By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Monday, June 16, 2017, US Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) spoke at length with The Alabama Political Reporter (APR) about the major issues facing our nation. The northern Alabama Congressman is also running for the US Senate.
APR: The Senate is going to vote on a Healthcare bill this week that did not contain all of the deficit cutting measures that you and your Freedom Caucus members were able to add in to the plan when it came out of the House. Are you confident that a conference committee will be able to make a healthcare bill that you can support?
Brooks: First the Senate may vote this week or it might not. There is a split on the Republican side. There will have to be changes in the bill to get to 51 in order to vote. If they do then there will be a vote this week and if not they will postpone it. And no, I am not confident that the Republicans will repeal and replace Obamacare as we promised the American people. There are too many liberal Republicans and that is why they are debating keeping elements of Obamcare. I fear that there will still be a massive welfare program that we don’t have the funds for.
APR: Should veterans be allowed to receive their health care from doctors and hospitals outside of the Veterans Healthcare system?
Brooks: If I had my druthers I would give veterans a platinum quality health insurance plan that lets veterans choose either the VA or the private market with its greater selections of doctors and hospitals.
APR: Is there a possibility that American military and Russian military forces could actually go head to head in the present crisis in Syria over whether to remove Assad?
Brooks: It is a possibility that I hope America can avoid. America does not have a security interest in whether President Assad stays or not. America can no longer be a police cop on every street corner in the world…I am happy to be part of a cooperative a multi-national effort to wipe out ISIS, but once that is accomplished we need to let the Turks, the Kurds, the Syrians, and Iraqis decide their future and we need to get out of Syria.
APR: The national budget deficit is $587 billion. Can the federal government continue subsidizing the health insurance needs of millions of Americans through the Affordable Care Act or a similar Republican plan?”
Brooks: I want to be real clear about one thing: America will suffer a debilitating insolvency if we continue on this path….We have been warned, but there are too many Congressmen and Senators who either lack the economic understanding or the political backbone to do what it takes to put the nation back on a sound financial footing….Washington’s reckless spending habits have us on a path to destroy what took two centuries of sacrifice to build.
APR: Would you support an amendment to the US Constitution declaring that life begins at conception and banning abortion across the United States?
Brooks: I would…All of the medical and scientific evidence shows that life begins at conception.
APR: Do you support a bill demanding that all 50 states honor the concealed carry permits of every other state? Reciprocity?
Brooks: Yes, I have supported that for years. I am cosponsoring reciprocity legislation; but quite frankly the NRA and other 2nd amendment groups have been unsuccessful at convincing enough Democratic members of Congress to support this legislation for it to pass at this time.
APR: Russian armed forces occupied Sevastopol and the Crimea and have supported pro-Russia militias across much of Eastern Ukraine. Russian intelligence agencies have also been accused of hacking DNC computers and attempting to influence the 2016 US elections. Do you support expanding sanctions against Russia?
Brooks: Yes I support sanctions and I also believe that we need to provide more military supplies to the Ukrainians, to help fight the invasion…This policy worked in Afghanistan in the 1980s and it can work in the Ukraine.
APR: If the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion deep space exploration vehicle both prove capable in their upcoming testing, should Congress put us on a path towards a manned mission to Mars in the early 2030s?
Brooks: Yes, we are, by our very nature, explorers.
APR: If North Korea were to successfully launch a nuclear warhead at the United States, would you support the US retaliating with our own nuclear counter strike?
Brooks: Absolutely! We should obliterate the whole country. We should show no mercy and use any and all means in retaliating. Total annihilation was what the Mutually Assured Destruction Strategy was based on with the Soviets in the Cold War, and it should apply here as well.
APR: Fellow Senate candidate Dom Gentile has advocated for a Federal legalizing of medical marijuana. Do you support that?
Brooks: I see that issue as a states rights issue and I defer to what the states believe is the best policy. Personally, I don’t like marijuana and I hate its effects on the human body; but I am also a states rights guy. I trust that Alabama will do the right thing.
APR: Tax reform has become a popular topic in Washington these days. Should we adopt a fair tax, a flat tax, or simply reform the existing multi-tier tax system we have now?
Brooks: I support the fair tax and failing that, a flat tax.
APR: How responsible is the Federal government’s anti-poverty programs like Medicaid, free school lunch, EBT cards, housing assistance, etc., in de-incentivizing fatherhood and tearing down the American family?
Brooks: The Great Society Welfare programs of the 1960s were well intended, but have had bad consequences for the country. If you incentivize people not to work, there will be less people working. The more you pay people extra money to have children out of wedlock, the more children will be born out of wedlock.
APR: The first Trump budget did not include the necessary ship building program to reach the Navy’s 350 ship goal. Do you support diverting more resources to building more naval vessels?
Brooks: I support us spending us much money as is needed to ensure the security of America…making cuts to other programs to ensure that we have enough money to ensure America’s security, yes…I defer to a large degree to our military leaders on what they say they need to provide that security. I believe America must stop being the police cop on every corner of the planet and reduce our financial costs being the police cop on every corner of the globe.
Congressman Mo Brooks represents Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District. Brooks is one of ten Republicans who will be on the August 15 Special Primary Election to fill the Senate vacancy created when Senator Jeff Sessions (R) was confirmed as US Attorney General. Eight Democrats are running in the Special Democratic Primary. The Special General Election is December 12.
