SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS: INCUMBENTS AND CHALLENGERS AND WHERE THEY STAND: BY RUTH KING
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/south-carolina-2014-candidates-for-congress-where-they-stand?f=puball
To see the actual voting records of all incumbents on other issues such as Foreign Policy, Second Amendment Issues, Homeland Security, and other issues as well as their rankings by special interest groups please use the links followed by two stars (**).
U.S. Senate
Lindsey Graham (R) Incumbent
http://www.lindseygraham.com/ http://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/
http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/lindsey_graham.htm**
Rated +1 by AAI, indicating a mixed Arab/Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY AND HEALTHCARE Lindsey Graham believes Washington spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much. He has proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse, cosponsored a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, introduced bills to save Social Security and Medicare from bankruptcy, and written legislation to allow South Carolina to opt-out of Obamacare. – See more at: http://www.lindseygraham.com/#sthash.yND29vCE.dpuf
NATIONAL SECURITY Lindsey Graham believes in a strong national defense, supported by a decisive foreign policy that stands up for freedom, democracy, and American values. Graham is a passionate advocate for our troops at home and abroad. He wrote the law to expand health care coverage to military families, but he also supported cutting wasteful spending within the Department of Defense. – See more at: http://www.lindseygraham.com/#sthash.yND29vCE.dpuf
Prior to his service in the House, Graham compiled a distinguished record in the United States Air Force as he logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer. From 1984-1988, he was assigned overseas and served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany. Upon leaving active duty Air Force in 1989, Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard where he served until 1995. During the first Gulf War in the early 90’s, Graham was called to active duty and served state-side at McEntire Air National Guard Base as Staff Judge Advocate where he prepared members for deployment to the Gulf region. Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is the only U.S. Senator currently serving in the Guard or Reserves. He is a colonel and is assigned as a Senior Instructor at the Air Force JAG School – See more at: http://www.lindseygraham.com/#sthash.yND29vCE.dpuf
ENERGY Supports construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
Brad Hutto (D) Challenger
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
JOBS Brad has a long history of fighting for jobs and small businesses. He received a perfect score of 100% from the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce for his hard work and leadership for creating jobs. As our Senator, he will roll up his sleeves on day one to help bring good paying jobs with benefits here in South Carolina. Instead of obsessing over international politics, Brad will work to ensure that South Carolina workers are properly trained and that the business environment is attractive for job creators. He will work to restore and improve the state’s crumbling infrastructure and to rebuild failing schools in the state’s rural areas.
HEALTHCARE Brad wants to fix the Affordable Care Act and allow everyone to keep or obtain a plan that best suits their families’ needs. He will not support legislation that will put the insurance companies back in charge or return us to a time when insurance could be denied for pre-existing conditions and families could go bankrupt because of lifetime caps.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY As an avid outdoorsman and sportsman, Brad knows that we must do more to protect our natural resources. From the mountains to the lakes, to the coast, South Carolina is blessed with a unique beauty that generates tourism and creates jobs. Brad will fight against those who would do harm for their own short term goals.
Energy – Brad will continue to lead efforts to invest in alternative forms of energy like solar, wind and gas. We can’t continue to rely on foreign countries to supply our energy.
WOMEN’S HEALTH Government should not dictate health decisions for women in this country. He believes women should be empowered to consult with their families, healthcare providers, and religious advisors to make reproductive health decisions. Women do not need Washington politicians like Lindsey Graham telling them what to do.
SPECIAL ELECTION IN 2014:
Tim Scott (R) Incumbent
http://votetimscott.com/ http://www.scott.senate.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Tim_Scott.htm**
Rated -4 by AAI, indicating a anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ENERGY Washington – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and 23 of his colleagues sent a letter today to President Barack Obama calling for his approval of the Keystone XL pipeline without any additional strings attached. Recently, opponents of the project have proposed stipulations such as a burdensome carbon emissions tax and expanded regulations if the pipeline is ultimately approved. Construction of the pipeline is projected to be a significant job creator in the country’s energy sector.
