Relect Walter Jones to Congress

Most of the time, when a candidate says that he has changed his position on an issue, I take it with much skepticism. But one candidate in for Congress is an exception for me because he has proven his change of heart by how he has consistently voted on key legislation recently.

The Candidate

Walter Jones represents North Carolina’s 3rd district, which is the district that contains the Camp LeJeune Military Reservation.

On 10-Oct-2002, he voted yes on the use force in Iraq and as late as 12/20/05 supported Bush on the war.

But on July 13, 2006, he admitted that the war in Iraq was a mistake. He sent a letter to the President advising against “the surge” in January 2007. Then he urged the President not to defy the Constitution and go to war with Iran without congressional approval and cosponsored a resolution requiring congressional approval prior to use of military force against Iran. Out of the seven incumbent congressmen that Ron Paul has officially endorsed, Walter Jones is the only one who did not cosponsor H CON RES 362, the bill that would set up a blockade of Iran.

On 10-May-2007, he voted no on redeployment out of Iraq in 90 days. But he has consistently voted for redeployment out of Iraq when the legislation has allowed the troops 120 days or more to leave (e.g. here, here, and here). On Jun 11, 2008, he voted yes on investigating President Bush for lying about Iraq.

He introduced H.R. 5993, a bill which would educate Congress and the public about presidential signing statements. These statements are dangerous tool used by recent presidents to nullify the effect of legislation signed into. This amounts to absolute veto power and renders Congress impotent to pass meaningful legislation. One such example is the signing of a bill by George W. Bush concerning Guantanamo Bay prisoners. Bush effectively nullified the portion of this bill concerning torture with a signing statement.

He cosponsored H.R. 4892, a bill that would require the Federal Reserve to continue to publish an accurate accounting of the entire money supply (the total number of U.S. dollars in existence).

He voted no on CAFTA (the Centralizing American Fraud and Theft Agreement). He voted yes on withdrawing the U.S. from the WTO (World Treachery Organization). He voted no giving the President unconstitutional “Fast Track” authority to make trade deals without the permission of Congress.

In 2005, he voted no on making the Patriot Act permanent. He voted no on amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to allow the President and the Attorney General to authorize electronic surveillance without a court order to acquire foreign intelligence information (H.R.5825). He voted against the Military Commissions Act of 2006. He signed a letter to the President urging him to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities.

He voted yes on Net Neutrality. (This is one of the few positions that he has recently taken that I strongly disagree with.)

Walter Jones is one of the few, and perhaps the only congressman who consistently cosponsors every true pro-life bill that is introduced into the Congress. Ron Paul sometimes has more reservations about bills which give the federal government too much authority. Very few congressmen have cosponsored Ron Paul’s recent pro-life legislation, but Walter Jones is one of the few who cosponsored both the Sanctity of life act of 2007 (both H.R.1094 and H.R.2597) and the Right to Life Act of 2007 (H.R. 618). These bills define personhood at conception (no exceptions). Don’t be misled by the statement made on Ontheissues.org : “No federal funding of abortion, but no litmus test.” Representative Jones was speaking about the positions of the Republican Liberty Caucus, not his own personal views. Jones definitely does not play politics on this issue.

Jones also cosponsored the marriage protection amendment. He voted no on ENDA.

Walter Jones is pro-gun rights.

Jones also introduced the Military Academy First Amendment Protection Act to protect VMI from ACLU lawsuits concerning the saying of prayers. He cosponsored a bill to protect prayer in public schools.

The Opposition

The Democratic challenger, Craig P. Weber, made the following statement which, with the exception to the second to last sentence, is absolutely wrong all counts:

The decision is between a WOMAN AND GOD. It is not politics. God never said that He needs help judging people. If decisions were being made for a MAN, he'd be outraged. I do not advocate abortion. But, no one should tell a Woman what to do with her body. It is for her to talk out with her soul, which is where 'right and wrong' resides. She, and we, will have to face the Creator with our decisions. If the government has a position, it's to provide the best healthcare for its citizens.

Take a minute to stop and think about each sentence in the above statement. How ridiculous it would be if each one was generally applied to all situations.

He is another typical tax and spend liberal who wants spending on wasteful education and national healthcare programs. He supports McCain-Feingold and public financing of political campaigns. He would include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws. He even supports pre-emptive military strikes against countries “deemed to be a threat to United States national security”.

The Conclusion

For life, peace, and limited, constitutional government, join the campaign to re-elect Walter Jones. Click here to contribute.