Candidates & Issues: 8th Congressional District

My top three priorities are, and will continue to be, jobs and our economy, supporting our military and veterans and providing top-notch constituent services. I’ve worked hard to find common-sense, bipartisan solutions to our community’s problems, and we’ve made good progress.

Working with President Donald Trump, we’ve helped build a better economic environment by cutting unnecessary regulations and by passing the largest tax cut in American history. I’ve visited countless businesses, and I’ve heard how they have already invested their savings from our tax cuts to expand, increase hiring or offer more benefits or higher wages for their employees. I’ve spoken with families and workers across our district who are seeing direct benefits – especially with more money in their pockets because of lower tax rates.

With more take-home pay and a greater sense of job security, households are on a better financial footing, and that’s helping drive our economy. While this is all incredible progress, I believe we can do better. Republicans plan to continue this success with Tax Cuts 2.0 to cut taxes permanently for all Americans. In addition, I’m continuing to work with the Trump Administration to transform our career and technical education system and improve job-training programs. We’ve made incredible progress, especially with the recent signing of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2353). I will continue to work to close the skills gap and help equip workers with the tools they need to get good jobs.

Second, our government’s most important responsibility is to provide for the common defense – and that’s exactly what I’m focused on doing. I’ve been working to ensure our government takes decisive action to strengthen counter-terrorism tools, secure the border, maintain troop readiness, tackle Islamic extremism and protect our safety. I’m honored to represent Fort Bragg and a proud military community, and there is no stronger advocate for the needs of our men and women in uniform, our veterans and their families. I will continue to work to clean up the bureaucracy at the VA and get our veterans the high-quality and timely health care they deserve.

Finally, I’m committed to serving our community, providing top-notch constituent services and being accessible to hear constituents’ needs, thoughts and concerns. I’m proud of my work to respond to your needs right here at home. As frustrating as it is to see the bureaucratic hoops people have to go through when trying to deal with agencies like the Social Security Administration or the VA, it is just as satisfying when we’re able to track down long-lost war medals for the family of a Korean War veteran or help a senior citizen in Fayetteville get the Social Security benefits she has earned through decades of hard work. I have been able to help thousands of constituents cut through bureaucratic red tape.

Given the negative impact trade deals have had on our state in the past, I continue to work to ensure any future trade agreements protect vital North Carolina businesses and jobs. I understand the importance of fair and common-sense trade agreements that will help tear down barriers for "Made in America" products and create more opportunity and good-paying jobs here at home.

When it comes to any trade agreement, I believe the terms must be fair and openly constructed, that established laws should not be eroded and that any final trade agreements must empower American workers, manufacturers and producers and create investment in U.S. manufacturing and jobs.

We need to continue to work to address the unfair trading practices of countries like China, which is why I support tough enforcement of fair trade rules. However, we must continue to work to ensure that any action doesn’t have unintentional consequences on our farmers and rural economy.

Our immigration system needs to be fixed, but we must secure the border first. I share President Donald Trump’s commitment to securing the border. I have visited our southern border to get a firsthand look and meet with Border Patrol agents to hear their needs and concerns.

Working with President Trump, I’ve made it a priority to strengthen border security, stop illegal immigration, better enforce immigration laws and target dangerous gangs like MS-13.

I voted to fully fund President Trump’s request for billions of dollars for a down-payment to build the wall. We must fix the systemic issue of illegal immigration, close loopholes like catch-and-release, secure the border and send a clear signal that those who arrive here illegally will not be allowed to stay. I have also voted for billions of dollars in border security for things like more "boots on the ground," increased detention space, improved surveillance technology and a wall.

During consideration of any immigration legislation, I have three key principles that I plan to stick to:

1. Any effort to fix our immigration system must first start with securing our borders. Enforcement and border security need to be addressed first as part of a common-sense, step-by-step approach that focuses on a long-term solution.

2. Any reforms must contribute to the American economy and enrich hard-working Americans. Part of staying competitive is making sure we’re attracting the best and brightest people from around the world. That’s the American tradition, and it’s why we need immigration reform that reflects the needs of our employers and job creators and protects American jobs.

3. Any reforms must recognize that we are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws. Granting amnesty to illegal immigrants would be an affront to the millions of legal immigrants and to the citizens of our great country. We cannot continue to have an immigration system that rewards people who break our laws while punishing those who want to follow them.

All of these issues go hand-in-hand and are equally important, and here’s why: our government’s spending is out of control. Our country is currently $21.6 trillion in debt and growing. I’ve always said our debt is our country’s biggest problem. This debate isn’t about our future – it’s about our children’s and grandchildren’s futures. While we have made progress to rein it in and implement a smaller, more limited federal government, there is much more work to do.

1. I support and have only voted for budgets that balance. I have also voted for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution to require Congress to spend no more in revenue than it receives. Unfortunately, House Democrats blocked this important legislation, choosing bureaucrats and big-government over the American people.

2. With President Trump’s historic tax cuts, we have made significant progress on reducing taxes. Ninety percent of American workers are seeing increased take-home pay thanks to a doubling of the standard deduction and lower tax rates. The domino effect on our economy is undeniable – at least 6 million workers have seen raised wages, bonuses, better benefits and expanded retirement options. And people in at least 49 states are seeing lower utility bills.

3. The Obama Administration gutted our military to instead pay for wasteful government programs. I worked hard to stop that, and I’m pleased that we’ve made significant progress this year to rebuild our military. This year marks the first on-time annual funding bill for the Department of Defense in 22 years. As Fort Bragg’s congressman, I am working to ensure our military is fully manned, properly equipped and well-trained. We have also given our troops back-to-back pay raises – the largest pay raises in nine years.

4. I’m proud to be recognized by leading seniors’ groups, including the 60 Plus Association, for my work to protect Social Security and Medicare. We need to reform our entitlements and save our vital safety net programs so that we can keep our promises to today’s seniors and future generations.

5. We must get our domestic spending under control and rein in our bureaucracy, and that includes getting back to regular order in the budget process. I’ve introduced and continue to advocate for the Federal Sunset Act (H.R. 31) to root out waste and abuse and hold bureaucrats accountable by setting an expiration date for each federal agency. This is a bold idea that would bring much-needed accountability and oversight. I’ve never voted to raise the debt ceiling because our country can’t continue to recklessly spend money and bury our children and grandchildren under a mountain of debt.

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