Rep. Gresham Barrett

Jane Dyer

CLEMSON, SC — Bringing her 30 Towns in 30 Days campaign to Clemson Tuesday night, Jane Dyer stressed restoring the values of South Carolina and a national health care program as key elements of her election platform.

The Democratic candidate for the 3rd District Congressional seat for South Carolina made an appearance at Clemson University’s Strom Thurmond Institute before a crowd of roughly 100 people.

Running to unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, Dyer took issue with Barrett’s position regarding health care. Dyer would favor negotiations between employers, health care providers and health experts to provide for the basic health care of children, the elderly and for workers, she said.

Dyer, an Easley High School graduate who also has earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University, said she thinks public service is every citizen’s responsibility. The former Air Force pilot and current FedEx pilot said she will work to restore the values of South Carolina if elected.

“It is simply wrong that a great country like America has ignored the basic needs of its people to obtain health care,” she said.

Barrett has consistently voted against legislation that would increase spending on health care, according to Dyer.

Barrett was not at what was originally scheduled as a debate between the two candidates Tuesday night. His office cited a scheduling conflict, said Donna London of the Strom Thurmond Institute in her introductory remarks for the event.

Asked about what in her view are the major problems of South Carolina the nation, Dyer listed the economy; unfair trade agreements that export jobs; the national debt and overspending; eliminating revenue sources by cutting taxes on oil companies and the rich; and the war in Iraq, which she said is draining large amounts of revenue from the federal budget.

When asked to list methods to solve these problems, Dyer spoke about regulating the financial industry again, creating jobs by putting people to work building infrastructure, making America the leader in alternative energy innovation and ending the war in Iraq.