• All
• Police and Fire
• Business
• Education
• Obituaries
• Opinions
• Lifestyle
• Calendar

• All
• Letters

Over the last six years, we’ve watched the Bush administration put this country on the wrong course in so many ways, and we need change.

The Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq has been one of the most disastrous foreign policy mistakes in our history. We have prosecuted a war without a strategy, exposed our servicemen and women to danger without adequate armor and equipment, and shuffled the wounded to medical facilities that are unsanitary and understaffed. We need to end the war in Iraq, bring our courageous young men and women home quickly and safely and care for them once they’re here.

We have an obligation to future generations to take action now. We need to provide guaranteed health care for all Americans that is affordable and accessible. We need to take action on global warming, protect our environment and invest in alternative sources of energy and new ideas. We need to make quality education a building block of a vibrant economy. And, we need to make economic development and the creation of new jobs our focus here in the 5th District.

As a dean at Middlesex Community College, the commonwealth’s largest community college, I have seen how education is the key to American ingenuity and innovation and to a civil society. There are few issues as vital to our economic future as developing a trained and educated workforce.

I am the working mother of three accomplished daughters who, like their parents, were also drawn to public service to make this world a better place. And I am the proud daughter of an Air Force colonel, and grew up on bases all across the U.S., Germany and Japan, an experience that taught me about sacrifice and service to our nation. 

This special election presents an opportunity to change direction in Washington and elect the first woman to the Massachusetts congressional delegation in 25 years. I am running for Congress to effect change and help facilitate the solutions our country so desperately needs.

Change is the legacy of this remarkable 5th Congressional District. The American Revolution was born in Concord and the Industrial Revolution was sparked on the banks of the Merrimack in Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill. 

The same spirit of change that drove the leaders of those revolutions has inspired the modern leaders of this district — from Edith Nourse Rogers to Paul Tsongas to Martin Meehan. 

It is that spirit we must embrace as we move this great nation back on course. Drawing on a lifetime commitment to change and service, I am prepared to take that spirit to Washington and lead on behalf of the people who make this district such a wonderful place to live and raise a family. 

I hope you will consider joining our campaign for change. To learn more, you can visit NikiTsongas.com. 

I look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you on the campaign trail!