Issues
The People’s Voice – There is a growing division in our country between ordinary Americans and what some describe as an elite political class in Washington that seems to always know better than we do, doesn’t value our opinions, and has, for the most part, quit listening to the people of this great nation. One example is the current administration’s relentless pursuit of nationalized healthcare in spite of overwhelming opposition by the American people to the current proposals. The time is now for those in the administration in Washington to treat our citizens with respect and take their views seriously. I want to be your new, re-energized voice in Washington. I will listen to your concerns and to the concerns of our community and I will work tirelessly be a bold and passionate voice on your behalf once again.
Jobs and the economy – View the Video - The vast majority of new jobs in America are created by small businesses. I believe healthy, vibrant, small and medium size businesses are the lifeblood of our free market economy. When business owners feel threatened with higher taxes or heavy-handed regulation from Washington, they are less likely to accept the financial risk of expansion and new job creation. The creation of more jobs means more people with health insurance. While I don’t favor government mandates to provide health insurance, the reality is that businesses with a healthy bottom line can and do provide benefits to attract and retain good employees.
As I look at the potential for job growth here in North Carolina I believe we must focus on a more regionalized, cooperative effort to attract new business growth to our region. Currently the lines appear to be distinctly drawn around each of our tight-knit communities which seems detrimental to our efforts to maximize our attractiveness to large and medium sized corporations. Historically, we have had the furniture, textile, tobacco, agriculture, and other industries significantly represented in District 6. We have lost tens of thousands of jobs in these industries over the past 15-20 years. Many of us have hoped these positions would be returning in the future but it appears likely that most of those jobs will not. The time is now for community leaders, along with key executives and small business owners throughout our region, to bring down the defining lines of past industry and lead a united initiative to aggressively compete for and attract new business growth. These businesses both large and small will ultimately foster significant job growth for the people and families of our district.
As your Congressman I would resist any new burdens on our businesses including new or increased taxes, increases in the capital gains tax or any other initiatives that would stifle rather than promote job growth.
Healthcare – View the Video – First, let me dispel the myth that Republicans don’t want healthcare reform. It just isn’t true. We simply believe there are significantly better and less costly ways to reduce healthcare costs while expanding coverage to the uninsured without instituting a government takeover of the healthcare industry that represents an enormous 15% of the economy.
In the recent healthcare debate, Republican Senators and Representatives offered many valuable proposals that might have fostered more effective improvements on behalf of the American people. Unfortunately, almost every suggestion was rejected by Democrats in both Houses. I am as ashamed as you are of the resulting partisanship and back door deals that led to the passage of such significant legislation without a national consensus. To know there are so many leaders in Washington who are unwilling to listen to reasonable ideas is very disheartening and frankly unacceptable! In the real world where you and I live, it’s difficult to fathom how Congress could approve anything that over 70% of Americans rejected.
Freeing up insurance companies to compete across state lines, establishing high-risk pools (currently in place in 39 states), and tort reform (placing limits on malpractice lawsuit awards to reduce defensive medicine costs) are just a few of the initiatives that could have been advanced in a bipartisan way. If the administration had not been so obsessed with taking a significant step in the direction of socialized medicine, a much better bill could have been produced. I believe the reform legislation just approved will be detrimental to the quality of medical care, will ultimately and necessarily result in rationing of services, and is likely to have a significant negative impact on our economy at one of the worst periods in our history.
I am deeply disappointed that Democrats, on a completely partisan vote, have rammed through a massive new entitlement program that is likely to saddle our children and grandchildren with enormous tax burdens for decades to come. I am very concerned about the constitutionality of mandating that every person purchase a product they may not want. Frankly, I am furious about the current administration’s audacity and lack of sensitivity it exhibits in promoting its agenda all costs regardless of the consensus of the American people. It is utterly unconscionable to think my government can force me to buy a product that has arguably the greatest potential to affect the quality of my life and the lives of my family members.
