Preston Nouri says he'll advocate for Medicare and Social Security

Apr. 12—SHARON — Preston Nouri, a candidate for the 16th congressional district Democratic nomination, talked budget, abortion rights and healthcare at the Mercer County Democratic Party headquarters Friday in Sharon.

Nouri, running for the seat held by seven-term Republican Mike Kelly, was born and raised in Erie County. His family owns a convenience store and gas station there.

"We're trying to stay involved in a real way being business owners out in the community," Nouri said.

He has also worked in Washington, D.C., for the majority of his professional career in the U.S. House of Representatives, in the state department of diplomatic security and, most recently, in the Pentagon legislative and oversight.

"That's where I got to see a lot of it happen," Nouri said. "I got to see that every single year we're wasting $25 billion."

He said with that amount of money, we could end homelessness in the U.S., make sure Medicare and Medicaid are well-funded, and make sure that teachers get what they need in the classroom.

"Where are our elected officials to be able to represent and advocate for us at the highest level?" Nouri said.

He said Kelly has done nothing for the last 13 years but advocate for his own back pocket instead of the people he has represented.

"We need to be able to think about what we are going to do for kids in the future to be able to move in down the street with the future they deserve," Nouri said.

Specifically talking about issues, Nouri said Kelly endorsed the national abortion ban. He said on the first day of women's month he had a roundtable with nurses, United Way and Planned Parenthood representatives.

"It was a conversation to talk about the importance of the things that we're going to be dealing with in 2024," Nouri said. "Just showing people that choice is still on the ballot here in '24 and making sure people know where I stand against my opponent in making sure we're going to represent privacy freedoms and women's bodily autonomy."

Nouri said the Republican budget plan, if passed, would mean that people would be paying into Social Security across the country and continue to lose out on the benefits they paid into.

"They're trying to raise the age of Social Security, they're preventing people from being able to have access to healthcare through their denial of pre-existing conditions and trying to privatize Medicare," Nouri said. "Their plan is to give seniors and people who are on Medicare a certain set amount of money a month."

He said he has an aging district and he wants to make sure people have the best healthcare possible and make sure their paychecks are going to be protected by social security.

Nouri said the budget plan for the Republicans is flawed.

"We need to make sure that we actually represent the values," Nouri said. "A budget's supposed to reflect your values, and it seems Mike Kelly's values have been reflected as clearly as possible."

He said the most important thing to highlight is to simply not give more tax breaks.

"I'm going to advocate for the full funding of Medicare and Social Security," Nouri said.

Nouri ended his speech to applause and cheers from the audience.

"With your support we'll make sure that 2024 is the year we retire Mike Kelly," Nouri said.

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com