Rounsaville in McComb

Enterprise-Journal - Candidate says youth, experience valuable attributes: Rounsaville one of eight seeking GOP nod for Pickering’s former seat - Rounsaville touts his experience because he is the only person in the race to have served extensive time in Washington. His youth, he says, is important because he is the only person in the race young enough to hit the ground running and be able to stay in it for the long haul. “Everybody in this race is for family values. Everybody is for lower taxes,” Rounsaville said. “Everyone supports the Second Amendment. Experience is what sets me apart.” When Rounsaville went to work for Pickering, he began as a policy advisor on two issues. A couple of years later, he became the congressman’s legislative director and, eventually, Pickering’s deputy chief of staff. In that role, he directed the legislative staff on all areas of policy, including economic development, military affairs, energy policy, transportation and education. After leaving Washington, he served as a policy advisor for Gov. Haley Barbour, working to restore water and sewer systems on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. After that, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as Mississippi State Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development. In that role, he said, he helped secure grants for health facilities and infrastructure. With Trent Lott retiring from the Senate and Pickering leaving the House, Mississippians are losing more than 25 years of experience in Washington, Rounsaville said. The ability to elect someone who will have the longevity to re-establish that seniority is important, he said. He’s for building a wall, although it might not cover the entire border with Mexico, to combat illegal immigration. More than that, he said, he’s for enforcing the current laws and holding businesses responsible for breaking them. As for economic development, Rounsaville sees workforce training as a challenge in southwest Mississippi. Although various agencies and Southwest Mississippi Community College are working to improve workforce training and entice industry to the area, Rounsaville said the groups here need to cooperate and work to get federal funds to help draw industry. He pledges to do whatever he can to funnel some of those funds to southwest Mississippi.