Dear Friends,
I’m running for Congress because in too many areas, business-as-usual politics has prevented us from addressing the important challenges facing our nation. In these tough economic times, we need a steady, articulate voice against the "pork" and over-spending of government. Every dollar irresponsibly spent by Congress is a dollar diverted from pressing priorities like creating jobs, lowering tax burdens on working Americans, supporting those fighting overseas, making good on our promises to senior citizens, and paying down the national debt.
Instead of controlling runaway spending, Congress is bailing out big corporations and breaking ethics laws. Let’s bring character and integrity back to Congress and protect our children’s future from today’s overspending."
ASSEMBLYMAN VAN TRAN
2010 Candidate for Congress - 47th District
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/25/2009 | Press Release
Assemblyman Tran Presents Education Grants To Stanley Elementary For Interactive Technology In The Classroom
Dave Everett (951) 233-7804 GARDEN GROVE - This morning, Assemblyman Van Tran (R-Costa Mesa) presented Stanley Elementary School in Garden Grove with an education grant for $5,000. The grant was generously donated by the Barona Tribe of Mission Indians, who asked Assemblyman Tran to find a deserving school in the 68th Assembly District.Tran chose to congratulate Stanley Elementary School for their efforts integrating technology into the classroom to engage young minds.
"Stanley Elementary School's innovative idea of using state of the art technology to motivate their students is a great example of how schools can achieve wonders if given the resources," said Assemblyman Tran. "As our public school system in California struggles to meet even the most basic of standards, we should be looking at ways to encourage innovation in our education system. Stanley Elementary is a great example of this. When it comes to our children's education, I would much rather fund the technology of the 21st century than the bureaucracy of the 20th century."
The Garden Grove Unified School District's goal is to have this cutting edge technology in every classroom, but due to budget constraints, they have not yet completed this worthwhile goal. The $5,000 grant will enable the school to purchase four ELMO Document Cameras and four LCD projectors.
ELMO's are incredible devices that allow for a live video feed to project what the teacher is doing at their work station onto a large screen where all the students can easily see. The combined use of technology and ingenuity in the classroom will motivate students to actively take part in their own education and increase their focus on the lesson.
Furthermore, ELMO's give teachers a greater range of flexibility when it comes to their lesson plan. Educators will be able to use hands-on technology to make the class time more efficient and the instruction more effective than ever before. The use of integrated technology into our children's education system will enable to them reach their full potential and raise the standard of education.
Jan 28, 2010
ssemblyman Van Tran Responds to the State of the Union Address
Van Tran applauds President Obama’s efforts to focus on jobs and the economy.
Santa Ana — Tonight, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address. The message was clear, and the administration has renewed its promise to focusing on our economy and creating jobs. At a time when 58 percent of the American people feel the nation is headed in the wrong direction, President Obama is attempting to bring the focus back on moving in the right direction, and that is the direction of job creation and fixing the budget.
“I appreciate that President Obama is changing his tone and focusing his efforts on bringing his policies to be more what America wants and needs. However, I feel there was not nearly enough of an emphasis on creating jobs,” says Assemblyman Van Tran, candidate for the 47th congressional district. “What we need is an economic plan that focuses on getting people back to work, not government overspending. My first priorities are creating jobs, cutting out wasteful government spending to fix the budget, and to get rid of the red tape our government creates for business.”
President Obama also spoke at length about the need for healthcare reform. He renewed his promise to the American people for transparency of governmental practices, something that he admitted was missing in current negotiations.
“Contrary to popular belief, we support healthcare reform, but the current bill is too big, and attempts to do too many things at once,” says Assemblyman Tran. “What we need to focus on is how to reign in these ideas, and pass a responsible bill that provides quality healthcare coverage without breaking the bank.”
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Orange County Republicans and the party’s politicians representing Newport-Mesa statewide and nationally must like their chances going into the 2010 electoral season, now that the GOP has pulled off a stunning victory in Massachusetts.
Scott Brown’s Tuesday win, deep inside Democratic territory, snapped up a U.S. Senate seat for the Republicans, which for decades had belonged to the late Ted Kennedy. This followed two big GOP victories in New Jersey and Virginia. The Massachusetts upset also weakened the Democrats’ grip on both houses of Congress, stripping them of a filibuster- proof supermajority in the Senate. It almost certainly has doomed their chances of passing the bitterly fought health-care-reform bill.
