Jobs and Opportunity
Barry believes that the strength of America’s economy is with Main Street, not Wall Street. As a small business owner for over 20 years, Barry knows firsthand the impact high taxes and over regulation has on starting and growing a business. That’s why Barry has worked with the administration to not only cut taxes on our small businesses, but to roll back duplicative, irrelevant and overly burdensome regulations. In just the past year, Congress and the administration have eliminated 22 regulations for every 1 new regulation.
In 2017, Congress passed the largest tax cut for America in a generation, and Americans across the country are seeing the positive effects. Since passing this legislation, the economy has grown faster than was predicted and the job market has exceeded our available workforce.
For the first time in a very long time, Americans are more optimistic about their financial situation. People are happier and more optimistic about their future, and they once again can believe the best days of America are ahead of us.
When Congress was negotiating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Barry fought tirelessly to ensure tax cuts extended to Georgia’s individuals, families and businesses. Barry strongly advocated for cutting taxes for all Americans, especially those in low and middle incomes. He also worked to ensure young families with children, and those just starting out in the workforce, received tax cuts and higher deductions to help them succeed.
Government Reform and Accountability
Barry believes that our government is one of the people, by the people, and for the people – not a people who serve the government. Our government was designed to be small in size, limited in scope, and its primary role is to protect the rights endowed to us by God. Over the past several years, our federal government has grown in both size and scope, and is now intruding in basically every aspect of our lives. This rampant growth in federal government has weakened our state and local governments, and the cost of this massive government is unsustainable – and is what has led to a $21 trillion debt. That’s why Barry has been a persistent advocate for individual liberty, personal responsibility and government accountability at all levels.
Barry believes that there shouldn’t be two standards in America, one for the regular citizen and another for those in government. Working with the White House, and other members of Congress, Barry has been at the forefront of reigning in the overgrown federal government, exposing corruption, and holding government bureaucrats accountable.
Barry also believes in America’s workforce, and that it is the hardworking men and women of this country who are the strength of our economy. He believes everyone should be held responsible for their actions, and those who have positions in the federal government shouldn’t be given special treatment or held to a different standard for misconduct or poor performance. That’s why Barry authored the MERIT Act, which would hold government employees accountable to the same laws and standards as the rest of America’s workforce.
Trust in the federal government is at its lowest in the history of our country. Much of this is due to the way bureaucrats treat citizens who must deal with one of the numerous government agencies. Whether it’s the Veterans Administration, the IRS, or the Social Security Administration, most Americans are frustrated by the slow response, lack of respect, and inconsiderate treatment. That’s why Barry has authored a bill to establish a set of standards for all agencies – to ensure that when citizens have to deal with the government, they are given prompt and courteous customer service.
Veterans Care and Benefits
Our vast freedom is due to generations of Americans who have answered the call to duty and served our nation in the Armed Forces.
As an Air Force Veteran, Barry understands the challenges our veterans face getting health care, jobs and basic benefits. That’s why he has fought to put the Veterans Administration on a path of reform. Since serving in Congress, Barry and other veterans serving in Congress have worked together to bring needed change to the Veterans Administration.
In the past year, Barry has helped to pass several legislative initiatives to provide better care to our veterans and improve the responsiveness of the Veterans Administration. The Veterans Affairs and Whistleblower Protection Act, which was signed into law by President Trump, reformed the VA by creating a streamlined process to remove, demote or suspend VA employees for misconduct or poor performance (including improper care of veterans). It also expanded the protection from retribution of whistleblowers, who are a critical factor in rooting out corruption and misconduct within the administration.
Barry has also supported legislation to allow the VA to provide adult day health care, increase disability payments for service connected disabilities and provide additional funding, provide for a Veterans ID card for all who have served, and increased funding to bring the VA health records system up to date.
While there is still much work to do for our nation’s veterans, Barry remains committed to ensuring our veterans receive the best care and the most prompt service possible.
