SHORT BIO
A member of the House of Representatives since 1981, he became the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 2005. He will retire at the end of the current session of Congress. Before joining the House, he served in the Vietnam War as a soldier in the United States Army, going on to practice law from 1976 to 1983. He is sometimes regarded as a “true Reagan conservative” and one of the more traditionally conservative candidates in the Republican primary.
ISSUE SUMMARY
Hunter is a traditionally conservative member of the Grand Ole Party. His stances include:
- Voted consistently for abortion restrictions
- Against gay marriage and gay adoption
- Supports Bush’s PATRIOT Act and other controversial security tactics
- Tough on crime
- Strongly supports prayer in public schools
- Strongly advocates building a border wall to curb illegal immigration
- Against amnesty for current illegal aliens
- Supports broad tax cuts, tax relief, and tax reform
- Against increasing the minimum wage to $7.25
- Believes the Iraq war has been worth it, and supported Bush’s troop surge
- Supports fair trade, speaks out against China’s unfair trade strategies
For more detailed information, see Duncan Hunter at OnTheIssues.org .
EXPANDED ISSUES and STANCES
Abortion
- Voted consistently for laws restricting abortions.
- Received a 0% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Civil Rights
- Defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
- Supported making the PATRIOT Act permanent.
- Voted to ban gay adoptions in DC.
- Voted to end preferential treatment by race in college admissions. (against affirmative action)
- Currently has a 3% lifetime rating from the ACLU.
Crime
- Voted to increase prosecution and sentencing for juvenile crime.
- Supports making federal death penalty appeals harder.
Education
- Supported allowing prayer in schools during the War on Terror.
- Supported vouchers in DC schools.
- Voted to give federal aid only to schools allowing voluntary prayer.
- Supports a Constitutional Amendment to allow school prayer.
- Received a grade of “F” from the NEA.
Energy
- Supported Bush energy policies in 2003 and 2004.
- Against the KYOTO protocol.
- Voting record generally in support of the oil industry.
Health Care
- Against requiring negotiated prescription prices for Medicare part D.
- Voted to limit medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages.
- Against all physician-assisted suicide.
- Supports tax-exempt Medical Savings Accounts.
Homeland Security
- Supports allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant.
- Supports continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight.
- Supports federalizing rules for driver’s licenses to hinder terrorists.
- Supports new cabinet position, Director of National Intelligence.
- Voted to permit commercial airline pilots to carry guns.
- Supports increased defense spending.
Immigration
- Probably Hunter’s biggest issue.
- References the 854 mile border fence he supported, built in CA. Claims that crime dropped significantly after the wall was built. (Factcheck.org claims that the wall merely shifted crime, and that it cost almost 10 times more than originally predicted.)
- Voted to build a fence along the Mexican border.
- Supports reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment.
- Against more immigrant visas for skilled workers.
- Received a 100% rating from FAIR, indicating a voting record restricting immigration.
Taxes
- Supported the Bush tax cuts and voted to make them permanent.
- Supports tax reform and simplification.
- Supports broad tax relief.
War
- Supports the use of pre-emptive tactical nuclear weapons if Iran doesn’t cooperate.
- Believes the Iraq war has been worth it.
- Supported Bush’s “troop surge”.
- Voted to declare Iraq part of the War on Terror with no exit date.
Other
- Received a 3% rating last year (9% lifetime) from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), indicating a poor voting record on environmental issues.
- Voted to reduce the marriage tax.
- Received a 100% rating from the Christian Coalition.
- Speaks out against China, claiming they cheat on trade.
- Received a 24% rating from CATO, indicating a pro-Fair Trade voting record.
- Against increasing the minimum wage to $7.25.
- Rated 20% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record.
- Believes we should limit welfare to 2 years and cut welfare spending.
