ALBANY — The mid-term campaigns are well underway with last Monday’s public announcement by Michael R. McNulty, at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Albany, that he will seek reelection for his seat in Congress.
"I want to continue to get this area their fair share," the Democratic congressman told The Enterprise.

McNulty’s district, which encompasses seven counties, is listed by the Associated Press as 45th nation-wide for receipt of federal funds. These counties include Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie counties.

McNulty attended last week’s reorganizational meeting at Guilderland Town Hall to show his support for the Democratic victories in the town. He said he was proud of all the accomplishments made by the elected officials in the Guilderland community.

The congressman has been in office since 1988, replacing Sam Stratton, who retired before the end of his term. McNulty has faced no serious threats in Republican challengers, and the Republican Party has not yet named a candidate for the 2006 seat. If reelected this year, McNulty says, his top priorities are to continue fighting for the removal of troops from Iraq and do whatever he can to help create a Democratic Congress in the upcoming mid-term elections.
"It’s time for the Iraqis to step forward and be responsible for their own security," McNulty said about the war in Iraq. Although he voted with the majority to allow Bush to wage war, McNulty says now the war is completely mismanaged by the Bush Administration and a Republican-controlled Congress.
"On the war in Iraq, the president has been wrong every step of the way," he said. The Capital District congressman cited a $277 billion cost for the war and 17,000 dead or wounded American service people as reasons why the Iraqi government needs to be self-reliant. McNulty said he believes the American troops in Iraq should be brought back home this year.
McNulty said that President Bush’s own 9-11 Commission could make no connection between Saddam Hussein and the attack on New York City, and that Osama bin Laden is still alive, plotting to attack America once again. The congressman said these facts "constituted a tremendous failure of the war on terror," by the Bush Administration.

Another major issue the congressman has taken on is defending and protecting the current Social Security system. McNulty does not want the benefits of private citizens to be shifted over to Wall Street, he said.
"I think it’s a very bad idea to put our Social Security system at risk," said McNulty, who adds financial institutions should not be allowed to make money off working-class America.
Restoring social programs for the working poor and lower-class Americans is high on the priority list for McNulty. According to McNulty, the Republican party’s "policy of Robin Hood in reverse, stealing from the poor to give to the rich, by cutting social programs and giving money to the people who don’t need it," no longer works for America.

The congressmen attributes his accomplishments and long-standing tenure in Congress to the people he represents. In the last election, McNulty won by over 70 percent of the vote and carried all of his counties, including the five counties in his district that are Republican. He ran against Warren Redlich, a Guilderland lawyer.

When asked if he is looking for continued support from the town of Guilderland, the Hilltowns, and surrounding areas McNulty told The Enterprise, "You bet I am, they have all been very good to me in past elections."