Home » Accomplishments

Accomplishments

I am honored to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate and I try to bring both common sense and conservative principles to the table during every debate. With every vote I cast or bill I sponsor, I always have Georgia on my mind. Here is a sampling of my work in the Senate:

Committees

I am honored to serve on these six Senate Committees:

  • Committee on Foreign Relations, ranking Republican on Africa Subcommittee
  • Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
  • Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, ranking Republican on Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee
  • Select Committee on Ethics, vice chairman
  • Committee on Veterans Affairs
  • Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Awards and Recognitions

  • Received the “Taxpayers’ Friend Award” and an “A” rating from the National Taxpayers Union
  • Received the “Paul Coverdell Statesman Award” from the Georgia Republican Party
  • Named a “Taxpayer Hero” by Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
  • Named a “True Blue” member of Congress by Family Research Council and Focus on the Family
  • Named one of the “Best of Congress” by Working Mother Magazine

Voting Record and Bill Sponsorships
To view the votes I have cast in the U.S. Senate, please click here.

To view the bills I have cosponsored, please click a link below:

To view the bills I have sponsored, please click a link below:

Restoring Our Economy

Before Congress rushes to legislate and regulate its way out of our current economic crisis, we must gather the facts of what led to the near collapse of our financial system and the loss of tens of trillions of dollars in valuation. I introduced legislation that was signed into law to create a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate all the factors that led to this crisis. Like the 9-11 Commission that investigated the terrorist attacks, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has subpoena powers and in December 2010 will make recommendations to the President and Congress of how to ensure this kind of collapse never happens again.

Reviving Our Housing Market

After spending three decades in the real estate industry, I have weathered many recessions and I know that our current economic crisis starts and ends with the housing market. I introduced and successfully passed legislation to give a tax credit to those who buy a home up until April, 30 2010. Congress passed a similar homebuyer tax credit in 1975 and it reinvigorated the housing market. My homebuyer tax credit will have the same positive result today.

Lowering Taxes

I believe we should let Americans keep more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets. I voted for the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 and pushed to make them permanent. I have also pushed to lower the capital gains tax and to eliminate the estate tax. I introduced legislation to terminate our tax code and start over again by putting all alternatives on the table for consideration.

Fiscal Responsibility

I approach the federal budget as I would my own family’s budget because Congress must become a better steward of the taxpayers’ dollars. I introduced legislation to switch to a two-year budget cycle in which Congress would appropriate only during the first year while conducting oversight of federal programs the second year. I have also pushed for more transparency and accountability in the earmark process, and I post my earmark requests on my Senate website for anyone to see.

National Defense

I’ve traveled several times to Iraq and Afghanistan to see firsthand the outstanding work our U.S. troops have done to secure freedom and to monitor the progress of the new Iraqi government. I have cast several votes and pushed legislation to ensure that our troops have the resources and equipment they need to keep us safe and to maintain our technological advantage over those who wish us harm. I also have pushed the administration and Congress to support the F/A-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programs, as well as the C-17 and the C130J. I have worked hard each year to ensure that Georgia’s military installations receive the resources they need to continue their significant role in protecting our nation.

Protecting Pensions

I co-authored the first sweeping reform of defined benefit pension laws in a generation to help ensure that promises made by employers to employees are kept. This law included targeted re-amortization of airline pensions that allowed Delta Air Lines - one of the largest employers in the state of Georgia - to meet its obligations to thousands of employees. Congress carefully crafted this legislation to protect our nation’s workforce while imposing the smallest burden on our nation’s employers who voluntary provide pension plans to their employees.

Energy Independence

I have pushed legislation to lessen our dependence on foreign oil by exploring our own oil resources as well as by pursuing conservation and alternative energy sources, including nuclear power. I have voted to explore our resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and pushed legislation to allow for exploration off our coasts. I wrote to President Obama urging him not to re-impose the moratorium on drilling along our coasts.

Securing the Borders

Illegal immigration is among the top domestic issues facing our nation. We must make the commitment to secure and seal the border as the required first step of comprehensive immigration reform. I have pushed immigration legislation that is based on this principle of securing the border first. I have also pushed for increased manpower, equipment and technology necessary to stop the flood of illegal immigrants into our country. This includes a biometrically secure ID that would allow employers to instantly check the legal status of potential hires.

Health Care Coverage

As a former small business owner, I know the challenge of providing health care to employees. Since a majority of the millions of Americans who lack coverage either work for a small business or are dependent on someone who does, helping small businesses is the logical place to start. That is why I have pushed legislation to allow small businesses to pool together, nationally, to create Association Health Plans and either purchase their health insurance from a provider, or self insure. This would give small businesses the same competitive market leverage as larger companies and unions in buying health coverage. I have also pushed to revise the funding formula for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program so that states such as Georgia will receive appropriate compensation for enrolling more children.

Stem Cell Research

I understand both the potential and promise that stem cell research holds as well as its moral implications. I am proud the Senate passed my legislation, the HOPE Act, which allows science to move forward in an ethical and moral way by permitting federal funding of scientific research that does not harm embryos, such as deriving cells from amniotic fluid and placentas, and from embryos that have died naturally.

No Child Left Behind

I was proud to have served on the drafting team for the No Child Left Behind Act when I served in the U.S. House. This landmark law reflects each of the four pillars of the reform blueprint: accountability and testing, flexibility and local control, funding for what works, and expanded parental control. Overall, our school systems are improving and our students are receiving more of the educational tools they need to compete in the 21st Century. On the HELP Committee in the Senate, I am pushing for revisions to No Child Left Behind dealing with Adequate Yearly Progress, Special Education and non-English speaking students.

College Loans

There have been a number of state and federal probes of unethical practices in the $85 billion student loan industry. I co-sponsored legislation to hold colleges, lenders and loan guaranty agencies that provide student loans accountable to a lender’s code of conduct. The Student Loan Accountability and Disclosure Reform Act (S.1262) will establish a Code of Conduct for institutions of higher education that prohibits colleges and their employees from receiving anything of value from any lender in exchange for advantages sought by the lender. The legislation would prohibit institutes of higher education from designating “preferred lenders” and sending unsolicited electronic mailings to potential borrowers.

Water

In the decades-old “water wars” between Georgia, Alabama and Florida, I have pushed hard to ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers treats Georgia fairly and to encourage the administration to work with the three states to find a resolution.

I was pleased to serve on the conference committee that crafted a compromise on the Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes Army Corps of Engineers projects dealing with flood control, storm protection, environmental restoration and inland navigation. This bi-partisan, fiscally responsible bill is a tremendous step for Georgia and is an investment in safe drinking water, in stormwater management, and in flood control and water resources of the United States.

Keeping Workers Safe

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee, my legislation in the wake of the Sago mine fatalities has resulted in a dramatic drop in accidents in our nation’s mines. I also pushed legislation calling for the first-ever ban on asbestos. I led the response to the Imperial Sugar plant explosion and am working with the workers, the company and the administration to ensure a thorough investigation that will give us all the facts so we can fashion legislation that will prevent such a disaster in the future.