“The Keystone pipeline is a common sense, ready-to-start initiative that will strengthen North America’s energy future,” Scott said. “Instead of using the project as a political football to raise taxes and place even more burdensome regulations on job creators, we should embrace this opportunity to strengthen our economy and get folks back to work. The pipeline has the overwhelming support of both the American people and a bipartisan majority in Congress. Let’s put aside any gimmicks and make this project a reality.”
According to the U.S. State Department, the pipeline’s construction could create up to 42,000 jobs.
HEALTHCARE I am a passionate advocate for patient-centered health care. Doctors and their patients, not the federal government, should be making health care decisions. We all want every American to have access to affordable care; however, there are stark contrasts in how Democrats and Republicans believe we get there.
I support real solutions to rising health care costs:
Nationwide Shopping for Insurance – Allowing insurance companies to operate under interstate commerce laws will lead to more competition, better prices and offerings.
EQUAL TAX TREATMENT – Businesses and the self-employed receive a tax deduction for insurance premiums. Let’s extend that to individuals, giving an incentive instead of a deterrent for buying health care.
Encourage State High-risk Pools – Preexisting conditions can make insurance for many people unaffordable or simply unavailable. High risk pools were functioning well in many states before ObamaCare-providing affordable coverage to those with preexisting conditions without raising premiums for everyone else. States should be permitted to create these pools again.
Medical-Malpractice (TORT) Reform – Defensive medicine costs more than $100 billion a year. Texas and New York show us the path forward here. Following passage of TORT reform in Texas, malpractice insurance rates have fallen more than 60 percent. Meanwhile, malpractice premiums in New York have increased by 60 percent. The result? Around 2,000 physicians have moved their practices from New York to Texas due to lower rates.
Association Health Plans – Allow small businesses to pool employees for coverage. – These policies, centered around what’s best for patients, are what will truly transform our health care system. Obamacare’s government-centric path, leading to exploding premiums and deductibles while placing a huge financial burden on the entire nation, must be stopped. I will continue to work towards the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and to replace it with solutions that will tackle health care costs and improve access.
Joyce Dickerson (D) Challenger
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
THE MIDDLE CLASS, SENIORS AND VETERANS Joyce will fight for America’s declining middle class. She is dedicated to helping secure the jobs of the everyday citizen, paving a way to a more positive financial outlook. Joyce is also an advocate of seniors and veterans, making sure they receive the benefits that they have earned.
IMMIGRATION Joyce will push for comprehensive immigration reform that will not discriminate against the nation’s growing Hispanic and other immigrant populations.
SUSTAINABLE AMERICA Joyce understands the necessity of reducing our nation’s debt for a more sustainable America.
SECURITY Joyce believes that individual security promotes personal success, which is the first step to the security of the family, community and nation. She will support education, public safety, social security and national security.
District 1
Mark Sanford (R) Incumbent
http://www.marksanford.com/ http://www.ontheissues.org/Mark_Sanford.htm **
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ENERGY Voted for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
HEALTHCARE Mark has been a long time advocate of market-based solutions to healthcare reform. His administration was the first in the country to receive a waiver from the federal government to offer a statewide system of Health Savings Accounts to the Medicaid population. He believes that healthcare coverage should be portable and that we should ultimately move toward a primary payer system given it was oddly the wage and price controls of World War II that originally coupled employment and healthcare. As noted earlier he has long been a proponent of legal reform as a way of avoiding much of the defensive medicine now currently forced on doctors, the medical community and patients. As governor he fought the legislative body’s attempts to broaden medical eligibility on a host of categories believing that it did not make common sense to add to programs we were already unable to pay for and sustain. At the state level Medicaid was nine percent of our budget 10 years ago, 19 percent today and on our way to 29 percent in ten years. The federal government’s numbers are even worse and though our country has the finest healthcare treatment system in the world, its cost and access remain a problem. Consequently there have been many proposed solutions – Obamacare, with its $503 billion in new taxes and fees over the next 10 years, being the latest. Mark would work with others in Congress to repeal Obamacare because of its costs and inconsistency with market principals.