“The Massachusetts election indicates a widespread dissatisfaction with the goals and methodology of the current Democrat majority and the president,” U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. “If that’s true in liberal Massachusetts, it’s likely true elsewhere, including California.”
What happened last week can only buoy a quartet of area Republicans — U.S. Rep. John Campbell, State Sen. Tom Harman and State Assemblymen Van Tran and Chuck DeVore — who this year will be defending their seats or vacating them to challenge incumbents in higher offices.
“Since the 2008 elections, the thought du jour in California has been the Democrats will sweep the governor’s office, the U.S. Senate and keep all their legislative seats. This election shows that Americans are watching,” said Harman, who’s running for election as state attorney general.
Echoed Tran: “What we saw in Massachusetts this week is a demand for change that is deep and palpable throughout America — especially right here in Orange County.”
Campbell likened Massachusetts to a tide lifting up the fleet of Republicans boats.
“It wasn’t just a big wave. It was a tsunami,” he said.
While the congressman represents Orange County, one of the nation’s Republican strongholds, he says he’s not taking lightly the challenge being mounted by Democrat Beth Krom, the former Irvine mayor and councilwoman.
Krom acknowledges that the odds of unseating Campbell are against her. Still, she likes her chances, despite her party’s blowing it in Massachusetts.
“I don’t see it as a setback. What I do think is that the voters of Massachusetts seem to be indicating that they are more interested in voting for a person rather than a party,” Krom said, alluding to her prospects for picking up swing votes and winning over some of those rock-ribbed Republicans.
And, who knows? Krom might even pull off a Scott Brown-like upset in Orange County. Either way, we wish her, Campbell and all of the other candidates best of luck for their 2010 campaigns.
Scott Brown’s Tuesday win, deep inside Democratic territory, snapped up a U.S. Senate seat for the Republicans, which for decades had belonged to the late Ted Kennedy. This followed two big GOP victories in New Jersey and Virginia. The Massachusetts upset also weakened the Democrats’ grip on both houses of Congress, stripping them of a filibuster- proof supermajority in the Senate. It almost certainly has doomed their chances of passing the bitterly fought health-care-reform bill.
“The Massachusetts election indicates a widespread dissatisfaction with the goals and methodology of the current Democrat majority and the president,” U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. “If that’s true in liberal Massachusetts, it’s likely true elsewhere, including California.”
What happened last week can only buoy a quartet of area Republicans — U.S. Rep. John Campbell, State Sen. Tom Harman and State Assemblymen Van Tran and Chuck DeVore — who this year will be defending their seats or vacating them to challenge incumbents in higher offices.
“Since the 2008 elections, the thought du jour in California has been the Democrats will sweep the governor’s office, the U.S. Senate and keep all their legislative seats. This election shows that Americans are watching,” said Harman, who’s running for election as state attorney general.
Echoed Tran: “What we saw in Massachusetts this week is a demand for change that is deep and palpable throughout America — especially right here in Orange County.”
Campbell likened Massachusetts to a tide lifting up the fleet of Republicans boats.
“It wasn’t just a big wave. It was a tsunami,” he said.
While the congressman represents Orange County, one of the nation’s Republican strongholds, he says he’s not taking lightly the challenge being mounted by Democrat Beth Krom, the former Irvine mayor and councilwoman.
Krom acknowledges that the odds of unseating Campbell are against her. Still, she likes her chances, despite her party’s blowing it in Massachusetts.
“I don’t see it as a setback. What I do think is that the voters of Massachusetts seem to be indicating that they are more interested in voting for a person rather than a party,” Krom said, alluding to her prospects for picking up swing votes and winning over some of those rock-ribbed Republicans.
And, who knows? Krom might even pull off a Scott Brown-like upset in Orange County. Either way, we wish her, Campbell and all of the other candidates best of luck for their 2010 campaigns.
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By Ina Jaffe
January 1, 2010
Republicans are hoping to make gains in the 2010 elections, and they’re looking for new voices to carry their message to voters.
One of their top prospects is California Assemblyman Van Tran. He’s the first Vietnamese-American to serve in a state legislature. Now, he has been recruited by the party to run for Congress in a Southern California district with the highest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans in the nation.
