GRAVES ADDRESSES TAXPAYER MARCH ON WASHINGTON

(WASHINGTON, DC) – State Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger), Republican candidate for Georgia’s 9th District, spoke to an estimated 1.5 million individuals and a nation-wide television audience at today’s Taxpayer March on Washington.  Graves was one of a handful of elected officials to address the Tea Party on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

“We must take back America, the Republic.  And we must push back this over reaching, over taxing, over burdensome, money hungry government that seeks to preserve itself at our liberty,” said Graves.

“We will demand from Washington…we will demand less spending, not deficit spending…we will demand a balanced-budget, not a pork-filled budget…we will demand personal responsibility, not the bureaucratic nanny…and yes, yes we will demand empower the patriots and not the politicians anymore,” said Graves.

“Here at this capitol on this high ground, we are bound together.  Here together united and we will be steadfast and resolved in preserving America and her liberty.  And, may today be forever known as the day that we stood together and said in one voice, ‘Don’t Tread on Me!’” added Graves.

Prior to the Tea Party, Graves led hundreds of Georgians in the March from Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington, D.C., down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol building.   

Graves joined other notable conservatives at the U.S. Capitol, including Georgia Congressman and Chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee Tom Price, Chairman of the House Republican Conference Mike Pence, Tennessee Congressman Marsha Blackburn and South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim DeMint.

Graves was invited to speak because of his conservative leadership in the Georgia House of Representatives and for authoring the Jobs, Opportunity and Business Success Act, HB 481 and 482, last session.  The JOBS Act received national attention and was focused on helping small businesses and creating, expanding and attracting jobs through a series of tax credits, cuts, and incentives for businesses to hire Georgians.

Organizers of the Taxpayer March on Washington and Tea Party Rally said the purpose of the March was to send a “clear message that governments at all levels have been spending way too much money. The federal government is especially guilty of this, as they pile up the debt, deficits and unfunded liabilities. They are taxing, borrowing or printing money with no end in sight. This madness has to stop, and that is why we are demanding that they stop the wasteful spending and stop burdening taxpayers with more debt.  This protest is about defending our liberty, and about restoring our Constitution by reducing the size and scope of the federal government,” according the group’s website.

Graves was also a speaker at the Atlanta Tea Party at the Georgia State Capitol last April.