Conservative Fighter

Senator Shelby’s longstanding position is that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. While Senator Shelby respects the rule of law, he firmly disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision and believes that Alabama’s ban on same sex marriage is constitutional. Senator Shelby has fought in Congress to protect traditional marriage as well as to protect religious liberties.

In particular, Senator Shelby continues to oppose any and all proposals to grant amnesty to the more than 10 million people illegally present in the United States today. While the United States is a nation founded by immigrants, and Senator Shelby fully supports a fair and reasonable means of allowing individuals to immigrate to America legally, it is simply unjust to reward people for their willful violation of U.S. immigration laws while so many others wait their turn to come to America through proper channels.

As Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee that determines funding for the Department of Justice, Senator Shelby has led the charge in Congress to put an end to the availability of federal funds for sanctuary cities. The tragic murder of Kathryn Steinle in July of 2015 underscores Senator Shelby’s belief that taxpayer dollars should not be available to municipalities that plainly disregard our nation’s immigration laws.

Unfortunately, the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress believe that the government can create jobs by borrowing money from America’s foreign creditors and spending it on government programs. Not surprisingly, these attempts have proven unsuccessful while also greatly increasing our national debt. You cannot jumpstart our economy by mortgaging future American generations.

Senator Shelby believes that the largest incentive for job growth and economic recovery is broad, sustained tax cuts as well as elimination of undue and unnecessarily burdensome federal regulatory requirements. At the same time, the government must foster confidence in the financial sector so that banks will again feel free to make loans to small business starts, where most new jobs are created.

Senator Shelby believes that a key omission in the U.S. Constitution is the absence of a requirement that the federal government achieve a balanced budget each year. Since he first joined the Senate, he has introduced legislation that would amend the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced annual federal budget.

The federal government must constrain itself to spend only what it takes in and not continue to saddle future generations with debt. This does not mean, however, that we should increase taxes. Senator Shelby adamantly opposes tax increases, as our budget shortfall is not the result of insufficient tax revenues, but rather excessive government spending. Like every household in America, the federal government must learn to spend money at the level that it receives it.

Senator Shelby adamantly opposed Obamacare and supports a full repeal of this deeply flawed law. At the time of Obamacare’s enactment, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that we needed to pass the law in order to find out what is in it. What we have learned over the past few years since its enactment is that Obamacare is bad for our nation’s health care system and bad for our economy. Obamacare is full of empty promises that have left families in Alabama with higher premiums, fewer choices, and a government bureaucrat in between them and their doctor.

Simply put, Obamacare too expensive, too restrictive, too far reaching, and too ineffective. This damaging law represents a major shift in the direction of socialized medicine, which Americans neither want nor need. This new law raises taxes, cuts Medicare, and expands federal funding for abortion services while also raising health care costs. Obamacare is not reform, but instead simply a massive expansion of government encroachment into the health care sector.

To address concerns of gun crimes and criminal possession of firearms, Senator Shelby does not believe that the answer is to create laws that deny law abiding citizens the ability to defend themselves. Criminals will not be deterred by any such laws. Rather, the answer is proper and robust enforcement of appropriate gun laws now on the books.

Furthermore, the proper way to combat crimes in our communities is to ensure that those who commit them are properly arrested, convicted and incarcerated for their crimes. Senator Shelby will never support any attempt to deny law abiding citizens their constitutional right to bear arms.

Senator Shelby strongly opposes President Obama’s so-called nuclear deal with Iran. He believes that this Administration was more concerned with reaching any deal than one that had the best interests of the American people and our national security in mind. In Senator Shelby’s role as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he has been outspoken in his opposition to the Administration’s efforts to lift economic sanctions on the Iranian regime. He believes that this decision will only further empower the leading state sponsor of terrorism to fund terrorist activities in the region, leading to heightened destabilization in the Middle East.

In addition with his concerns regarding sanctions and the deal reached with Iran by the Administration, Senator Shelby was adamantly opposed to the secret side deals that were negotiated and not shared with Congress or the American people. Senator Shelby has always advocated for more accountability and transparency in government, and strongly believes that it is completely unacceptable for the Administration to refuse to disclose all of the details of the Iran nuclear agreement to the public.

