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The Post  
 
Jon Runyan: Political Prep from Football
 
  by: Rebel - Havertown, PA
started: 07/28/11 9:38 am | updated: 07/28/11 9:38 am
 
Rep. Jon Runyan, former Philadelphia Eagle and freshman Republican from South Jersey is on Capitol Hill, and has spent 6 1/2 months learning an entirely new game.

According to Runyan, football was great preparation for his new job. Being in the House demands knowledge of the plays (legislative procedure), time management, teamwork - and stamina, to negotiate the miles of corridors and tunnels in the Capitol complex.

Runyan has tried to walk the tightrope between being loyal to the fiscally conservative views that got him elected and taking care of the district.

Wonder if he wishes he was back at camp at Lehigh this week?
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So far, Runyan, the chairman of a Veterans Affairs subcommittee, has written several pieces of legislation that passed the House but have not yet been acted on by the Senate. One would reset the cost-of-living allowance for veterans' disability benefits, which have not been keeping pace with inflation. Another would iron out wage disparities that followed the merger of Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Lakehurst Naval Air Station.

He also sponsored an amendment, which has passed the House as part of a defense funding bill, to bar airlines from charging excessive baggage fees to soldiers returning from combat abroad, after Delta whacked a unit of troops $2,800 in fees for having extra baggage.

"He's quiet but determined, and that's made him very effective," said Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.), dean of the state's delegation. "There's too much noise up here."

He has voted with the Republican leadership 91 percent of the time, according to a Washington Post database of congressional roll calls.

Regional tea-party leader Don Adams commended the freshman's votes to approve the austere budget plan written by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.); to repeal the health-care law; to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood; and to end subsidies for public broadcasting.

"He's kept his word, doing what he said he would do," said Adams, head of the Independence Hall Tea Party Association's PAC, which endorsed Runyan in 2010.

Still, Runyan opposed a measure that would have killed the program that replenishes beaches on the East and West Coasts. The House Study Committee, a caucus of conservative Republicans, estimated it would save $95 million to end a subsidy for wealthy homeowners. Runyan says it's vital to protect the Jersey Shore from storms.

The House defeated the measure.
Runyan also got $49 million in the defense authorization bill for construction at the McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base.

Democrats offered a critical view. "Rep. Jon Runyan has been building a radical record of ending Medicare and protecting Big Oil," said Josh Schwerin, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Runyan also has not held an open town meeting with constituents since he took office, said Schwerin, calling Runyan "too afraid to stand up and face New Jersey families after voting to end Medicare."

The Third District stretches across Burlington and Ocean Counties, with Cherry Hill in Camden County. Nearly a fifth of district residents are over 65.
 
 
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