I also believe the healthcare industry itself bears a good deal of responsibility for our healthcare costs. Medical research and development, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and clinics, physicians and administrators, as well as health insurance providers – all need to establish more effective and efficient ways to reduce costs without compromising healthcare quality. Every current and future generation should continue to expect the highest quality of care available in the world. Everyone knows high quality does not come cheap, but our healthcare industry can do better – much better.
As the current bill stands, I would fully support its repeal and strive diligently as your Congressman to work in a bipartisan fashion for more meaningful and acceptable healthcare reform that would get government bureaucrats entirely out or your medical decisions. And make no mistake, if we do not stop them from pursuing this course, big government may, at some point in the not too distant future, be making life and death decisions, by granting or withholding medical care for you and your family. The very premise of socialized medicine, if the economics are closely analyzed, is rationing of care. I know it, they know it, and they don’t want you to figure it out.
Finally, each of us, regardless of age or current health, can also do our part to maintain an active physical lifestyle while promoting healthy diets in our homes and schools. By accepting more responsibility for our own health and fitness there is the potential for each of us to experience an improved quality of life along with measurable healthcare costs savings for ourselves and our families.
Social Security – View the Video – The baby boomer generation is the largest single generation in the history of our country, and is beginning to enter retirement at a time when our Social Security system is in jeopardy. In 2009, for the first time since the early 80’s, our Social Security system paid out $3 billion more to recipients than it received from tax revenues. Revised studies are now suggesting that the system could be broken much sooner than the previously estimated 2037.
There are currently 3.2 workers for each Social Security beneficiary. By 2034, there will be only 2.1 workers for each beneficiary. This is a system that is clearly headed for serious trouble and Washington refuses to do anything meaningful about it. The time is NOW for a serious effort to fix this problem. In the short-term as the economy regains its footing and the number of workers increases, more payroll taxes will flow into the Social Security System. This will shore up the system in the near term, but does not provide a long-term solution. Real solutions may involve reducing or delaying benefits, tightening of eligibility rules, and exploring new funding sources, but doing nothing is not a long-term option. The time is now to save this important system. We owe it to our seniors.
Spending – View the Video - We must exercise much greater restraint in our spending. The federal government has gone on an incredible spending binge with no end in sight. The head of the Congressional Budget Office, Dr. Doug Elmendorf, has projected that $1.5 Trillion dollars will be added to the national debt (currently $12.7T) by the end of 2010. Furthermore, he projects if we continue spending at the current rate we will double the national debt in 5 years and triple it in 10 years. If this issue is not addressed soon, within 10 years we could be making annual interest payments of $800 Billion dollars toward these unprecedented levels of debt.
To its credit, Congress recently passed a bill referred to as PAYGO. The bill compels the government to reduce existing spending or increase taxes to pay for any new expenditure. Sadly, passage of the PAYGO bill was celebrated in the White House one night after its core principle was openly violated. This example clearly demonstrates the difficulty our current leaders face when deciding it is time to stop spending our way to prosperity.
Of particular concern to me is that the average federal employee is earning a total income (including benefits) of approximately $108,000 while the average private sector worker’s salary and benefit package is valued at just under $70,000. This disparity highlights the division between our federal government and the real people in our communities.
Recently, Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick introduced a bill in the House to cut Congressional salaries by 5%. This would save approximately $4.5M per year. I think it’s a good idea and, as your Congressman, I would welcome the opportunity to work in a bipartisan way to promote passage of this bill and any other that curbs government spending and promotes accountability among legislative leadership.
Cap and Trade – Even a cursory reading of HR 2454 (American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) reveals a labyrinth of new government regulations controlling almost every aspect of energy production in the United States. It passed the House last year, but is stalled in the Senate and for good reason.
In addition to establishing a complex system of new taxes on all greenhouse gas emissions, it would place tremendous new regulatory and tax burdens on every energy producing company and would have far-reaching consequences for every business and private consumer of energy – in other words all of us! It seeks to impose energy efficiency standards on everything from automobiles, to household appliances, to light bulbs. It imposes national building codes for energy efficiency on all new commercial and residential construction as well as on retrofit (remodeling) projects. It mandates progressively more onerous limits on the use of fossil fuels for electricity production as well as requirements on the percentage of “renewable” energy sources that must be used for electricity production. In then-candidate Obama’s own words such legislation would “necessarily cause electricity rates to skyrocket”.
