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Delivered to the Galveston Island Pachyderm Club
May 24, 2007
Hello, I am Chris Peden, Mayor Pro-Tem of Friendswood. I want to thank the Galveston Island Pachyderms for inviting me to speak today. It is an honor to be here with the largest Pachyderm Club in Texas. I can’t think of a place more fitting to declare that I am a candidate for the Republican nomination for the United States Congress from the Fourteenth District of Texas than right here. Today I will be brief because I want to save some time at the end for questions from the audience.
I’m going to take the next few minutes to tell you a little bit about who I am, to give you some insight into the things that I’ve accomplished professionally and politically, and I’ll share my reasons for wanting to be your congressman.
First, let me introduce my family, without their sacrifices I would not be here, nor could I serve the people of Texas.
I married my best friend right after graduation from college and we have been blessed with four wonderful children. My wife of nineteen years Jackie is here along with our children, Alex, Brittany, Noah and Nick. My parents Bill and Lois Peden who live in the district in Alvin are here as well.
My pastor is also here, James L. Kilgore. Consequently, he also made my first campaign contribution.
I also want to mention Michelle Culpepper-Garcia. I'd like Michelle to stand. Michelle is my staff assistant and she is a proud United States Marine. She has already done one tour in Iraq and has just been reactivated. She'll be gone again by the end of the summer, maybe even back to Iraq again, and I want her to know how much we appreciate her sacrafice and that she will be in our prayers until she returns home safely. I also wanted you to see the face of our troops so you understand how personal this war is to me and why it's so important that we give our troops, like Michelle, everything they need to win the war and come home safely. Please give Michelle a hand.
I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I’m the middle child of Bill and Lois. I was fortunate to have the happiest and most blessed childhood along with an older brother Greg whom, at a minimum, I see every week at church and a younger sister, Michele, with whom I speak almost every day.
My father was transferred several times during his career so I enjoyed a diverse upbringing from Tulsa, OK to Pittsburgh, PA to Spring, TX to Pasadena, TX to Oklahoma City, OK to Spring, TX and finally to Friendswood, TX.
I crammed four years into six at Stephen F Austin State University where I received a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting in 1988. I received my CPA license in 1993, my securities license in 1996 and my insurance license in 2003.
I have had a very diverse financial services career and have managed my own accounting and tax practice in Friendswood for the past 11 years. I created about 10 jobs in the district and I know how hard it is to run a successful business with burdensome taxes and excessive government regulations.
I also believe in serving our community. I taught Sunday school for a numbers of years at our church home, Life Tabernacle in Houston, along with a financial stewardship class.
I was elected to the board of directors of The Hope Foundation in 1997, elected Treasurer in 1998 and President in 2000. I was recently term limited as President but still serve as Vice-President. Hope Village in Friendswood houses approximately 70 individuals with mental retardation without the assistance of any governmental entity. In retrospect, helping people move along the path towards independence has been one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done.
My public service is guided by my faith. I am a Christian and of this I am not ashamed. My personal relationship with Jesus Christ plays a pivotal role in my life. If I am fortunate enough to be elected to congress, as a pro-family conservative, I intend to defend the rights of unborn children and traditional marriage between one man and one woman, while opposing efforts to push God out of the public square.
In 2005, I decided to run for Friendswood City Council so the ordinary taxpayer would once again have a voice. Many of you are familiar with the property tax relief group Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes or CLOUT and their always-opinionated executive director Edd Hendee. John LeCour and I were fortunate enough to be supported by CLOUT and Edd and we won a decisive victory. A very personally gratifying moment was when my peers on council selected me to serve our city and them as Mayor Pro Tem.
During my first budget cycle, we lowered taxes almost 6% below the effective rate. This past year we limited the growth of government to 3%. Much of this was done with little media attention or fanfare until we decided to give the people their money back.
I am proud to say that we are the only city in CD 14 and one of only two cities in the state of Texas that has ever provided a property tax refund for its over taxed citizens; we returned more than $1,000,000 to Friendswood residents.
While some in Washington were talking about cutting taxes, we were actually giving taxpayers their money back in Friendswood.
I’m deeply motivated by my faith and guided by traditional values. I believe in “fighting the good fight,” no matter how long the odds of victory.
Fighting has been a keystone of my political career. I fought and changed the laws in Friendswood to protect the landowner from eminent domain for economic development reasons.
That’s why even though we fell short, I fought LULAC and the rising tide of liberalism and led the charge to make English the official language of the city of Friendswood. We lost that battle, but we fought it; and I’ll fight for you in the U.S. Congress.
There are large parts of this district, Galveston County being one of them, that were not a part of CD 14 three years ago.
The new CD 14 needs a fighter not an academic. With Tom Delay gone, Galveston County and the rest of CD 14 can’t afford a congressman who won’t step into the arena merely because he doesn’t like the rules.
There are clear and compelling reasons to elect me over the incumbent: I am a proven conservative Republican; the incumbent is a self-described Libertarian.
I support winning the Global War on Terror; the incumbent has voted against the war.
I think Islamo-Fascist terrorists were responsible for the 9/11 attacks; my opponent thinks America’s Middle East policy was responsible for the attacks.
I support fully funding NASA’s budget and the Vision for Space Exploration; the incumbent does not.
It’s clear that the incumbent does not represent the priorities of the new CD 14 -- I do. This is a new district and we need a new congressman.
I don’t have to tell the people in this room that we live in difficult times.
These times call for a leader with a proven track record of getting results and a demonstrated ability to build consensus, especially within the Republican caucus.
We need a congressman that represents the conservative values and the local priorities of the CD 14 of the future and not the past. We need someone who understands not just the theory of conservative politics, but the practice of conservative government. We need a congressman who is known for results and not just rhetoric.
I am that person, not because I say so but because of what I have done and what I can do for the people of CD 14.
My friends, I am running for congress to fight for you, to fight for your families, to fight for our conservative values, and to fight for the future of this nation.
I need your vote in the Republican primary and I plan to earn it. I need your volunteerism, your financial support, and most importantly your prayers.
You can learn more about where I stand on the issues at www.chrispeden.org.
If you share my sense of urgency, then I want you to join Team Peden and send a Texas conservative with the courage to lead to Congress.
Thank you so much for your time and your attention.
God bless our troops, God bless America, and God bless Texas.
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