But during a speech at the Varnum Memorial Armory, Fung also took aim at Democrats, criticizing progressive policies and leaders.
“To check inflation, we need to put a stop to the insane progressive spending,” he said. “Does the Presidio Park in (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi’s home district really need $200 million? We need adults in the room who can prioritize and say no to this nonsense, much like I did when I came on board in Cranston.”
Fung presented himself as tough on crime, saying Cranston kept order during protests over the death of George Floyd in 2020 and when groups of ATV riders tried to enter the city.
“When rioters tried to come to Cranston in 2020, we said not here, not now ever,” he said. “I stood alongside my police officers as we guarded the local business district, and then again as we stopped the ATV gangs from entering our city and terrorizing our residents.”
On the national level, “we see progressive policies that are weak on crime, with rioting in our streets, and human trafficking and fentanyl pouring across our porous borders,” Fung said. “We see progressive leaders that protect looters more than small business owners.”
On energy issues, Fung zeroed in on high gas prices, saying, “Every time we head to the gas pump, we think to ourselves — this is going to cost me the same amount to get to work this week as it would for a filet mignon dinner at Capital Grille.”
He called for increasing domestic oil and national gas production, saying, “We must tap into sources like our drilled but uncompleted wells and get the domestic supply back into the market.” He also called for supporting “properly sited renewable energy projects,” such as the solar panels placed at an old landfill in Cranston, and wind turbines “that are not disrupting our precious fishing industry.”
“We can do more than one thing at a time,” Fung said, “and we can become energy independent once again.”
Fung, 52, grew up on the South Side of Providence, the son of immigrants who came to the United States from Hong Kong and opened the Kong Wen Restaurant. He graduated from Classical High School, Rhode Island College, and Suffolk University Law School.
He is married to state Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, a Cranston Republican who defeated former House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello in the 2020 race in House District 15.
Fung had been gearing up to run for state treasurer, but he jumped into the 2nd Congressional District race after Langevin, who has been in Congress since 2001, announced in January that he won’t run for re-election this year.
In the Republican primary, Fung will face former state Representative Robert B. Lancia, of Cranston. The latest Federal Election Commission reports show Fung has $532,482 in his campaign account while Lancia has $39,556.
State Senator Jessica de la Cruz, a North Smithfield Republican, had announced she would run for the 2nd Congressional District seat, but she dropped out of the race a day before filing a campaign finance report that showed she had $83,488 in her campaign account. She has endorsed Fung.
The winner of the GOP contest on Sept. 13 will face whoever emerges from a Democratic primary that includes state treasurer Seth Magaziner, former Biden administration official Sarah E. Morgenthau, former state representative David A. Segal, former Langevin communications…
Read More: Republican Allan Fung launches his campaign for Congress