Issues

The Second Amendment

I am a firm supporter of the firearm ownership rights of law-abiding citizens. The Second Amendment clearly is an individual right and has nothing to do with the collective rights of any group. It also says nothing about hunting or sporting purposes. The founders understood that an armed citizenry was the last defense against tyranny.

Abortion

I am staunchly and unapologetically committed to defending the most defenseless among us, the unborn child. I believe both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution clearly give the federal government the authority and duty to protect the rights of the unborn child.

American Sovereignty

Many people don’t understand that a ratified treaty becomes the law of the land, equivalent with or superseding the Constitution itself. We must be cautious in entering international treaties to ensure that American sovereignty is not compromised.

State Sovereignty

The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” My position is that of the framers, who made it very clear that any power not specifically granted to the federal government belongs to the individual states. For example, functions such as education should be handled at the state level, since the federal government has no Constitutional authority over this area.

Freedom of Religion

The First Amendment protects all Americans equally. All are free to worship, or not, as guided by their conscience. Too many have misconstrued freedom of religion into freedom from religion. The Constitution prohibits the establishment of a state or national religion; it does not preclude recognition of a common faith shared by the majority of Americans.

Civil Rights

All people, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, religion, or other demographic factors, enjoy equal rights under the law. Preference for one group over another is antithetical to the principles of equality.

Immigration

We welcome all people who wish to come to our country in accordance with our laws and assimilate into our culture with open arms. It is not fair to apply double standards for immigration and the acquisition of citizenship to different people based upon their ethnicity or country of origin. Federal Immigration laws were enacted to protect our nation and citizenry by requiring background checks, health screenings, etc.

The Economy

Capitalism has brought more prosperity and freedom to the world than any other system. However, our federal government has made it increasingly difficult for free enterprise to work. Excessive regulation and taxation inhibit economic growth. More government is not the solution to economic troubles.

Taxes

Our nation does NOT have a taxing problem, it clearly has a spending problem. Taxes cannot be raised high enough to cure our budget deficit; there simply isn’t that much money available. Rather than continue to increase taxes and place further chains on economic recovery, the tax code needs to be modified into a system that is fair for all Americans and produces real growth.

Energy

The United States needs to decrease its dependence on foreign energy sources. This means research into viable alternative energy sources, facilitating the construction of state-of-the-art nuclear power plants, and expanding domestic production of oil and natural gas. Developing domestic energy resources would also have the effect of adding thousands of jobs to our economy.

Advice and Consent

The U.S. Senate has the responsibility of properly and thoroughly vetting nominees presented by the president, especially when it comes to the Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS). My position is that a Supreme Court nominee’s record must be evaluated according to the Constitution, the ultimate law of our nation. The framers of the Constitution told us that they expected it to be interpreted in light of its meaning when it was written.

"On every question of construction, let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." — Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823, The Complete Jefferson, p. 322.

Liberals today tell us that the Constitution must be interpreted as a "living" document. They do this in order to grow the federal government outside its limited Constitutional function. This philosophy of interpretation leaves the meaning of the Constitution up to the whims of an unelected federal judiciary and is fraught with dangers to the Republic.

For our Constitution to function as intended, it is imperative that it be interpreted per its original meaning. The framers gave us a process to change it in an orderly deliberative fashion via the Amendment process laid out in Article V. Absent amendment, it must be interpreted per its original meaning.

The very 1st qualification for any Federal court nominee must be that of adhering to the Original Intent of the Constitution. Any nominee that does not show evidence or reflect a jurisprudence based upon Original Intent should be rejected and would be rejected by me.

The Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the basis for our laws, and this is a republic, a nation of laws. The framers intended for the Constitution to be a "fence" around the Federal Government. Too often we see politicians take an oath to support the Constitution, then they ignore it daily. We should elect representation that will adhere to and obey their oath. The Constitution is my guide for everything from the role of government to evaluating proposed legislation. The very first qualification for anyone running for the United States Congress (House or Senate) must be a command understanding of the United States Constitution and the basics of how to determine the Original Intent of the Framers.

Israel

With the resurgence of terrorism and the growing threat from states such as Iran, it is more important than ever that we maintain our support of Israel.

I am a very strong supporter of the nation of Israel.

Israel is a strategic and diplomatic ally in the region. In the United Nations, Israel votes with the United States more than any other country in the world, including our close friends Canada and England.

History and the science of archaeology confirm a continuous Jewish presence in Israel for the past 3,000 years. This is their historic homeland, and the land they returned to in 1948 after the Diaspora that followed the Roman actions in AD 70 and 135. After centuries of persecution and attempted extermination, they have earned the right to be restored to their traditional homeland.

Some try to paint Israel as an apartheid state, but that accusation does not withstand critical examination. Non-Jewish Arabs make up approximately 20% of the population of Israel. They enjoy and exercise equal voting rights, and also serve in the Knesset, Supreme Court, and Cabinet positions within the government. A Harvard study showed that 77% of Arab Israelis would rather live in Israel than any other country, and many prefer to live in Israel as it is, rather than under Palestinian rule.

In an increasingly hostile world, America needs all the friends we can gather. In the Mideast, Israel is a friend and ally, and I will continue support for Israel’s sovereignty and survival.

Marriage

I believe that marriage is designed by God and intended to be for one man and one woman.

For thousands of years marriage has been defined as a union between people of opposite sex. In most societies the tradition is monogamy, while in a few polygamy can still be found, but the universal standard has been that marriage is a state between men and women.

This standard is basic to society, with the family being the foundational unit. This is because the family is where children are produced, nurtured, and prepared to be the progenitors of the next generation after they grow up. Thus societies sustain themselves.

The most stable and healthy environment for a child to grow up in has both a mother and a father. Statistically,

• Traditional marriages last longer than same-sex unions
• Traditional marriages are less violent than same-sex unions
• Traditional marriages give children the balanced effect of both male and female influences

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC, 2001), approximately 58% of traditional marriages last more than 20 years. In contrast, only about 5% of same-sex unions last that long (2003-2004 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census). In Norway and Sweden, which have had same-sex marriage for a number of years, male homosexual couples are 50% more likely to divorce than heterosexual couples, and lesbian couples are twice as likely to divorce. This is not the recipe for a stable society.

I believe that the definition of marriage consisting of a covenant between a man and a woman must be upheld. Redefining marriage outside of those terms would cause it to be something else and weaken the institution.

Main Navigation

Issues