NATIONAL DEFENSE Mark believes one of the core functions of our federal government lies in providing for our nation’s defense, as outlined by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. He believes that only the Congress can declare war and that we should get away from military actions directed by the White House without the authorization of Congress, as his belief has always been that body bags from foreign lands do not return to Washington – but Congressional districts across this country. He also believes that Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was right in his assessment that the greatest threat to our Nation’s security lies in our Nation’s debt and deficits. Indeed, economic supremacy has always been the key to military supremacy. Paul Kennedy talks about it in his book, “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers,” and it’s a phenomenon that’s been noted by military historians across time. Accordingly, it makes it that much more important for the sovereignty and security of our country that we do something about spending in Washington.
So Mark is committed to maintaining a strong national defense, both in economic and military terms. He believes in maintaining promises to those who have served. He believes that sustaining a military leadership and technological edge is vital as one views military budgets – and that to do so we have to constantly retool for today’s threats. Subsequently he believes we should look for efficiencies in defense as in every other program of government -as well as to look at the cost of police actions around the world. He believes America cannot afford to subsidize other countries unwillingness to adequately fund their own defense budgets as was recently demonstrated in France’s recent inability to fly even their own troops to Northern Africa. Here, it’s telling that France spends 2.3 percent of their GDP on their military, yet count on American help while America spends double that number. For those nations that do, like Israel that spends 6.5 percent, we must continue to work as strong strategic partners. Finally, Mark believes the installations here in the Lowcountry are playing a unique and critical mission in today’s military, whether that is with the lift provided by the 315th or 437th in Charleston or with the Marines, Navy and Army operational and training capacities across the district. In fact, Mark fought hard to highlight our state’s unique military missions as governor, establishing a BRAC task force that took our case directly to Washington. While many states lost jobs during the 2004 base closures, South Carolina as a state netted more than 700 new military jobs – which highlights the extraordinary effort and role of so many men and women in uniform in this state.
No challenger
District 2
A.G. “Joe” Wilson (R) Incumbent
http://www.joewilsonforcongress.com/ http://joewilson.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Joe_Wilson.htm**
Rated -7 by AAI, indicating anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
IMMIGRATION Until the appropriate laws already on the books are strongly enforced, illegal immigrants will continue to pour across our borders and weaken our national security. Once our laws are enforced, our nation will create a new generation of dedicated, patriotic American citizens. Legal immigrants have obeyed our regulations, and America must demonstrate our commitment to these hard-working individuals by ensuring those who follow our laws are treated courteously by immigration officials and their immigration applications are processed in a timely fashion. Here are some initiatives I have supported and will continue to advocate:
- “Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act” would enforce restrictions on employment in the United States for unauthorized aliens through the use of improved Social Security cards and an Employment Eligibility Database;
- “Photo Identification Security Act,” would require the Federal Government and financial institutions to solely accept secure forms of identification;
- “SAVE (Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement) Act” would provide for additional border patrol agents, expand the E-verify program and make it mandatory for employers, and reduce illegal immigration through interior enforcement.
We must ensure we have an English-speaking, legal workforce that pays their taxes, grows our economy, and benefits our nation. However, I believe that it should be Congress’ priority to secure our borders. Please be assured that I will continue to work with my colleagues to strengthen border security and protect America’s legal workforce.