Tran has represented the 68th Assembly District for nearly six years. Before that, he was a member of a local city council. And Tran’s personal story is very much like those of his constituents. His family left Vietnam on an American military transport plane a week before the fall of Saigon, when he was 10 years old.
“It was a trip that defined … my life,” Tran says. “You’ve left a lot of memories back in the old country, and still you remember the legacy of the war, and you live through it, through your parents and through your elders as well.”
That experience, says Tran, has given him a unique perspective that has guided his political life.
“It goes back to the virtues that make this country great,” he says. “It’s all about freedom, it’s all about opportunity, it’s all about hard work and fairness and the generosity of the American people as well.”
Tran describes himself as a conservative on social issues, as well as fiscal ones. But U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is in charge of recruiting candidates for the National Republican Congressional Committee, says he was looking for more than a conservative ideologue.
“I’m looking for fresh faces, people who understand their district, listen to their district, could actually solve problems,” McCarthy says. “When you look at this district and the makeup of it, [Tran] is one of the first names who come to mind.”
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That’s Debatable
A new study by researchers at UC Irvine suggests that racial bias against black people influences how people view President Obama and his health-care policies.
The study found that 65% of people with implicit prejudices toward black people supported a health-care platform when they were told it was proposed by President Clinton.
When the same group was told the plan was presented by Obama, only 41% of people with prejudices supported it, the study found. Do you agree that racial bias could taint how Americans view Obama’s health-care reform efforts?
Americans have concerns about President Obama’s health-care reform efforts for numerous reasons.
Some are concerned about the government running our health-care system like they run the DMV, others feel the process is too fast for such an enormous reform and others question the timing of new taxes and penalties on an already struggling economy.
Like many other aspects of life, I have no doubt that people’s prejudices could play a factor.
But in my experience, no matter what background you come from, people want the same things — an opportunity for a good living, safety for their family and a bright future. Health-care reform could affect each of these.
Our focus should be on these challenges that unite us, not our racial differences.
Americans concerns about the president’s health-care proposal are perfectly reasonable and fueled by much more than any statistical prejudice.
Assemblyman Van Tran
(R-Costa Mesa)
The UC Irvine study is interesting but worthless from a political science standpoint.
At the least, there is insufficient data to draw a conclusion, at the worst the whole exercise is a non sequitur. Why?
Former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama are more than simply presidents with different racial backgrounds — they are also presidents with vastly different approval ratings.
When Republicans took the Congress in 1994, the result was six years of fiscal restraint leading to surpluses, leaving Clinton with stronger fiscal credibility than Obama.
A better comparison might have been between Obama and Carter, the former president Obama is most likely to emulate.
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore
(R-Newport Beach)
[State Sen. Tom Harman did not respond.]
The study found that 65% of people with implicit prejudices toward black people supported a health-care platform when they were told it was proposed by President Clinton.
When the same group was told the plan was presented by Obama, only 41% of people with prejudices supported it, the study found. Do you agree that racial bias could taint how Americans view Obama’s health-care reform efforts?
Americans have concerns about President Obama’s health-care reform efforts for numerous reasons.
Some are concerned about the government running our health-care system like they run the DMV, others feel the process is too fast for such an enormous reform and others question the timing of new taxes and penalties on an already struggling economy.
Like many other aspects of life, I have no doubt that people’s prejudices could play a factor.
But in my experience, no matter what background you come from, people want the same things — an opportunity for a good living, safety for their family and a bright future. Health-care reform could affect each of these.
Our focus should be on these challenges that unite us, not our racial differences.
Americans concerns about the president’s health-care proposal are perfectly reasonable and fueled by much more than any statistical prejudice.
Assemblyman Van Tran
(R-Costa Mesa)
The UC Irvine study is interesting but worthless from a political science standpoint.
At the least, there is insufficient data to draw a conclusion, at the worst the whole exercise is a non sequitur. Why?
Former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama are more than simply presidents with different racial backgrounds — they are also presidents with vastly different approval ratings.
When Republicans took the Congress in 1994, the result was six years of fiscal restraint leading to surpluses, leaving Clinton with stronger fiscal credibility than Obama.
A better comparison might have been between Obama and Carter, the former president Obama is most likely to emulate.
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore
(R-Newport Beach)
[State Sen. Tom Harman did not respond.]
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