I want to represent New Hampshire in Congress not to be someone, but to do something. Our current representative, Chris Pappas, is a professional, lifetime politician who is happy enough to go along and get along. He votes the way he is told – almost 100 percent of the time with Joe Biden – and hopes no one will notice or care that the job he was sent to do hasn’t been done.
And nothing is getting done. Our border is a sieve, the cost of living is out of control, criminals are on the loose and the national debt is a national disgrace. As a graduate of West Point, a combat veteran and the founder of New Hampshire’s fastest growing private company, doing nothing is not an option. That’s why I’m stepping up to retire Chris Pappas.
The first and most important job of our federal government to protect our national security. As a soldier in the U.S. Army, I put my life on the line to stand up for that principle. Today, the open border policies of Joe Biden and Chris Pappas threaten our national security, our personal security, our economic security, the rule of law and our national sovereignty. A country without borders is not a country at all.
We need to immediately shut down the border until the system is totally transformed. We need to return to the Trump-era “Stay In Mexico” policy and dramatically reform who qualifies for asylum, end chain migration, and deport those who violated our laws to stay here illegally. And, yes, we need to finish the wall.
We need to return to an immigration system that puts America’s interests first. We want to welcome the world’s best and brightest and those who want to work and build a better life. Most importantly, we want people who want to be Americans, not people who want Americans to become someone else.
Something very predictable happened when left-wing city councils, mayors,
legislators, and prosecutors decided that cops are criminals and criminals are
victims – violent crime soared. We need to support the police in the difficult and
vital job that they do. We need to provide them with the tools and training they
need to do the job right and safely. We need to recruit and hire more police to
stop crime before it happens and to catch the criminals when it does; we need
prosecutors who will actually prosecute; and we need penalties tough enough
that no one ever thinks that crime pays.Under Biden-Harris-Pappas, out-of-control spending fueled historic inflation that has made basic needs like housing, groceries and fuel unaffordable. The national debt is not only a national embarrassment, but a threat to the economic foundations of our country. It’s clear that politicians do not have the right incentives to do their jobs, so we need to fundamentally rethink their penalty and reward system. Instead of spending like drunken sailors to “buy” votes from their constituents, we need reforms that discourage deficit spending through a constitutional amendment that requires a balanced budget and denies salary to all of Congress and the president until they produce one.
As the only Republican candidate who has fired a weapon in battle, I am a strong supporter of our Second Amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment is not only vital to our national defense, but that it protects an individual’s right to bear arms for self-defense. Especially in light of rising crime, our personal right to self-defense must be protected and preserved. I also recognize that we have a mental health crisis in this country, largely fueled by drug addiction, and that we need to do a better job ensuring dangerous people don’t get their hands on guns and sick people get the help they need.
The most important principles we must uphold as a nation when it comes to foreign policy is peace is best achieved through strength and any decision to enter a conflict must serve vital American interests.
As a West Point graduate who has served our nation in the U.S. Army and who has a son who wears the uniform, I do not take lightly any policy that might put Americans in harm’s way. I also recognize that America holds a unique place in the world that has helped make us the most prosperous nation on earth, but that privilege comes with responsibilities.
With regard to the current conflict in Ukraine, I believe it is in America’s interests that Russia be pushed back, but Europe should take the lead in their own backyard and America should play a supporting role, including trying to negotiate a durable peace. There should be no blank checks and we should insist on visibility and accountability for how Ukraine is spending our dollars.
In the Middle East, Israel is a key American ally and the only democracy in a dangerous region. They are entitled to self-defense and we should support them. In prosecuting their war against Hamas, they must take care to limit civilian casualties and collateral damage. I support a two-state solution, but that can never come to pass until and unless Israel’s neighbors respect their right to exist in peace.
I believe that under the Constitution, this matter is left to the states to decide. That’s what we have been insisting as a Republican Party for 50 years. I will respect that important principle in Washington as your representative.