ENERGY Today, the most important task facing our nation is increasing domestic production, which can be accomplished via the Keystone XL Pipeline. In 2011, the Obama Administration announced its decision to delay the Keystone XL Pipeline, a project that would transport crude oil from Canadian oil sands to refineries along the Gulf Coast, until after the 2012 elections. The Administration defended its decision by citing environmental concerns, despite numerous environmental impact studies, which have found the project to be environmentally sound. This kind of decision directly inhibits our country’s ability to gain energy independence. Not only would this project contribute to our national security, it would also create hundreds of thousands of jobs, 20,000 of which are immediate and shovel ready. Additionally, the completion of the Keystone XL Pipeline would increase our domestic petroleum supply to an estimated 302 million barrels a year. That comes to 830,000 barrels per day.
HEALTHCARE Joe Wilson Was Right, O-Care Is Recruiting Illegal Immigrants… ‘You Lie!’ Mr. President In 2009, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) apologized profusely to the White House for shouting, “You lie!” as President Barack Obama told Congress that Obamacare would not cover illegal immigrants. Now it would appear that the White House owes Wilson an apology, as Covered California–the flagship of state Obamacare exchanges–is recruiting illegal (“undocumented”) immigrants to sign up for the program, regardless of their eligibility. The Covered California website includes a special page entitled: “No temas si eres indocumentado/a y quieres inscribir a tu familia en un seguro médico” (“Fear not if you are undocumented and want to enroll your family in health insurance”). The website goes on to explain that information shared with Obamacare cannot be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It does not explicitly warn that illegal aliens are ineligible.
Rep. Joe Wilson was right.
The South Carolina Congressman screamed, “You lie!” when Barack Obama told Americans the Affordable Care Act would not cover abortions or illegal immigrants.
Phil Black (D) Challenger
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
DEFENSE AND VETERANS Strong active military forces are the nation’s best deterrent against aggressive actions by rogue nations or terrorist organizations. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, successive administrations, both Democratic and Republican, attempted to reap a “peace dividend” by reducing our active military forces. These cuts were particularly heavy in the support branches (engineers, military police, supply, and logistics) so necessary to conduct stability operations. Accordingly, we have had to rely too much on the Reserves and National Guard to perform these functions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of both active and reserve forces are subjected to numerous repeated tours of duty in these conflicts, subjecting both them and their families to many hardships. Furthermore, the Reserves and National Guard are not available to accomplish their first missions of disaster relief and homeland security. The current administration pays lip service to supporting our troops, while at the same time submitting budgets that reduce benefits to the warriors who are sacrificing for our nation, including:
- Reducing the budget of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, resulting in long waiting periods for veterans to get health care and the creation of Category 8 veterans who have a modest income. Category 8 veterans cannot even apply for VA health care.
- Reducing the budget of the military health system, resulting in incidents such as that involving Walter Reed Army Hospital being unable to provide adequate health care to wounded warriors.
- Repeated attempts by the Administration to increase TRICARE enrollment fees, premiums, deductibles, and copays, resulting in financial hardship on our warriors and veterans.
ENERGY Our country needs a revitalized energy policy that reduces our dependency on foreign oil, encourages research and development of renewable energy sources and encourages private sector investment in natural gas and oil exploration. We must provide relief for our citizens who are struggling at the fuel pump with gasoline prices that drain their funds when trying to get to work and we must provide relief for our citizens who can no longer afford to adequately heat their homes. This country must look beyond carbon based fuels that threaten our environment and poison the air we breathe.
HEALTHCARE
- 1. Use the current Medicare billing system for all private insurance companies (would cut overhead cost by 30% or more).
- 2. Separation of the current Emergency Rooms into a real EMERGENCY room and the other rooms into healthcare rooms (as a small lad we went to the Health center
- 3. The persons entering the Healthcare rooms who are drunk or on illegal drugs do not go to rehabilitation but to the Sheriff’s room. Also all persons on welfare shall be drug tested.
District 3
Jeff Duncan (R) Incumbent
http://www.jeffduncan.com/ http://jeffduncan.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Jeff_Duncan.htm**
Rated -6 by AAI, indicating anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE I have supported, and will continue to support, full repeal of the Health Care law. I was a cosponsor of H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, which passed the House on January 19th, 2011. I also cosponsored legislation to defund ObamaCare and I am cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation to repeal individual provisions of the Health Care law. I believe that the federal government should eliminate artificial state boundaries in health insurance, extend certain protections for those who maintain continuous coverage, and provide states with relief from federal regulations that inhibit innovation and interfere with the free market. The focus should be to improve quality of care while keeping health care costs down.