Lowering the Cost of Health Insurance and Health Care
The cost of health insurance and healthcare has skyrocketed and continues to climb because of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which put Washington bureaucrats in control of deciding what is best for individuals and their families.
Barry believes the individual should be empowered to decide what is best for their own healthcare, not some bureaucrat in Washington. In his short time in Congress, Barry has voted numerous times to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a system that allows insurance providers to provide innovative and new health insurance plans that are affordable and meet the needs of each individual, while ensuring those with pre-existing conditions have access to affordable health insurance plans.
Just in the past couple of years, insurance premiums have dramatically increased and many health insurance providers have pulled out of the market. This is creating a health insurance crisis in many parts of the United States, and we are on the verge of another dramatic increase this fall.
In the past year, Barry voted to repeal the Obamacare individual mandate – which forced Americans to buy health insurance plans that were prescribed by the government. As a result, Americans will no longer be forced by law to purchase policies they can’t afford and don’t provide the coverage they need.
Barry has supported, and is continuing to push for, major reforms that will lower premiums and deductibles – by eliminating unreasonable federal mandates and restoring the regulation of health insurance back to the state and local level.
Barry also supports allowing individuals the right to choose how they pay for health care; whether through private insurance, concierge services, group plans or paying cash for services.
A Strong Military
As an Air Force veteran, Barry understands that peace comes only through effective diplomacy backed by a strong and effective military.
We live in a dangerous time, with rogue regimes that are rapidly developing nuclear weapons and terrorist organizations that are funded by foreign governments. Barry has voted to increase defense spending so our men and women in uniform will have the resources they need to defend our freedom. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and Coast Guardsmen deserve state-of-the-art weapons and equipment necessary to do their jobs.
We must also ensure that when our men and women in uniform are in action, they can be confident that their families are cared for and have the resources they need at home. Barry has fought for and supported a well-deserved pay raise for the members of our military.
National Security in the 21st century also includes the cyber battlefield, as well as in space. With over 20 years in the information technology sector, Barry understands the unique battlefield of cyberspace and is working to protect our vital intelligence and national security infrastructure, and to provide our military with the resources and training to counter these cyber threats.
Homeland Security
Within weeks of taking office, Barry was appointed to a special task force to combat terrorism and foreign fighter travel. Through his tireless work, this task force uncovered numerous areas of vulnerability in our fight against radical Islamist terrorism. Immediately, Barry and the other members of the task force, began addressing these problems including closing holes in the State Department’s Visa Waiver Program, which could be exploited by foreign fighters trying to enter the U.S. Within months, Congress and the President acted on these recommendations, and the reforms are now law.
American citizens, the government, and our military are growing evermore dependent on technology, and it is important that support systems that provide connectivity and information; such as our cellular phone network, the Internet, weather and GPS satellites are state-of-the-art and protected from disruption of service.
Immigration and Border Security
Barry has consistently advocated that, before we can tackle the larger issue of illegal immigration, we first have to secure America’s borders and ports of entry. When serving on the House Homeland Security Committee, Barry traveled to our southern border to see first-hand how drug cartels, and human traffickers are exploiting our porous and open borders. Our vast borders are a hotbed of criminal activity and pose a real threat to our national security. That’s why Barry helped write legislation that will provide for more physical barriers along our borders, and increase the number of border patrol agents – to stop criminal activities and stop illegal crossing.
However, to effectively control illegal immigration, we must also end counterproductive policies such as catch and release which impairs our law enforcement from effectively stopping and deporting those who enter our nation illegally.
Once we have secured our border, we must reform our immigration laws by ending chain migration, stopping visa lotteries, and ensure those who are here on temporary visas return to their home countries when their visas expire.
Energy Independence
Since serving in Congress, Barry worked to pass legislation that has once again enabled the United States to become the largest producer of oil in the world. Since passing legislation that repealed the forty year old ban on exporting oil from the United States, America quickly emerged as a major oil exporting nation – which has reduced the world’s dependency on oil from Middle Eastern nations. Since this repeal was signed into law, OPEC nations are no longer able to control the world oil markets by manipulating oil prices for political purposes.
