As a healthcare entrepreneur, Marine Corps veteran and active member of the community, I am running for Congress because these are challenging times for our country. We face uncertainties overseas and at home in nearly every facet of life. Career politicians have failed us. The people of California's 47th Congressional District deserve better representation than Loretta Sanchez. 

Now there's a fresh voice and a new choice.

I joined the Republican Party for its principled stance on less government, lower taxes and sensible and strong national defense. I believe in individual choices, liberty and the right to pursue happiness. I believe in personal responsibility and respect for others.

We need more independent, fiscally conservative leaders in Washington with strong values and real world business experience. We need leaders who will help create jobs, advance entrepreneurship, reward innovation, improve education, support families and reduce our staggering national debt. We need leaders who have a deep understanding of national security issues plaguing our country and who have served our nation in harm's way.

When I arrived in America as a boy from Vietnam, I had lost my country, my freedom and my father. Yet the American Dream was still attainable. It took dedication, encouragement, hard work and perseverance. And it can still be done. We need leaders who will emphasize self sufficiency and who will inspire others to seek opportunities and not just guarantees.

I hope that you will join our cause and contribute. Please join me and together we can begin to make changes that matter!

Thanks for reading.

Quang

Quang Pham, 44, is a healthcare entrepreneur, community leader, decorated Marine Corps veteran, and author of "A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey." A resident of Orange County since 1990, Quang and his wife, Shannon, have a three-year-old daughter named Willow. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lathian Health, a pharmaceutical marketing company that specializes in delivering promotional messages to physicians via the Internet. He created the vision, raised venture capital funding, and led Lathian's early rapid growth. Previously Quang worked in sales for Genentech, a leading global biotechnology company, and served as vice president with QTC Management, Inc., the largest private provider of disability examinations to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He serves on the boards of THINK Together, a non-profit after-school provider in Santa Ana, the Marines' Memorial Association in San Francisco, and the OC Marathon.

Quang was born in Saigon, the former capital of South Vietnam. His mother taught middle school while his late father, one of the first Vietnamese Air Force pilots trained in the U.S. in the late 1950s, served the entire war. Just before the fall of Saigon, Quang's father arranged for his wife, three daughters and son to be evacuated by American forces. His father survived the next 12 years in Communist labor/prison camps, euphemistically called reeducation camps. The Pham family was reunited in 1992.

After arriving in America at the age of 10 and raised by his mother, Quang completed his education via the California public school system and earned a B.A. in Economics from UCLA. While in college, he became an American citizen and volunteered for the Marines via the Officer Candidate School Program. He flew CH-46 helicopter assault support missions during Operation Desert Storm, supported United Nations efforts in Somalia, and participated in joint training with allied military worldwide. He also flew missions in support of the Drug Enforcement Agency's counter-narcotics operations and served a tour as an aide-de-camp.

Quang and his book have been featured on The NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, CNN Business Hour, PBS, NPR, and in Forbes, The New York Times, ethnic media and numerous other outlets. He enjoys following UCLA sports teams, playing golf, and running.