JOBS AND ECONOMY Job creation is a top priority for me as a member of Congress. The House of Representatives passed numerous jobs bills during 2011, but unfortunately, most were blocked by the Democrat-controlled Senate. House and Senate conservatives have now developed a jobs plan, H.R. 3400, the Jobs Through Growth Act, of which I am an original cosponsor. This legislation is about keeping America open for business. It is a composite economic growth bill that would reform the tax code, reduce federal regulations, and increase American energy independence. The conservatives’ plan creates jobs by growing the economy, not the government. The Jobs Through Growth Act gives small businesses relief with the ability to opt out of red tape imposed since the beginning of the recession. It helps family farms, investors, and other job creators by eliminating the Death Tax, the alternative minimum tax (AMT), and the investment tax on inflation. This plan also gives Americans better access to their energy resources by curtailing frivolous litigation and unlocking areas for exploration both on and offshore. I have supported, and will continue to support, legislation that reduces taxation, regulation and litigation so that America can begin creating more private sector jobs.
ENERGY Voted for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments. I support an all-of-the-above energy policy. Energy security must be a top priority for the United States – there is no national security without energy security. We cannot continue to rely on volatile Middle Eastern supplier countries and OPEC. I support oil exploration and production in the Gulf Coast, in Alaska, in the West, and even through oil sands with our neighbor to the north, Canada (through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline). We have tremendous opportunities with natural gas through shale extraction and hydraulic fracturing. Nuclear energy has proven to be extremely vital in my district and throughout the country, and it has great potential to emerge as an important energy source of the future. I am very interested in renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and geothermal. Virtually all these energy sources have faced regulatory burdens obtaining permits and leases from overly bureaucratic federal agencies. I have supported, and will continue to support, legislation that allows for expanded energy exploration within the United States.
Barbara Jo Mullis (D) Challenger
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barbara-Jo-for-Congress/592848360797114
District 4
Trey Gowdy (R) Incumbent
http://www.treygowdy.com/ http://gowdy.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Trey_Gowdy.htm**
Rated -3 by AAI, indicating anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE First, we must acknowledge that America has the best and brightest doctors in the world. But healthcare costs are rising and excessive government regulation is threatening our valued ability to see the doctor of our choice. As the son of a doctor, I strongly believe healthcare decisions are best left to individuals and their doctors, not Washington bureaucrats and politicians. The healthcare bill passed by the Democrats inserts itself into this private process, and tramples on the limits imposed on Congress by the constitution. The House has voted numerous times to repeal or defund the Affordable Care Act. Seven House bills, securing nearly 54 billion dollars in cuts to the law, have been signed into law.
Reforming healthcare is an important priority, but we must focus on market driven solutions aimed at addressing the real problems- not centered on expanding the size and scope of the federal government. I look forward to working on constitutionally sound reforms to address access, cost, litigation, and burdensome regulations. Gowdy, Graham Support Ability of States to Opt-Out of Obamacare – Posted in Press Releases on February 7, 2014
ENERGY Voted for construction of the KeystoneXL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
HOMELAND SECURITY Our government’s primary function is to protect our citizens and defend our freedoms. The most important aspect of that duty is to ensure our brave men and women in uniform have all the resources they need to perform their courageous and inspirational task. As recent terrorist attacks remind us, America has many enemies who wish to undermine the enduring ideals our nation represents. It is imperative we remain diligent in our fight, and always remember the sacrifice of our soldiers stationed around the world.
