for returning GIs to seek higher education In addition, he will seek to improve the federal higher education tax credit programs and expand the tax deduction for interest on student loans, keep community colleges affordable and to increase enrollment opportunities for high school students to take classes for credit at community colleges, provide funding for vocational education for students who choose not to attend college, and invest more in early childhood education supports initiatives to encourage all districts to provide full day kindergarten for their children. He will also push for the government to fulfill its original promise to provide 40% of special education funding.

Energy and the Environment
On his campaign website, Adler proposed the following as a set of short term solutions to bring down costs: He supports renewing production tax credits for wind and solar power due to expire December 31, 2008, prosecuting oil companies that practice price gouging, temporarily halting shipments to the Strategic Petroleum reserve, enforcing the Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act, eliminating billions of dollars in tax subsidies to big oil companies, closing the so-called "Enron Loophole" that allows unregulated speculation and price manipulation in the commodities market. He has also proposed the following as a set of long term goals-invest in wind, solar, bio-diesel, geothermal, and other sources of renewable energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and fossil fuels, establish the renewable electricity standard at 25 percent for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar by 2025, provide tax incentives for energy-efficient buildings and appliances, provide incentives to people who use clean, alternative energy and companies that produce it, set new mileage standards for all cars at 40 miles per gallon, mandate carbon-neutral federal offices.

Adler supports getting oil companies to use the 68 million acres of land already allocated for drilling domestically, rather than drilling elsewhere. He says he will work on solutions for reducing climate change and adapting our economy to it, and believes we need to invest in wind, solar, bio-diesel, geothermal and other sources of renewable energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels. Adler also said he will work to create a national "hydrogen highway", and support Smart Growth policies, such as transit villages and open space preservation. He has been endorsed by the Sierra Club

Bio
Adler was born August 23, 1959, in Philadelphia. He has a B.A. and a J.D. from Harvard University. Served on the Cherry Hill (N.J.) township council from 1987 to 1991. Ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990. He was elected to New Jersey Senate and served there from 1991 to 2008. He and his wife, Shelley Levitan, have four sons.

2008 elections
Adler was the Democratic nominee in 2008, seeking Rep. Jim Saxton's (R-N.J.) vacant seat. He ran unopposed in primary elections which took place on June 3, 2008, and went on to defeat Republican nominee Chris Myers in the November 2008 general election.

Money in politics
cid=N00000812&cycle=2008

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Financial Services

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education
”Rep. Adler Votes to Build a Stronger Workforce, Promote Research and Support American Education”

http://adler.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=500:rep-adler-votes-to-build-a-stronger-workforce-promote-research-and-support-american-education-&amp;catid=39:2009-press-releases&amp;Itemid=59 May 28, 2010

On his adler.house.gov page, Congressman Adler voted for the COMPETES Reauthorization Act. This act is designed to create jobs in manufacturing and support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education. The act also calls for support for innovation, research and development and revitalizes federal research programs.

"Science policy tracking by Christopher Ince Jr, SEA National Security Intern"

Climate
"Runyan and Adler Contrast Issue Stances on the Michael Smerconish Show" http://runyanforcongress.com/runyan-and-adler-contrast-issue-stances-on-the-michael-smerconish-show/ July 8, 2010 From Jon Runyan’s campaign site, John Adler and Jon Runyan debate on offshore drilling, climate change and health care. Adler puts forth his view that climate change is something that must be acted upon immediately. He also speaks about his disagreement with the recent health care reform bill, citing a failure of Congress to contain health care costs.

"Science policy tracking by Christopher Ince Jr, SEA National Security Intern"

Technology
“Net Neutrality” http://adlerforcongress.com/netneutrality

On his House.gov page, Congressman Adler expresses the need for net neutrality to support fairness on the Internet, leading to innovation. He expresses concern over what would result from broadband companies having a monopoly over Internet access, including the inability of websites whose owners cannot pay high costs for bandwidth to compete with bigger organizations. Adler notes that network neutrality is key to innovation and free speech on the Internet.

"Science policy tracking by Christopher Ince Jr, SEA National Security Intern"

Innovation
“Congressman John Adler Announces Over $85,000 for Burlington County College”

http://adler.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=520&amp;Itemid=

Congressman Adler announces an award of a grant to Burlington County College under the Learn and Serve America Higher Education Program by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The college announced plans to use the grant to promote energy conservation to middle and high school students. The grant will help the school educate students and ways to help reduce energy use and promote efficiency. Pushing even further for energy efficiency, Congressman Adler also funded an energy efficiency project on the Toms River. This project involved fitting the county prosecutor building with solar panels. The intended outcome of the project was not only increased energy efficiency, but also the creation of jobs and save taxpayer money from reduced energy costs at the government site.

“Congressman John Adler Announces Energy Efficiency Funding For Toms River”

http://adler.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=316&amp;Itemid=

"Science policy tracking by Christopher Ince Jr, SEA National Security Intern"

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District
 * Adler for Congress Official Campaign Website