In addition, it would grant broad new powers to the President and to government agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. All of this in the name of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to reduce global warming.
Some say the global warming debate is settled. However, recent revelations of manipulation and even destruction of the raw temperature data underlying global warming theories and computer models has cast doubt on the accuracy of global warming claims. Until global warming claims can be substantiated with more credible science and until other countries (particularly China and India) show willingness to regulate their own greenhouse gas emissions, I do not believe we should enact legalization placing such far reaching controls on our energy production and consumption. It would be very damaging to our economy and would have only minimal impact on global temperatures.
The danger now is that the administration will attempt to achieve the same goals through the EPA’s regulatory power. I would support specific legislative efforts to counter that attempt. One bill, introduced by Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), is aimed at limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases without specific authorization from Congress for such regulation. Another, introduced by Representative Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Missouri Representatives Ike Skelton (D) and Jo Ann Emerson (R) would similarly prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. These and similar efforts deserve our consideration. This is too important an issue for government regulators to decide.
Education – The first thing I believe about education is that it starts at home. This is not complicated! Having raised two kids myself I can tell you that children will adopt the values that are modeled in their homes. If parents persistently and passionately preach the value of a good education, set high expectations, and help their children develop good study habits at home, they will excel in school.
Further, I believe parental responsibility extends beyond the home and into the school environment itself. Parents should be closely involved with their schools by actively participating in their Parent Teacher Associations and maintaining positive and frequent communication with teachers. A strong partnership between parents, school administrators, and teachers is a very important contributor to student success.
Schools, of course, have heavy responsibilities as well. School administrators need to have the courage to enforce discipline in their schools to foster a safe learning atmosphere. They need to hire qualified teachers, continuously monitor their effectiveness and have the courage to terminate poor performing teachers. Teachers need to hold themselves to high standards, have the highest expectations of their students, and show a strong belief that their students can and will succeed. I know this sounds difficult to achieve. But many local schools are doing it already and doing it exceptionally well. If you look at Northwest Guilford High School you’ll see one of the most active parent-teacher-student partnerships that I’ve ever seen. You see a tremendous amount of interaction and involvement of the parents. That area is where I live so I can speak to it personally. If that’s not happening in other parts of our District we’ve got to create the opportunities for it to happen there as well. When you get that strong partnership going, you motivate teachers to want to teach in our District – students are more encouraged and motivated because the atmosphere is more conducive to their learning and parents are more excited about the results they see. I think this partnership is at the core of success in our schools.
I think some of the best higher education in the state and in the nation is right here – from the Community Colleges to the Universities represented in this District. The quality in higher education is well above average nationally.
I’d like to tie this back to my concerns about the state of our economy in the District. If those students come out of our high schools, and colleges, and universities and don’t have good employment prospects here in the District then we’ve done them and ourselves a disservice. We want our young people to have the opportunity to live and thrive right here in the District rather than have them move to some other part of the state or even out of state to find employment.
Immigration – The United States since its founding has been a beacon of hope to all the peoples of the world. Those living under the oppression of tyrannical regimes or the poverty of failed economic systems have always yearned for the freedom and opportunity that America offers. People are often willing to risk their lives to come here! We’ve always been a country that welcomes immigrants, but in fairness to our own citizens we need people to come in through the front door and pursue a legal path to citizenship.
I do not believe we should grant amnesty to illegals already in the country. Past experiments with amnesty programs (e.g., the 1986 amnesty under President Reagan) have resulted in huge waves of new immigrants entering the country illegally in anticipation of future amnesty. Nor should we give illegals any expedited path to citizenship ahead of those who came here legally. I believe securing the border should be a top priority of our government especially since the violent Mexican drug trade has begun to spill across the border and threaten the lives of our citizens. Only after the border is secure does it make sense to develop sound policies to deal with the 12 million illegals already in the country.