I encounter another aspect of national security from my position on the House Judiciary Committee: improving our immigration system. Our current situation is a risk to national security because we have failed to track and control those coming to our country. For example, of those immigrants who are unlawfully present in the US, 30- 40 percent entered through legal means but then overstayed their visas. We can strengthen our border security and better equip our law enforcement to detain and remove individuals who pose a threat to our national security. But as we seek to protect our national security, we balance individual privacy rights with public safety. Recent revelations regarding the abuses of government under the guise of national security illustrates the need for robust oversight and transparency within our national security apparatus. We must work for our national security without subjecting ourselves to further government intrusion.
Curtis McLaughlin (L) Challenger- No website
District 5
Mick Mulvaney (R) Incumbent
http://www.mulvaneyforcongress.com/ http://mulvaney.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Mick_Mulvaney.htm**
Rated -4 by AAI, indicating anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ENERGY Voted for construction of the keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
HEALTHCARE Does the health care system need some reforms? Absolutely. But a government takeover is absolutely not the answer. Everyone agrees that many aspects of our health care system need to be reformed. There are millions of Americans who cannot afford to purchase health insurance and many that are unhappy with their existing coverage. However, many of the solutions can be found – as they so often are – in more personal control, free-market competition, common-sense reforms and a crackdown on frivolous malpractice lawsuits.
IMMIGRATION The simple truth is our immigration system is broken. Not only is it too easy for people to cross our borders illegally, but it’s too difficult to enter America the right way. Additionally, some estimates state that as many as 10 to 12 million people are already living in the United States illegally. Tackling the immigration problem in our country is very important, but it won’t be easy. The first step to fixing this problem starts with securing our borders. Border security doesn’t just mean building a fence, though. It also means more border patrol and a better use of technology. Fixing the illegal immigration problem won’t be simple, quick, or seamless. But these initiatives absolutely move us in the right direction.
NATIONAL DEFENSE The primary function of the federal government is to provide for national defense. Congress must ensure that our armed forces have the proper training, equipment and funding to protect us from enemies both at home and abroad. It is a sad reality that in the post-9/11 world, terrorism is a very real threat. To combat this, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to providing the best security possible for U.S. citizens. I am fully committed to ensuring the armed forces have the resources necessary to protect our country, while eliminating waste and fraudulent spending. The Fifth District boasts one of the most critical military bases in the country, Shaw Air Force Base. The base is home to the largest combat F-16 wing, the 20th Fighter Wing, as well as Ninth Air Force and U.S. Air Forces Central (USAFCENT). Shaw is also the home to Third Army. I will continue to support Shaw Air Force Base in any way I can. I don’t think it’s possible to overemphasize the economic impact and importance of Shaw to Sumter County and the Fifth District.
Tom Adams (D) Challenger
http://www.tomadamsforcongress.com/
District 6
Jim Clyburn (D) Incumbent – House Asst. Minority Leader
http://www.clyburnforcongress.com/ http://clyburn.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/james_clyburn.htm**
Rated +1 by AAI, indicating a mixed Arab/Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE Strong support for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
VOTING RIGHTS Strong opposition to voting ID cards Jan 17, 2014 – WASHINGTON — Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn released the following statement on the introduction of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014: “Upon signing the 1982 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, President Reagan called the right to vote ‘the crown jewel of American liberties’ and pledged that ‘no barrier will come between our citizens and the voting booth.’ The Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 is an important step toward renewing our commitment to President Reagan’s pledge in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Shelby County v. Holder. “As Members of Congress, we have a unique responsibility-a constitutional obligation-to combat ongoing discrimination by protecting the right to a meaningful vote and ensuring equal access to the ballot box. Chief Justice Roberts challenged the Congress to come up with a different preclearance coverage formula in the Shelby County decision and acknowledged that it is fully within the power of Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 is an appropriate exercise of this constitutional power that rightfully reflects the special place voting rights hold in our democracy. “To be clear, this is not the bill I would have written if it were solely up to me. Although I have some reservations about a formula that does not immediately cover all the states that have long histories of voter suppression and intimidation, I do believe it is an appropriate first step in addressing the concerns raised by the United States Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder.”
