U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett was joined by Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler at a Lansing manufacturer Thursday for a tour of the facility.
Barrett represents Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, which covers all of Clinton, Ingham, Livingston and Shiawassee counties, as well as portions of Eaton, Genessee and Oakland counties.
The seat is highly competitive, having flipped between parties in the last two election cycles. Barrett is up for re-election this November.
His visit to Campbell Press Repair was just one stop on a tour of his district.
Campbell, a family-owned business in Lansing, provides large-scale repair services forging and stamping equipment.
Barrett praised the company’s intricate and precise work after touring the facility.
“A number of pieces are for customers that make advanced military equipment,” he said. “Obviously high precision, low tolerance for failure, and it has to work."
Barrett has previously expressed support for U.S. military action in Iran.
“Iran is actively seeking to do us harm and undermine our national security,” he said in support of a Department of Homeland Security package in early March. “Now is not the time to play political games with the agency tasked with protecting our homeland.”
At Campbell, Barrett said he aimed to bring manufacturing “back to the United States” to improve national security.
“You cannot defend your country if you can't build things in your country,” he said.
Barrett also answered questions about his view on data centers being built in his district.
“It's up to the people of Lansing to decide for their local zoning, what they choose to do with the data center or not,” he said. ”For some communities, it will probably make sense. For others, it probably will not. It ought to be up to the people in every local community. It shouldn't be up to the federal government to make decisions about local zoning.”
The City of Lansing government is currently debating the construction of a data center downtown.
Multiple Democrats have announced their campaigns for Michigan’s 7th District seat.
Bridget Brink, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, announced her campaign last June. Matthew Maasdam, a former military aide under the Obama administration, announced his campaign last July. William Lawrence, the founder of the Lansing-based Mid-Michigan Tenant Resource Center, announced his campaign last August.
