Mattsletters: Honorable Ray LaHood from Illinois

11/06/2018

Honorable Ray H. LaHood

c/o DLA Piper LLP

500 8^th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20004

Dear Secretary LaHood,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have an interest in learning history including social justice. In these subjects is that I want to understand that there is a need to advance on Civil Rights to help protect people who are different from discrimination, find ways to improve public safety with transportation, a strong need to protect the environment from pollution by having environmental protection with having different alternative energy and renewable energy, and many others. Secretary LaHood I find you work as a moderate with being bipartisan in your role as U.S. House of Representative and later as 16^th Secretary of Transportation under President Obama Administration and as a moderate Republican to very inspiring to me.

When you served as member of the U.S. Representative from Illinois’s 18^th District from 1995-2009, I liked on how you were a moderate Republican on different issues like supporting immigration reform to help assist immigrants including refugees and illegal immigrants get protection from oppressive countries where they can start a new life with a pathway to citizenship and improve visas for them and support protecting the environment from pollution by strengthening environmental protection with implementing renewable energy as an energy source like solar, wind, biofuel, and energy efficient products. Also on Civil Rights, I truly appreciated on how you were a strong supporter of Civil Rights by advocating for people with disabilities’ rights, supporting funds for minorities including women businesses to help them compete in the economy, and expanding laws to combat against hate-crime to help protect minorities including people who are different. Another thing that I liked was on how you were an advocate for preserving legacy of Abraham Lincoln with working with then U.S. Senator Barack Obama and other people with history background to help create Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in 2005. I really liked on how you were also bipartisan by accepting President Obama’s decision to appoint you to be Secretary of Transportation to find ways to improve transportation and help President Obama work on ideas to make our country improve through hard economic times. When you were U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Obama’s administration from 2009-2013, I liked on how you advocated for the need for biofuel with improving regulations on fuel efficiency for automakers to reduce pollution and to improve gas mileage. Another thing I liked was how you were an advocate for airline passenger’s rights to have access to get the care they need like using restrooms and getting access to food and water when there is a long airline delay. Also I liked on how you supported the idea for the need to have High Speed Rail to reduce our addiction to oil with gas by allowing it to run on clean electricity from renewable energy, to help assist people to get access to places where they need to go by finding ways to reduce delays with improving the care they need, and improve safety for passengers instead of getting into an car accident or other instances. After you left public service, I like on how you are a moderate Republican on supporting Civil Rights to reduce discrimination, expressing the need for immigration reform to help protect immigrants including refugees from being oppressed, pushing for environmental protection to reduce pollution, and many others.

Honorable LaHood, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of Civil Rights including be an advocate for people with disabilities’ rights really inspire me to work hard on Autism. Your role as former U.S. Representative and as U.S. Secretary of Transportation really inspires me to continue to be motivated to learn history. My future goal is to someday teach people history about the need to make Civil Rights stronger to help protect people who are different from being discriminated, protect the environment from pollution, and the need to improve public safety, My letter is a gift to for inspiring me and to wish you a Happy Birthday for December 6^th.

I strongly believe that you are making a great difference when you served in public service. I’m very proud on how you are a moderate Republican working hard to support Civil Rights, pushing for environmental protection, advocating for immigration reform, and teaming up with President Obama to help our country. You have inspired me to work hard on my disability and be motivated to learn history including social justice. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference, and inspiring me. I wish you the best to continue to advocate for common sense ideas.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick