Issue Position: Restoring Our Freedoms

Issue Position

When Senators are elected and take office, they swear the same oath I made before going to Iraq with the State Department. It begins:

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;'

It's a simple statement -- yet Maria Cantwell has failed time and again to support and defend our constitution and our rights. During her twelve years in office, the federal government has expanded its reach into our private lives in ways that would be nearly incomprehensible to the founding fathers.

Her support for the Obamacare individual mandate, requiring everyone in the country to buy federally approved insurance, is just one example. Cantwell has also voted to allow warrantless wiretaps and gave the President authority to detain American citizens without due process or trial. She has taken extreme environmental positions that allow the federal government to take away private property rights, and given enormous rule-making authority to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats.

Thomas Jefferson said that the God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. Our constitution and the Bill of Rights were created to protect those liberties against government encroachments. But the Constitution is just a piece of paper unless the Senate, the House and the Courts respect it.

Growing up in here in Washington, and then going to work in dozens of countries around the world -- I've seen firsthand what freedom means.

I can tell you it's sorely missed in Saudi Arabia, where a King dictates religion and suppresses all dissent, and in Venezuela where a petty dictator seizes private property and bullies businesses.

I compare that to the life I had growing up -- in a free country where private property, freedom of religion and free enterprise were the bedrock values. These values are essential for our economy and our families to thrive.

To preserve our freedoms, I would work to roll-back an overreaching federal government immediately. I will uphold our second amendment rights and our rights to private property. I will immediately support regular audits of the Federal Reserve Board and ensure our economy remains free and our financial dealings open and transparent.

I will limit the presidential power to act without warrant or trial against American citizens, and I will insist that America hold fast to its faith in private property and keep wary of any international entanglements that limit our property rights or impact our sovereignty.

Maria Cantwell has shown that she can't, or won't, defend the liberties that made our country great. Working together, you and I will.

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