While supporting advancements in alternative fuel technologies, Barry understands that petroleum products remain the lifeblood of America’s progress and economy. He believes we must continue to advance clean and responsible ways of harvesting this vast natural resource so we remain energy independent for future generations.
Tax Policy & the Future
While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provided significant tax relief for millions of Americans and businesses and stimulated the sluggish economy, we must continue to fight for an innovative tax system; such as the Simple Tax or the Fair Tax, that doesn’t punish hard work and success.
The Obama Administration’s IRS scandal testifies to how out of control the federal government has become. This abuse of power is perpetuated by a convoluted tax code that redistributes wealth and punishes individual achievement and places the full burden of funding the government on hardworking Americans.
True tax reform can only be achieved by innovative reforms that abolish the IRS and the current system of taxing wages, and replaces it with a simpler and equitable tax system such as the Simple Tax or the Fair Tax.
Protecting Life
President John Quincy Adams stated, “The Declaration of Independence will tell you that the authors held for self-evident truth that the right to life is the first of the unalienable rights…”
Life is the ultimate right endowed by God, and it is the responsibility of a government to protect that right. Barry believes, and science has proven, that life begins in the mother’s womb and it is our responsibility to protect the life of our most vulnerable, our unborn children.
That’s why Barry has consistently fought to protect all innocent life – through legislation, and in voting to ban taxpayer dollars from being used for abortions.
Protecting the Second Amendment
As are most Americans, Barry has been horrified by the acts of evil perpetrated recently, especially on our children at school.
He has been the victim of gun violence, and experienced firsthand the trauma of being shot at with a semi-automatic rifle. Barry has been through the horror of witnessing friends and colleagues struggling for their lives after being shot. Barry has also been through the terror of being shot at without the ability to protect himself or others, because of restrictive laws that prohibited him from having a weapon to defend himself.
As an elected representative of the people, Barry has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States; and the right to purchase and own a firearm is clearly specified as a right afforded to citizens of the United States.
Barry takes his oath of office very seriously and, while we must address the issue of violence in this nation, we have to focus on the actual source of the violence which, in every case, is the perpetrator of the crime, not the weapon they choose.
The safety and security of the people of this country is a core responsibility of our government, which, Barry believes, includes protecting every citizen’s right to protect themselves and their family. Barry remains a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and opposes measures to restrict the rights of law abiding citizens to purchase and carry firearms.
However, Barry believes there are measures we can take to stop these perpetrators before they can carry out their acts of violence. Recent tragedies have highlighted gaps in our system that must be addressed, such as ensuring that our law enforcement appropriately responds to leads of individuals who have made threats or may be prone to carry out acts of violence.
Reigning in our Debt and Cutting Deficit Spending
In 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government; I mean an additional article taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing.”
Our massive federal spending and monstrous debt is directly related to the rampant growth of the federal government. While defense of our nation is the primary role of the federal government, it is only a small fraction of government expenditures. To maintain the massive government growth and size of federal departments and agencies, Congress has continued to go deeper in debt.
The majority of Americans agree, that reducing our deficit spending and reigning in our national debt must be a priority of Congress and the President.
In just over three years in Congress, Barry has aggressively taken on the task of cutting the scope and size of government and worked on reigning in excessive and wasteful spending. That’s why Citizens Against Government Waste named Barry a “Taxpayer Super Hero,” for his relentless efforts to cut wasteful spending.
Barry has also worked with members of both the U.S. House and Senate to introduce a Balanced Budget Amendment requiring Congress to Balance the Federal Budget. The Loudermilk Balanced Budget Amendment (H.J. Res 29) requires Congress to balance the federal budget, limits spending to 18% of GDP, and rolls all federal revenues under Congressional control.