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The Founding Fathers created a limited government, because they believed as Thomas Jefferson stated “a government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything you have.” I ran for Congress with the goal of limiting, not expanding government. This is the kind of leadership the American people and those of Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District have demanded. They understand that just because Congress can act does not mean that it should, especially when that action generally leads to our country towards a stagnate economy, government intrusion and higher taxes. I have resisted the call to simply pass legislation.
Instead, I am focused on legislation designed to shrink, not grow government. Since 2014, I have, among other things, offered legislation that led to the delay of regulations that would have crippled small and rural healthcare providers, offered legislation to reign in wasteful agency spending, provided more oversight to the Congress, offered legislation to reign in improper regulations, including those by the EPA, developed a policy rider that lead to the elimination of the ban on exporting crude oil, and presented ideas on how to reduce spending. These are the types of ideas that resonate with the American people, and I am honored to serve another term to see more of them implemented.
Gary Palmer grew up in Hackleburg, a small town in Northwest Alabama, now lives in Hoover and represents Alabama’s 6th Congressional District. Palmer attended the University of Alabama and was the first person on either side of his family to attend college. In addition, he was a walk-on member of the football team under legendary football coach Bear Bryant.
After earning a B.S. in Operations Management, he worked in the private sector for 12 years, including nine with two major engineering construction companies, before involvement with Focus on the Family lead him to start the Alabama Family Alliance which later became the Alabama Policy Institute.
Palmer served as President of the Alabama Policy Institute for 24 years. During his tenure, the Alabama Policy Institute became a full-spectrum public policy organization that engaged in virtually all policy issues that affected Alabamians. It is considered the premier conservative think-tank in Alabama.
Palmer also was a founding member of the board of directors of the State Policy Network, an umbrella organization for various state-based think-tanks. He served on the State Policy Network board for six years, the last two as chairman. Leading this broad coalition of policy thinkers gave Palmer exposure and knowledge of policy problems that confront all 50 states. When State Policy Network was founded in 1992, there were fewer than 20 state think-tanks in their network. Today, State Policy Network has 65 member organizations.
Palmer served on four different state commissions on behalf of three different Governors. He was appointed to the Welfare Reform Commission by Governor Fob James. He also served as an advisor to Governor James’ Aerospace, Science and Technology Task Force. He was appointed to the Task Force to Strengthen Alabama Families and the Alabama Commission on Improving State Government by former Governor Robert Bentley.
In 2014, he was elected to the 114th Congress, having never served in office before. In 2016, the people of the Sixth District voted to give Palmer the opportunity to serve a second term. He won with 75% of the vote, more than any other federal candidate running in Alabama. Palmer is focused on paying down the national debt by cutting spending; regulatory reform by reducing the number and expense of federal regulations; lowering energy costs and spurring economic growth and job creation by accessing America’s vast energy resources; and replacing Obamacare with a health care plan that puts people back in charge of their health care decisions which will truly make health care affordable and available; and protecting life in all its forms. Palmer serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and serves as the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee. He also serves on the Budget Committee and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Palmer is a member of the Republican Study Committee and its Steering Committee. He is also a member of the Sportsman’s Caucus. Palmer has been a member of The Rotary Club of Birmingham since 1993, and he is a Paul Harris Fellow. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Mobile. He and his wife Ann live in Hoover, Alabama where they attend Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. They have three children – Claire, Kathleen and Rob.
It’s Time to Change Direction
Our nation desperately needs leaders who are willing to stand up and make the tough choices. I’m serving for Congress because I believe there’s still time to right our course.
Replacing Obamacare
The problem with Obamacare is not the website or the rollout. The problem with Obamacare is what it’s trying to impose upon the American people.
Our National Debt
Like so many other addiction issues, the first step for Congress to take in fixing the debt problem is to admit that they have a spending problem.
Issues
Religious Freedom
The First Amendment to the Constitution states in part that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The free exercise includes not participating in activities that violate your religious beliefs. I have fought to protect religious freedom. I introduced an amendment to H.R. 5485, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. The amendment, which was adopted, protects religious liberty by prohibiting funds from being used to implement DC’s Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA).
The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA) could force employers in DC to cover abortions in their health insurance plans and require pro-life organizations to hire individuals who advocate for abortion. Freedom of religion does not stop at the District of Columbia’s borders. Federal dollars, whether in D.C. or otherwise, must not be used to take lives or deny religious freedoms.
Energy & Environment
America has a vast amount of energy resources, but instead of having the opportunity to harvest the energy, companies are faced with economy stifling environmental regulations. I have focused on reigning in the EPA. I introduced HR 3880, The Stopping EPA Overreach Act, which would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, an authority Congress never intended for the EPA to have. A coalition of organizations have written favor of the legislation.
CEI Lead Letter:
“Under the Constitution, it is the people’s elected representatives who are empowered to make law, but executive branch agencies are more and more often ignoring the will of Congress. H. R. 3880 would require that the EPA follow the clear intent of Congress when it passed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.”
