U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, says the work he and his staff have done for the residents in the 3rd Congressional District during the past four years in office speaks for itself.

“The services we provide, locally, to people to navigate a very difficult federal system, have been very beneficial,” Kelly said.

Kelly, 66, of Butler is running for his third term in Congress. He faces Democrat Dan LaVallee, 26, of Cranberry Township in the Nov. 4 election.

Kelly was elected first in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper of Erie. Before that, he ran Mike Kelly Automotive for decades and served on Butler City Council and the Butler School Board.

“This isn’t my first day on the job,” Kelly said.

He said that his decades of business and life experience give him the edge over LaVallee.

“I don’t think this is a good first-time job,” Kelly said.

The biggest issue in the district, he said, is the economy. The national unemployment rate is improving, but Kelly said the unemployment rate is not the best way to look at things because people who simply stop looking for work are not considered “unemployed” anymore. He said the work participation rate is the lowest it has been since the 1970s.

“That’s horrible,” Kelly said.

He said the district and the country need family-sustaining jobs to be on the right track and grow.

He said that the energy available in the U.S., including Marcellus Shale natural gas which is in Butler County, is the major factor to help boost the economy.

“We know (the future) is through the energy sector,” Kelly said. “That’s the key to it.”

He said no other country has as many natural resources as the United States, saying that Pennsylvania has centuries of natural gas which could make the cost per unit of energy the lowest in the world.

Additionally, he said the U.S. has a large supply of oil and coal still being mined. And he said the Great Lakes contain a fifth of the world’s fresh water.

“Nobody else in the world has this asset,” Kelly said.

With all of these, Kelly said the main part the U.S. is missing is “dynamic leadership at the top.” He said President Barack Obama has been divisive.

Kelly said he supports educating students for jobs that are needed, including through vocational and technical training. He said the district needs people to work in engineering and health care, as well.

He said Obama’s educational reform is heavily weighted to four-year colleges and his policies are critical of trade schools.

Another major concern is the spread of the Ebola virus, which can be fatal.

He said he and his staff spoke to Dr. Peter Piot, who discovered the virus in the 1970s. Piot suggested that the virus should be contained and people who contract it should be isolated.

Kelly supports some form of travel restrictions on people coming to the U.S. from the West African countries where the virus is rampant.

When it comes to the Affordable Care Act, which LaVallee worked on with a health care industry group, Kelly said the act does not provide better access to health care but better access to insurance. However, he noted that many people lost the insurance plans they had due to the new law.

He said he supports the American Health Care Reform Act, which would replace the ACA. Kelly said that act was written on by people who work in the health care industry and would provide better care.

Kelly also wants to simplify the tax code. Last year, he said Americans spent $167 billion and 3.5 billion hours on tax preparation. He wants to make the tax rate flatter and more fair.

Although he said some people talk about partisan gridlock in Washington, Kelly said there recently was a large bipartisan Ways and Means meeting to discuss tax reform with both Democrats and Republicans.

“That was a huge effort,” Kelly said.

Although there is talk of Congress being inefficient and unproductive, Kelly said the House has passed many bills but the Senate has not looked at them.

“The Senate refuses to act on them,” Kelly said.

He said the Islamic terrorist group ISIS is a real threat. Although he said air strikes are fine now, ground troops need to occupy their territory for any military effort to combat the group to be successful.

He said he supports traditional marriage, and he identifies strongly with the anti-abortion movement, but he said he respects people with different opinions.

He said what is happening now with state courts making decisions related to gay marriage is akin to what the Founding Fathers intended, with states having some autonomy.

“What we decide is what we decide,” Kelly said.

He also said American borders should be better secured.

For the 2013-14 election cycle, Kelly has raised $1.39 million and has spent $1.02 million.