MARIETTA - Bill Jones has flown humanitarian missions with the U.S. Air Force, volunteered numerous hours assisting victims and cleaning up disaster areas with the American Red Cross, and now hopes to provide aid to one of America's biggest challenges - the struggling economy.

Accustomed to providing relief in a captain's chair, he plans to accomplish his most recent goal in a more grounded seat - one in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 6th District, which encompasses parts of Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb and Cherokee counties.

Jones, 53, is a Democrat and political newcomer. He may have his hands full as the only candidate squaring off in a strongly Republican district against incumbent U.S. Rep. Dr. Tom Price (R-Roswell); however, Jones is full of ideas he hopes will appeal to voters and land him safely where he wants to be.

Regarding his top priorities, Jones said "the economy and fiscal responsibility is No. 1, energy independence as a national security issue is No. 2 and health care is No. 3."

Jones was a big supporter of the economic stimulus package that gives rebates to taxpayers. He said it was a "timely, responsible economic intervention."

However, with a gallon of gas now costing $4, he said, $4.75 for diesel, high healthcare costs and other financial struggles, there has to be more bipartisan, proactive efforts to improve the country's economy.

"We have levels of economic challenges that are the biggest we've had in our generation," he said.

Jones finds the credit crisis and high number of foreclosed homes as being big struggles for people, especially in District 6. One initiative Jones thinks will help, both locally and nationally, is the $300 billion loan guarantee program to help qualified homeowners with their mortgages and those facing foreclosures.

He said the country needs to be committed to finding alternative energy.

"America must stop borrowing Chinese dollars to buy Saudi oil," he said.

Jones grew up on Air Force bases and entered the U.S. Air Force at age 17, during the closing days of the Vietnam War. He served for 21 years and received the Air Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

The former Delta pilot said he is a big fan of "technology harmonization" in NATO - sharing technology with strong allies the U.S. has "long and deep relations with."

Some benefits of shared technology include, "having our allies effectively augment our forces in times of crisis and improving interoperability within the total force structure," he said.

Also, technology sharing could help continue production of the F-22 stealth fighter jets built at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, he said. The F-22 program is tied to about 2,000 local jobs and needs new defense contracts to carry on assembly of the planes. Jones believes allowing strong allies to purchase the planes - a practice currently disallowed because of the planes' stealth technology - would drop the cost of the F-22s and make them more appealing to defense officials. Some have said with more planes being built, the cheaper they become.

While he supports the troops in Iraq, he believes it is time to bring them home.

"The brave men and women who are serving in Iraq have done everything asked of them. It is time now for the Iraqi people to be responsible for their own future," he said.

As for the environment, Jones said "environmentalism has been a democratic principle for decades," and he is "glad to see Republicans and John McCain start to embrace it."

He calls environmentally sound actions a "stewardship," and says the country needs to aggressively find a way to "lower our carbon footprints."

Jones is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Marietta-based SA Technologies. He volunteers nights, weekend and holidays for the American Red Cross' Disaster Action Team, heading up a team of volunteers that cover Cobb and Cherokee counties. He worked all night providing assistance after the F-1 tornado that hit Cherokee last week. He works with the soon-to-be-open Marietta Aviation Museum and is a proponent for opening the connected charter school that would focus on science, technology and math. Funding for the school was just cut from the state budget by Gov. Sonny Perdue. The school had support from U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), former Gov. Roy Barnes and other state and local officials.

Jones and his wife, Mica, have three college-aged daughters, Jessica, Tristan and Christine. He lives in Marietta.

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