SMETHPORT –– Susan Boser, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, returned to the region Tuesday, speaking at a mid-day “Meet and Greet” event at the Smethport Fire Hall.

A professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Boser defeated Wade Jodun of Clinton County in the primary election and will face incumbent Rep. Glenn Thompson, a former health care professional from Centre County, who was first elected in 2008.

This will be the first election in the newly aligned 15th Congressional District that includes McKean, Cameron, Elk, Forest, Warren, Venango, Clarion, Jefferson, Clearfield, Indian, Cambria, Armstrong counties and a part of Centre County.

McKean County Democratic Party Chairman Marty Wilder, who was elected last month, introduced Boser.

“Susan is what we need in Congress. She understands rural values,” Wilder said.

Boser opened her comments by calling on the two political parties to improve dialogue.

“The Democrats must start talking to Republicans and vice-versa,” she said.

Boser said that while she resides in Indiana County, she is familiar with the McKean County area, having volunteered at the former Bradford Children’s Home when she lived here.

“Creating good-paying jobs is probably the biggest economic challenge facing the district,” Boser said. “Incentives are needed for small businesses to thrive because they create more jobs than large corporations. Young people are leaving this region for better paying jobs in urban areas.”

Many of the problems facing the district, such as the opioid crisis, poverty, access to sufficient health care and low minimum wages and secure retirement, are economy-based, Boser said.

Saying that the technological revolution began in the 1970s and ’80s, Boser cited the need for high-speed internet –– something not all people have here –– as a way that businesses could use for information, purchasing, selling and increased job training.

“Having high-speed internet here is absolutely possible,” she said.

Boser also mentioned her support for increased rural cooperatives, member-owned organizations that provide less expensive and dependable services. Another possibility for this region, and one Boser backs, is the use of indoor farming, which would allow farmers to market their products year-round.

For Boser, she said that cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits as advocated by U. S. House Speaker Paul Ryan are not the methods to contain costs.

“We must deal with the deficit, but not on the backs of these two programs. People have a right to a secure future,” she said.

Boser was critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, which has resulted in many children being separated from their families and relocated throughout the country.

In a related matter, Boser said that wars, often caused by religious and cultural differences and decades in the making, are one of the main causes of the international immigration crisis.

She said, “While there is no silver bullet, improved trade can help reduce the chances of war.”

As for energy, a large sector of the nation’s economy, Boser said, “We can’t tell the coal industry to desist.”

At the same time, she said she advocates good-working relationships with labor unions to pay decent wages. Additionally, the state legislature has defeated recent attempts to tax the shale gas, of which Pennsylvania has the second largest reserves.

“In Ohio, the tax is 5 percent on this extraction, while in Texas it is 17 percent, and the companies pay these rates,” Boser said.  “Even a 5 percent rate would help the financial problems facing our state. Opponents of any shale gas tax say taxes would drive the companies out of Pennsylvania, but that’s not the way the price is set. The price is set at what is competitive.”

During the question-and-answer time, Boser was asked how Democrats should respond if the special counsel Robert Mueller investigation into possible Russian interference of the 2016 presidential election results in the president’s impeachment and Congress fails to act.

“There is power in Congress to stand for policies already in place, and Congress hasn’t used them,” Boser said.

The event was hosted by Jim Heckman, McKean County’s Democratic Party’s state committeeman.