For far too long, the federal government has used annual surpluses generated by the Social Security and Medicare programs to spend as part of the regular federal budget. Now, as more and more members of the baby boom generation reach retirement age, these funds must be dedicated to the programs for which they were raised instead of being spent for unrelated purposes.

Under the existing systems, as Social Security and Medicare begin to pay out more than they take in through payroll taxes, any shortages will have to be made up by increasing taxes or cutting benefits. Senator Shelby finds both of these options to be unacceptable. America must maintain its commitment to our seniors who have paid into the programs all of their lives while also finding a way to make it solvent for future generations.

Finding solutions to this problem will be very time consuming and complex. However, Senator Shelby believes that we must begin to search for these solutions now. Senator Shelby remains absolutely dedicated to maintaining our commitment to our seniors by ensuring that they receive the full benefits due to them under these programs after paying into them for their entire working lives.

When given the opportunity to compete on a level playing field, U.S. industries can hold their own against any company in any country, and this success can result in jobs and opportunities for millions of Americans. Too often, however, the United States enters into global trade relationships that favor our trading partners to the detriment of American companies and workers. Senator Shelby is concerned that our trade agreements too often promote unfair competition and job losses here at home. For this reason he voted against Trade Promotion Authority (also known as TPA or “Fast Track”) and he has serious concerns regarding the recently negotiated Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.

In addition to his concerns regarding unfair competition and job loss, Senator Shelby strongly opposed TPA this Congress because he does not trust this Administration to negotiate trade deals that are in the best interest of the American people. Time and time again, President Obama promises one thing and delivers another. Senator Shelby believes that Congress simply should not grant more power to a president who has consistently abused his authority.

Although he voted against TPA under this Administration, Senator Shelby is committed to free and fair trade and will continue to work toward this goal in all of America’s trade relationships as we continue our efforts to expand our exports throughout the globe.

Senator Shelby believes the U.S. tax system should be made less burdensome and more simple. That is why he has authored the “Simplified, Manageable and Responsible Tax (SMART) Act.” This proposed flat tax would replace the current perplexing tax code with a flat rate of 17 percent on all individual wages, salaries, and pensions as well as business profits. The only exemptions to the tax would be a personal exemption of $14, 480 for a single person; $18,490 for a head of household; $28,960 for a married couple filing jointly; and $6,250 for each dependent. These allowances would be annually indexed to inflation. To prevent any double-taxation of income, an individual’s earnings from savings would not be included as taxable income. This would result in an immediate tax cut for virtually all taxpayers.

By freeing up all of the resources that are now being used to navigate through and comply with the federal tax code, Senator Shelby’s flat tax proposal would allow families and businesses to redirect their resources away from tax compliance and toward caring for their families and creating jobs.

Senator Shelby also supports the full and immediate repeal of estate and gift taxes. It is not reasonable to ask families to visit with the IRS at the same time they are saying goodbye to a loved one. Even worse, it is unfair that the government would seek to double tax the income that a departed loved one has spent his or her entire life earning to pass along to heirs.

Senator Shelby is the leading Congressional opponent of using taxpayer dollars to bail out private firms. One of his first votes as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives was to oppose the federal government rescue of Chrysler in December 1979. He has opposed all forms of federal bailouts ever since, including the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that was enacted in October 2008. Senator Shelby continues to actively pursue policies and legislation that clearly stipulate that no enterprise is too big to fail.

Senator Shelby remains concerned about the lack of oversight of the Federal Reserve in the aftermath of the financial crisis and in the post Dodd-Frank world in which the Federal Reserve has been empowered with even more regulatory authority. He also believes that the Federal Reserve should have nothing to hide from the American people.

This Congress, Senator Shelby has pushed for reforms to the Federal Reserve to ensure that it is accountable both to Congress and to the American people. With a balance sheet of more than $4 trillion, the Federal Reserve should be subject to scrutiny and oversight so that its actions can be understood and it can be held properly accountable.

Senator Shelby will continue to lead the way to substantial financial reform that protects taxpayers, strengthens the economy, and preserves the competitiveness of the financial markets. Senator Shelby will continue to push for reforms to our financial sector that will make it more transparent and accountable so that the taxpayer will never again be called upon to prop up our nation’s banking institutions.