Congressman Tim Walz is calling on the President to address skyrocketing gas prices.Talking to the owner of the Shell Gas Station in downtown Mankato and small business owners, Walz says he wrote a letter to President Bush hoping to get oil company executives to lower gas prices and help turn around the sluggish economy. "The options are not acceptable of doing nothing the consumers out here are hurting the economy is hurting the small business owners are hurting and we're unwilling to say that's the case. I'm going to keep turning over every stone that we possibly can and willing to look at everything."Walz says the problem needs the Presidents full attention to bring relief. "How about instead of 560 billion dollars you take 460 billion and the rest of that will provide real instantaneous relief that will help people and start to use their fuel again as they need too."The congressman says the President can use his ties in the oil and gas industry to offset the problem.And also find common-sense solutions to the problem.

Last weekend, the DFL endorsed Tim Walz as its candidate for Congress in the First District.

Walz deserves to be re-elected for a second term. He has been a fresh breath of air in an otherwise business as usual government...

(Mankato, Rochester & Winona, Minnesota) – Today, Tim Walz and a team of volunteers started a grassroots conversation with voters in southern Minnesota about the issues that matter the most, such as the economy, health care, veterans’ benefits, and restoring transparency and accountability in government.  The campaign Saturday went door-to-door and made phone calls in Mankato, Rochester and Winona, talking to an estimated 5,000 voters.

“In 2006, I ran for Congress to change the priorities in Washington and put the public good over narrow special interests,” said Walz, a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard. “This year we will build the largest grassroots campaign in the history of the First District.  It will be people powered and focused on building a better future.” 

A record number of people turned out for the Minnesota DFL precinct caucuses on February 5, 2008, demonstrating just how supportive the public is for continuing to change the way Washington works.  Tim Walz has held more than 30 house parties and signed up more than 2,000 volunteers to work on his campaign.  Walz has received donations from 3,000 individual contributors from Southern Minnesota and had already raised $1,151,000 by the end of last year.

“As a public school teacher, I understand the challenges that middle-class families face, and that’s why I am working to create more jobs, help family farmers, promote energy independence, improve education and balance the budget,” Walz concluded.  “We believe that we’ve got to make health care more affordable and accessible.  It won’t be easy, but to really change health care we going to have to change Washington.” 

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