ENERGY Neutral and no vote on KeystoneXL Pipeline although he has in the past voiced vocal support.
Anthony Culler (R) Challenger
District 7
Tom Rice (R) Incumbent
http://www.votetomrice.com/ http://rice.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Tom_Rice.htm**
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE It’s been three years since President Obama’s misnamed “Affordable Care Act” was signed into law with the promise of reducing health care costs, increasing access, and improving care, all without “adding one dime to the deficit”. While we all agree on the importance of achieving those goals, we have yet to see any of these promises come to fruition as a result of this legislation. Further, the latest estimate from the Congressional Budget Office puts the price tag of this law at $1.33 trillion and predicts 30 million people will still be uninsured by 2023. The onerous number of new regulations and taxes imposed by this law are stifling business expansion and increasing the cost of health care. Clearly, this was not the solution to our problems. Rather than a government takeover of the industry, we must open up the markets and allow for increased competition to bring down prices-this can be done by allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines. We need medical liability reform to reduce the billions of dollars’ worth of unnecessary testing. We should also ensure portability of plans so that individuals may keep their coverage as they move from one job to the next. The establishment of high risk pools will increase access for individuals with pre-existing conditions. These are some of the multiple reforms I will work on while serving the Seventh Congressional District of South Carolina in order to truly increase access, improve quality or care, and reduce health care costs.
ENERGY SC congressional delegates talk infrastructure, energy Apr 17, 2014 In The News – COLUMBIA, S.C. – Several Republican members of the South Carolina congressional delegation gave their opinions on a variety of topics at a South Carolina Chamber of Commerce town hall meeting Wednesday. Sen. Lindsey Graham along with Congressmen Mark Sanford, Joe Wilson, Jeff Duncan, Mick Mulvaney and Tom Rice (who represents much of the Pee Dee and Florence County) took questions from an audience.
U.S. Rep. Tom Rice | It’s time for Obama to approve Keystone pipeline Feb 4, 2014 In The News The Obama Administration’s State Department has issued its final opinion on the Keystone pipeline. It concludes that the pipeline will have no material adverse environmental impact.
The permit application has been pending for over five years. Dozens of studies have been completed. Yet the President remains undecided about whether construction should be allowed. The House of Representatives passed a bill last year, with Democratic support, that would have approved the pipeline, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has refused to take it up.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AND VETERANS Congressman Rice Supports Bill Granting Vets Access to Private Care Jun 10, 2014 Press Release – Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom Rice (SC-07) today applauded the House passage of H.R. 4810, the bipartisan Veteran Access to Care Act of 2014:
Congressman Rice Discusses VA Delays with Local Veterans – May 12, 2014 Press Release – MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.- Congressman Tom Rice (SC-07) today met with local veterans at the Veterans Café & Grille in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to thank them for their service and address their concerns and needs. The conversation quickly turned to recent Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) scandals, preventable deaths, and insufficient care.
Congressman Rice Applauds Congressman Gowdy’s Chairmanship Appointment – May 5, 2014 Press Release – Washington, D.C.- Congressman Tom Rice (SC-07) released the following statement applauding the selection of fellow South Carolinian and colleague, Congressman Trey Gowdy (SC-04), as Chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi:
Gloria Bromell Tinubu (D) Challenger
http://www.gloriabromelltinubu.com/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE Affordable Healthcare and Social Security – Gloria believes in restoring the health and economic well-being of millions of seniors by securing and strengthening Medicare and Social Security.
Restoring affordable access to quality health care for all Americans by denying those who seek to repeal the Affordable Care Act which:
- Ends the practice of insurance companies denying people with pre-existing conditions
- Allows young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26
- Gives tax breaks to small businesses who provide health care
- Prevents insurance discrimination against women
- Creates community health centers
- She also believes that decisions as to when to have a family are best left to the family.
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