Director at Texas Public Policy Foundation:
“If Americans care about restraining this lawless assertion of federal regulatory power, the most important bill in Congress right now is H.R. 3880, introduced late last year by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.).”
As a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I have challenged the EPA for implementing regulations not rooted is science, and introduced EPA officials to real people like coal miners who have had their lives and livelihoods impacted by burdensome regulations. As al.com reported, I provided a voice to the Alabama coal miners:
As a member of the Budget Committee I successfully advocated for a policy rider to lift the ban on exporting crude oil. Experts agreed that lifting the ban would create jobs and boost the economy. In December of 2015, as part of the omnibus spending package, the Congress lifted the ban on exporting crude oil.
Veterans
I am grateful to each and every one of our veterans, both in Alabama and throughout America. Our national anthem calls America the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ A popular rephrasing of that is that America is ‘Land of the free because of the brave.’ It remains free because brave citizens choose to join our armed forces and serve their country at all costs.
Defense
I supported the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 (NDAA), and look forward to working with President Trump to put a focus on a strong military, which is essential to the success of our nation. It is vital that we fund our military so that our national security is not at risk.
Budget
Our national debt now exceeds $20 trillion. Increasing spending, while the Congressional Budget Office projects a shortfall in revenues, is not a path to fiscal responsibility. It is irresponsible to continue spending more than you earn.
Instead of increasing spending, I have offered my colleagues real solutions to reduce spending. As part of the most recent budget process, I pointed out to my colleagues that 22 government agencies made close to $125 billion in improper payments in 2014 and the IRS failed to collect at least $380 billion that same year. There is no reason to increase spending.
One way to reign in federal spending is through more oversight over federal agencies. To that end, I introduced HR 5499, the Agency Accountability Act, which would require agencies like DHS and t he CFPB to turn over all fines and fees collected to the U.S. Treasury, making them subject to appropriations. This prohibits agencies from spending money without transparency. The bill has received broad support:
FreedomWorks
“This focused legislation will reign in federal bureaucrats and stop the murky practice of using fees from taxpayers to fund programs their representatives have not authorized.”
Americans for Tax Reform
“H.R. 5499 is a positive measure to increase Congressional oversight over the actions of federal agencies, thus improving the overall transparency and accountability of the federal government.”
Immigration
I am opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants. I signed the FAIR Congressional Task Force’s No-Amnesty pledge to “oppose legislation that would grant any form of work authorization to illegal aliens.” The first steps to any reform of America’s immigration system will have to be securing our borders and enforcing current immigration law.
For more information, click here to visit FAIR Task Force.
Economic Growth
Free markets work if we allow them to work. Our energy sector alone could create tens of thousands of new jobs overnight if government would lift unnecessary burdens on developers. We have enormous energy resources with trillions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, and enough coal to last for more than 400 years. These are resources that could drive economic growth for the next decade, which government has refused to use in the past. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the United States literally has more oil available than the entire world has used in the last 100 years.
Second Amendment
The right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right that must be protected from executive overreach and from those who would impose limits on the types of arms law abiding citizens are allowed to possess. It is unreasonable to think that eliminating the rights of law abiding citizens will do anything stop gun violence. The Gun Owners of America and the NRA have given me their highest ratings defending the Second Amendment.
Tax Reform
I joined with fellow members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in calling for President Obama to remove IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Mr. Koskinen repeatedly gave misleading and false testimony to Congress, and failed to preserve evidence related to the troubling scandal in which various conservative nonprofit organizations were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for exercising their right to freedom of speech. You can view my remarks at the Oversight and Government Reform Committee press conference by clicking here.
Right To Life
I supported H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which would create a moratorium on any funding for Planned Parenthood, as well as H.R. 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which provides greater protection for infants that survive the abortion procedure. …
Health Care
Obamacare has not improved access to healthcare or lowered the cost of healthcare services. Instead, it has forced individuals to purchase policies they don’t want, at higher premiums. Last year, major insurance companies have announced that they will no longer provide policies through the Obamacare exchange because they are unsustainable. Many companies not leaving the exchange have requested premium increases in excess of 30%.
The misnamed Affordable Care Act must be repealed and replaced with common sense free market solutions, putting individuals back in control of their selections.
National Debt
On Wednesday, January 6, 2016 Congress passed HR3762, a budget “reconciliation” bill that repeals components of Obamacare and places a one-year moratorium on Planned Parenthood funding.
HR3762 repealed the individual and employer mandates, repealed all tax hikes associated with the original legislation, and repealed Medicaid expansion, premium tax credits, and cost-sharing subsidies after two years. The legislation used an expedited process known as budget reconciliation to overcome the 60-vote threshold that is normally required for bills to pass the Senate. The 1974 Congressional Budget Act created a special process reserved exclusively for matters relating to federal spending.
This budget reconciliation bill reduced the federal deficit by a half trillion dollars, forcing the President to confront the failures of Obamacare head on. But, most importantly, it clears the path to repealing this law with a Republican president in 2017 and replacing it with a truly patient-centered health care system.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 240 to 181.