Ossoff visits Dublin on campaign swing through Georgia

Jon Ossoff says the job of a U.S. senator should not be about grabbing national headlines.

“Most of what an effective Senate office does has little to do with whatever is leading the national political headlines, and for this part of Georgia I’ve really tried to focus on public safety and public services, infrastructure and on supporting veterans in Middle Georgia,” Ossoff said Friday on a campaign stop in Dublin.

Ossoff, a 39-year-old former documentary and investigative filmmaker, is seeking re-election to a second term. He brought receipts, as they say, pointing out several federally funded local projects he helped secure over his first term, including money for a long-awaited fire station on Dublin’s north side.

He has also been a staunch supporter of veterans and a watchdog over their health care, publicly calling out serious safety concerns at VA hospitals, specifically here at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center about the use of unsterilized medical equipment.

“The Carl Vinson VA in Dublin has been really troubled. I’ve tried to shine a bright light on the VA to get their act together and to make sure there’s real accountability for unforgivable errors that put veterans’ health at risk.

“I’m going to keep working to keep the facility here, but there also has to be accountability for the failures in the surgical theater that exposed veterans to these blood-borne diseases. It’s unacceptable, and they’ve got to clean up their act.”

Ossoff worked to help pass the bipartisan PACT Act, which he called the “most significant strengthening of veterans’ health care in decades.” He also wrote and passed the Access for Veterans to Records Act to help veterans qualify for benefits.

“There was a tens of thousands-long backlog at the National Archives for veterans seeking their service records. Now there’s a bunch of VA benefits that you can’t get without your service records. It’s a huge deal.

“So I wrote this bill, passed it into law, cleared out that backlog at the National Archives, so that now veterans have much more timely access to their records. And that’s the kind of real legislative work that’s never going to lead the headlines but makes a real difference in people’s lives.”

Ossoff visited Dublin before heading to the coast on Friday during a campaign swing through the state after stops in Valdosta and Warner Robins the day before. He paused for an interview with The Courier Herald at the Hometown Grill on Telfair Street, a regular stop when in town to visit with cook Lucy Edmond, also known as “Nana.”

“Nana’s granddaughter worked for me for a while. Whenever I come through here I try to stop and get a plate. It’s great to be back.”

Ossoff said the swing was about “meeting with folks and figuring out what next we can achieve in each of these communities across the state.”

“The time I spend out across Georgia is the most valuable time I have in my schedule,” he said, “because I hear directly from communities on what they need, and I can take that back to Washington and get things done.

“Small cities and towns across Georgia haven’t gotten a lot of love from Washington for decades, or attention from their senators, so I’ve dialed in on what Dublin needs, what Laurens County needs, what Middle Georgia needs, to try to deliver tangible results.”

Those results, Ossoff said, included securing federal funds for the new Northside Fire Station on U.S. 441 North, a project in discussions for almost a half-century.

“Sen. (Raphael) Warnock and I together delivered millions of dollars for sewer and water upgrades here in Dublin. Something else I want to highlight, a few miles up the road I appropriated funds for Wilkinson County for their first ever public sewer system. The county had been entirely on septic, and it was flooding and was a health issue.”

Ossoff also touted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as “the biggest investment in America’s infrastructure since the Eisenhower administration,” and said it has paid big dividends locally.

“Every seaport and airport in Georgia getting upgrades, lead pipes being removed from drinking water systems. It’s launching a broadband internet expansion for rural Georgia that’s unlike anything since rural electrification in the 1930s. 

“So far that law has delivered more than $13 million in infrastructure upgrades for Laurens County. And I’m working with local leaders here to make sure that it continues to deliver upgrades to infrastructure and quality of life here in Dublin and across the region.”

Ossoff, the youngest member of the Senate, faces no announced Democratic candidate, but former U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley plan to run as Republicans. Though he and Warnock took office the same day, Ossoff is considered Georgia’s senior senator because he was elected to a full six years while Warnock won a special election to fill an unexpired term.

“I want people to know my office is here to provide service and solve problems. My goal since I was elected has been to set up the best constituent service that Georgians have ever had. Whether it’s veterans who are having trouble with the VA, folks having trouble with the IRS, Medicare or Social Security, anything at all, my team and I are standing by to assist. We’re highly responsive and eager to help.”