Senator Mastriano

Gettysburg at a Crossroads: Will We Preserve Our Heritage as America Turns 250?
Sen. Doug Mastriano, PhD, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)

Gettysburg is one of the most powerful symbols in the American story. The fields where Union and Confederate soldiers fought in 1863 are not simply historic sites; they are sacred ground that reminds us of the terrible price paid to preserve the nation. When Abraham Lincoln stood here and spoke of a “new birth of freedom,” he placed Gettysburg permanently at the center of the American conscience.

People travel from across the country — and across the globe — to experience that history. They come to walk the battlefield, stand in the cemetery where Lincoln spoke, and reflect on sacrifice, unity and national purpose. That heritage is the engine of our local economy, bringing well over a million visitors to Gettysburg each year and sustaining the restaurants, shops and small businesses that keep this town alive.

In recent years, however, the public identity of downtown Gettysburg has taken a sharp left turn away from that historic focus. Pride festivals that close Lincoln Square, rainbow flags across storefronts and the growing prominence of activist messaging have become a defining visual feature of the town’s commercial district.

For many residents and visitors alike, the shift has gone too far.

Gettysburg’s extraordinary draw has always been its Civil War heritage. Millions visit because of what happened here in July of 1863. That identity is the foundation of our tourism economy and the reason this small borough carries such national significance.

Yet visitors who arrive expecting to be immersed in that history are increasingly confronted with displays and events centered on radical leftist activism rather than the legacy that made Gettysburg famous in the first place.

March 16th - James Madison Birthday

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March 15th - Andrew Jackson Birthday

March 15 Verse - Psalm 145:9

Mastriano Responds to the Treatment of Littlestown Bus Driver Dave Bonhoff

HARRISBURG — Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33) issued the following statement today:

“The treatment of Littlestown bus driver Dave Bonhoff should outrage every Pennsylvanian who believes in liberty, fairness and the constitutional freedoms that define our nation.

“Mr. Bonhoff is a retired police officer who continued serving his community by safely transporting children to school. Yet he was effectively forced out of his job because he wore a hat that read ‘Make America Great Again.’ Whether someone agrees with that message is completely irrelevant. In America, citizens do not lose their First Amendment rights simply because someone else claims to be offended.

“What happened here is not about ‘sensitivity’ or ‘respect.’ It is about the suffocating culture of political correctness that is spreading through our institutions — a culture that demands conformity, punishes dissent and attempts to silence anyone who refuses to bow to its ideology.

“Political correctness has become a tool of intimidation. It is used to shame, threaten and drive ordinary Americans out of their jobs and public life simply for expressing views that do not align with the approved narrative. That is not tolerance. That is coercion.

“Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American liberty. Our commonwealth gave the world the Declaration of Independence, and our soil was defended by patriots who endured unimaginable hardship to secure the freedoms we enjoy today. They did not fight a revolution so that Americans would one day be bullied into silence by political activists or punished for expressing patriotic beliefs.

“Driving a man out of his job because someone dislikes the message on his hat is not neutrality — it is ideological discrimination, plain and simple.

“Dave Bonhoff showed more courage in standing by his principles than many institutions have shown in defending the rights they claim to value. No American should ever be forced to choose between their livelihood and their constitutional freedoms.