Columns & Opinion Pieces

  • Pottstown Mercury Op-Ed: Senate Dems watch as job crisis grows
    Oct 20, 2011  - By Congressman Jim Gerlach, guest columnist With about 14 million Americans still out of work and a huge number of businesses struggling to survive, many of my constituents are wondering why Washington is not acting with greater urgency to rejuvenate our economy. I, and many of my Republican colleag... More
  • Roll Call Op-Ed: Medical Device Tax Hinders Innovation
    Oct 3, 2011  - By Reps. Erik Paulsen and Jim Gerlach At a time when our greatest priority needs to be creating jobs for our unemployed citizens, the government is on the verge of implementing a new medical device excise tax that will eliminate more than 40,000 well-paying jobs and imperil America’s global competit... More
  • Daily Local Guest Column: Honoring Our Veterans
    Nov 11, 2010  - By JIM GERLACH, Guest Column Honoring those who served in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day in 1985, President Ronald Reagan acknowledged that we could never repay the debt of gratitude owed to our country's veterans and that "all we can do is remember them and what they did an... More
  • Pennsylvania Bio Watch: Keeping our nation healthy and our economy strong
    Jul 6, 2010  - The following is a guest column that was published in the Pennsylvania Bio Watch newsletter: Congressman Jim Gerlach 6th District of Pennsylvania In March, President Obama signed into a law a sweeping overhaul of our nation’s health care system, which is likely to give the federal government unprece... More
  • Daily Local News Op-ed: More action and less bureaucracy
    Jul 6, 2010  - The following guest column was published in the Daily Local News: By JIM GERLACH, Guest Columnist The British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon spill has demonstrated that not only does oil and water not mix, but throw in bureaucracy, and you have a combination that can devastate the environment, idle ent... More
  • Pottstown Mercury Op-Ed: Health bill slashes Medicare, raises taxes
    Mar 28, 2010  - By Rep. Jim Gerlach, guest columnist Supporters of the health care overhaul that Speaker Nancy Pelosi muscled through the U.S. House of Representatives argue this will be the greatest accomplishment since Social Security and Medicare. What supporters of the $2.4 trillion scheme brush under the rug i... More
  • Pottstown Mercury Op-Ed: Americans Don't Want Bigger Government
    Sep 11, 2009  - By Rep. Jim Gerlach, guest columnist This summer's simmering debate over health care reform has revealed that Americans clearly want better care and insurance coverage, not just bigger and more costly government programs. Many fear the quality of health care will get worse with more government invol... More
  • Op-Ed on Healthcare Reform in Daily Local News
    Jun 18, 2009  - Daily Local News Partisanship won't cure health woes Thursday, June 18, 2009 By JIM GERLACH, Guest Columnist Medical care is one area where politics and partisanship should not matter. Patients choose their doctors based on the quality of care and expertise of the provider, not party affiliation. Do... More
  • Israel Must Defend Itself Against Hamas
    Jan 7, 2009  - By Rep. Jim Gerlach, Guest Columnist What was supposed to be a visit to the Gaza Strip in August 2003 took an abrupt detour. Our small group was driving along the gently rolling hills between the small southern Israeli town of Netivot and the Gaza border one minute. The next minute we turned around ... More
  • Gas woes spur need for energy plan
    Jun 9, 2008  - The only thing rising faster than gas prices these days is the blood pressure of American motorists. Understandably, folks are frustrated with pumping more of their paychecks into their gas tanks. Many are looking to Congress for answers. So far, the response from some in Congress has been to hold s... More