Business Leader and Vietnam Veteran Seeks 5^th Congressional District

 

SALEM, OR—Retired Salem business leader and Vietnam veteran Fred Thompson will challenge Rep. Kurt Schrader in Oregon 5th congressional district next year.

“Our community, our state, and our nation are desperately looking for new leadership,” Thompson said as he announced he was running for Congress.  “We have watched the nation move so far to the left, that I can no longer watch from the sidelines.  It is time to for action.  It is time to get involved.”

Thompson said the Democrat-controlled Congress under Nancy Pelosi is a failure.  “From bailouts to buyouts, from unemployment to health care, new leadership is needed.  It’s time to focus on solving real problems, not creating bigger government,” Thompson said.

“Oregonians are struggling to survive, we are losing jobs, and our vast resources are no longer an integral part of this state’s economy.  With every vote he casts, Kurt Schrader acts as if he was representing San Francisco,” Thompson said.  “We don’t need a clone of liberal Nancy Pelosi representing us in Washington.”

Thompson, no relation to former actor and United States Senator Fred Thompson, is a retired president and chief executive officer of a successful wood waste energy facility.   For more than thirty-five years, he helped create jobs, make payrolls, and balance budgets in the agricultural, energy and wood products industries.  Fred Thompson is a successful business leader who understands the challenges of running both a small business and a major manufacturing company. 
Fred Thompson was raised on a family dairy farm and shares the values that make Oregon special.  He understands duty and service to this nation.  During the Vietnam War, he was a sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. 

Fred believes we can conserve and use our natural resources wisely and effectively, returning to environmentalism that is based on purpose and common sense.  As president and chief executive officer, Fred was responsible for converting agricultural waste into building materials for the furniture and cabinet industry.  During a 20-year career in the wood products industry, Fred was responsible for every facet of the manufacturing process, including successfully managing the operations of a major urban wood waste energy generating facility. 

Timber, agriculture, and water are the foundations of this state’s history and an integral part of our economy.  “There are those who want us to forget Oregon’s legacy.  I remind them, they didn’t call our nation’s main overland route the Nevada Trail.  They called it The Oregon Trail.”

Thompson received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Linfield College and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

"I believe that representing Oregonians in Congress is a mission, not a career," Thompson concluded.