Tester holds Rehberg accountable for frivolous lawsuit against Billings Residents

Farmer’s Montana-first record contrasts Rehberg’s irresponsible decisions

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana farmer Jon Tester took to task lobbyist-turned-Congressman Dennis Rehberg for suing the City of Billings Fire Department during Monday’s televised U.S. Senate debate.

Rehberg’s controversial lawsuit, in the wake of a 2008 wildfire near his high-end subdivision—that did not damage any homes—cost Billings taxpayers $21,000.

During his closing remarks, Tester asked the crowd of hundreds for a show of hands among Billings’ residents.

“Congressman Rehberg has sued each and every one of you,” Tester said.   I’ve talked about Montana a lot tonight and people working together and the first thing you do when firefighters come and you’ve got a grass fire, and they put it out, and they put their butt on the line is you don’t respond and say ‘thank you’ by filing a lawsuit with monetary damages—which is exactly what he did. That’s not working together. That’s not building the State of Montana. That’s not moving your community forward.”

Tester kept his calm as he highlighted his record of working together, across party lines, to fight for Montana’s values.

“Look, it’s been a pleasure for the last six years to be able to represent the great state of Montana and meet some incredible people,” Tester said.  “People like Tomy Parker—a veteran of the Afghanistan War, in fact he’s still in the active military, lost both legs and the best part of his left hand to an explosion. And to see Tomy Parker and his outlook on life and how he wants to go forward and he’ll have prosthetic legs at some point in time and be able to move forward, those people, those people give me the drive for this job. A person like Lisa Jones, who’s a cancer survivor. Somebody who went to a Title X clinic, a community health center—that wouldn’t have been there if the Congressman had gotten his way—and got a cure for her cancer. Critically important because she got that early screening. Those kind of people motivate me”

Download video of Tester’s closing remarks HERE.

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