Pro-Life – I am strongly opposed to abortion and would oppose any attempt to use taxpayer dollars to fund it. I believe in the sanctity of life and it will never be “above my pay grade” to say and believe that life always begins at conception.
At the same time, I have great sensitivity and compassion toward a young woman with an unwanted pregnancy having to go through that decision making process and having to wrestle with the “what now” question about the future of her life and the life of her child. I feel the pain in that process though we all need to understand there are consequences for our actions. I believe the best case scenario for an unwanted pregnancy would be if the women would carry the child to full term even if she then gives it up for adoption. There are many childless couples who would welcome the opportunity to adopt.
It worries me that as a society we might be losing our sense of the value of life. It concerns me that, at a time when some Americans were protesting the loss of 4000 soldiers to the war in Iraq, no one was protesting the fact that we lose 2000 babies to abortion every day before noon in this country. That, to me, is just as great of a tragedy as losing our young men and women on the battlefield. All life is precious – even the unborn.
Marriage and Family – I believe in the traditional definition of marriage; that is, a union between one man and one woman. I have been married to my wife, Lori, for almost 28 years. Together, we have raised two amazing daughters. Marriage and parenting have never been easy and have provided many challenges along the way. However, Lori and I have worked hard to provide the best possible environment for our children as they have grown to become incredibly well-adjusted and responsible young adults.
In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act which defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman. The bill passed by a vote of 85-14 in the Senate and by 342-67 in House. Had I been your Representative at that time, I would have voted for this bill. As your Congressman in the future, I would defend against any effort to repeal it.
National Defense and Terrorism – Government’s primary and most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from foreign and domestic enemies. I believe in a strong national defense and a robust and effective intelligence community. This requires substantial annual investments in our military forces and intelligence services. I believe it is money well spent. For the foreseeable future, we will be facing an unconventional, but resourceful and very determined enemy.
Al-Qaeda and other affiliated terrorist groups declared war on the West, in general, and on the United States in particular, long before the attacks of September 11, 2001. A long list of terrorist attacks preceded it dating all the way back to 1961. To name just a few:
Bombing of U.S. Embassy in Beirut, April 18, 1983
Bombing of Marine Barracks, Beirut, October 23, 1983
World Trade Center Bombing, February 26, 1993
Khobar Towers Bombing, June 25, 1996
Attack on U.S.S. Cole, October 12, 2000
Culminating in:
Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Homeland, September 11, 2001
I believe these and similar attacks constitute acts of war against the civilized world. I do not believe the perpetrators of these heinous attacks should be treated as criminal defendants, tried in American civilian courts, nor afforded the protections of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. citizens carrying out attacks in America should continue to be tried in our civilian courts, but enemy combatants should be tried by Military Tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba or another suitable location outside the U.S.
The war in Iraq, although initiated on the basis of faulty intelligence, has nonetheless succeeded in freeing millions of people from a brutal dictatorship and introduced representative government in a region more accustomed to brutal and bloody transitions of power. The recent election in Iraq saw huge numbers of Sunni voters participate in the election process for the first time; so many that the party of the challenger, Ayad Allawi, gained more seats than Nouri al-Maliki’s ruling Shi’ite party. All was accomplished in relative peace compared to the extreme hatred and violence that was the norm between these factions of Iraqi society just a few years ago. Furthermore, Iraq represents a crushing defeat for Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda failed miserably in Iraq – failed to turn Iraqis against each other and failed to intimidate and control the Iraqi people.
Afghanistan, while posing different problems than Iraq, is well along in its transition from the brutal oppression of the Taliban to a free and representative government in Kabul. Much more effort is needed there, but I support President Obama’s decision to use the same troop surge and anti-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan that was so successful in Iraq. I am so proud of our military men and women who have served so bravely and sacrificed so much in service to our country. We and the free people of Iraq and Afghanistan owe them an incalculable debt.