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Lindsey Graham presidential campaign, 2016/Federalism
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 Lindsey Graham |
U.S. Senator (Assumed office: 2003) U.S. House of Representatives (1995-2003) |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
Legislative
- In 2015, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt began asking Republican candidates on his show if they would be willing to use the Senate "nuclear option" in order to get rid of the filibuster and repeal Obamacare. Lindsey Graham is one of a few candidates who is in favor of keeping the filibuster.[2]
Judiciary
- In a discussion of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis in September 2015, Lindsey Graham said the United States was “a constitutional democracy not a theocracy” and “the secular law of the land is the United States Constitution.” Graham expressed his sympathy for defenders of “traditional marriage,” but added, “I can not say as a conservative that the court’s decision does not apply because I dislike it. I can not say as a conservative there is not a judicial interpretation of the Constitution that is supreme when it comes to how the Constitution works.”[3]
- Graham served on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.[4]
- As a member of the Judiciary committee, Graham voted to approve Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan.[5][6][7][8]
- After the United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, Graham released the following statement: "No one should be angry at Chief Justice John Roberts for exposing the Obama tax for what it is and holding Obamacare is constitutional under the broad power of Congress. Public anger should be directed at the politicians who denied it was a tax to pass Obamacare and are responsible for creating this mess."[9]
- After the Supreme Court ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act, Graham said, "The main thing is that something like marriage and the bedrock of society should be decided by the population through the political process, not by unelected judges. This is an example of where something this fundamental to our society should be left in the hands of the people through their elected representatives."[10]
Government accountability
- Lindsey Graham co-sponsored S.202 - the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011, which proposed auditing the Federal Reserve.[11]
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- In April 2011, in response to a pastor burning the Quran, Lindsey Graham said, "I wish we could find a way to hold people accountable. Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war. During World War II, we had limits on what you could do if it inspired the enemy. (We should do) anything we can to push back here in America against acts like this that put our troops at risk."[12]
Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- Lindsey Graham was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2014. After receiving the endorsement, Graham said, "As an avid hunter and gun-owner, I am a longtime supporter of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. I’m proud to have the support of the National Rifle Association and tens of thousands of gun-owners across South Carolina in my re-election campaign."[13]
- Graham voted against the 2013 Joe Manchin - Pat Toomey background checks proposal.[14]
- In 2013, Graham voted against S.Amdt.714 to S.649, which sought to "regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices," also known as high-capacity magazines.[15]
- In 2013, Graham voted for S.Amdt.719 to S.649, which sought to allow citizens with concealed carry permits to carry in other states that allow concealed carry.[16]
- Graham co-sponsored S.397 - the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prohibits individuals from suing gun manufacturers and retailers as a result of "criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm." It became law on October 26, 2005.[17]
Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- At the fifth GOP primary debate on December 15, 2015, Lindsey Graham discussed is support for National Security Agency data collection: “Senator Paul and Senator Cruz, are isolationists. They both want to restrict the ability of the NSA to do the following; find out if somebody overseas is calling into America and if somebody is on the other end of the phone, don't you want to know who their talking to? If a terrorist is calling into America and we can match up phone numbers we get a get a [sic] court order to find out what the content is. We're at war folks, they're not trying to steal your car, they're trying to kills us all. So yes, I would re-institute this program. There's four things you need to understand about this war, it's a religious war, them against the world, if you don't fight them over there, they're coming here. If you don't hit them first, they're going to hit us. If you're not determined to fight it as a ware, you're going to lose it. So if you're worried about somebody having your phone in the government, don't be. The only thing you need to worry about is if you're talking to terrorist and a judge gives an order to listen to what you're saying. That's all you need to worry about.”[18]
USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
On June 2, 2015, the Senate passed HR 2048 - the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015 or the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 by a vote of 67-32. The legislation revised HR 3199 - the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 by terminating the bulk collection of metadata under Sec. 215 of the act, requiring increased reporting from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and requiring the use of "a specific selection term as the basis for national security letters that request information from wire or electronic communication service providers, financial institutions, or consumer reporting agencies." Graham did not vote. It became law on June 2, 2015.[19][20]
Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- According to Forbes, Lindsey Graham argued in a series of tweets "that nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—suspected of being one of the Boston Marathon terrorists and taken into custody on Friday evening—should be treated as an enemy combatant and denied his due process rights under the Constitution."[21]
Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- Lindsey Graham opposes Common Core Standards. In 2014, he introduced S.Res.345, which would have allowed states to establish and define their own "academic standards and assessments."[22]
Crime and justice
- In August 2015, Lindsey Graham expressed disgust with a Connecticut Supreme Court decision holding the death penalty violated the state’s constitution, sparing the lives of two men who raped two girls before killing them and their mother. “If this doesn’t cry out for the death penalty nothing ever would and I don’t think you’re an indecent society when you take two men who broke into a family’s home, tortured two young girls, raped them, burned them alive — I don’t think that makes us indecent that they would be administered the death penalty … You know if I’m president of the United States, under my administration, my Attorney General - we’re going to prosecute people like this to the fullest extent of the law. I doubt if there’s any federal jurisdiction in a case like this, but it would be worth looking at,” Graham said.[23]
- Graham voted against S 47 - Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The purpose of the bill was to combat violence against women, from domestic violence to international trafficking in persons. It became law on March 7, 2013.[24]
- Graham co-sponsored S 1789 - Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which "Amends the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to: (1) increase the amount of a controlled substance or mixture containing a cocaine base (i.e., crack cocaine) required for the imposition of mandatory minimum prison terms for trafficking; and (2) increase monetary penalties for drug trafficking and for the importation and exportation of controlled substances." It became law on August 3, 2012.[25]
- Graham co-sponsored HR 3633 - Controlled Substances Trafficking Prohibition Act, which "Amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to prohibit U.S. residents from importing into the United States a non-schedule I controlled substance exceeding 50 dosage units if they: (1) enter the United States through an international land border; and (2) do not possess a valid prescription or documentation verifying such a prescription." It became law on November 10, 1998.[26]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Lindsey + Graham + Government
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ NPR, "Lindsey Graham Ends Presidential Bid," December 21, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Filibuster divides GOP 2016 contenders," July 6, 2015
- ↑ BuzzFeed, "Lindsey Graham On Kim Davis: We’re Not A Theocracy," September 10, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, "Committee Members," accessed September 13, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, “Senate Panel Endorses Roberts's Nomination as Chief Justice,” accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ CNN.com, “Senate panel recommends Alito on party-line vote,” accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, “Senate Panel Endorses Sotomayor,” accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ LA Times, “Elena Kagan approved by Senate Judiciary Committee in 13-6 vote,” accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, “Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and Obamacare,” accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ Newsmax.com, “Lindsey Graham: 'Federal Government Has Right to Define Marriage’,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ LindseyGraham.com, “Economic Issues,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Politico, “Graham: Explore limits on Quran Burnings,” accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ LindseyGraham.com, “Release: Graham Endorsed by National Rifle Association.” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, “Senate Vote 97 - Defeats Manchin-Toomey Background Checks Proposal,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.Amdt.714 to S.649,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.Amdt.719 to S.649,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.397 - the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Transcript: CNN undercard GOP debate," December 15, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.2048," accessed May 26, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 2048)," accessed June 2, 2015
- ↑ Forbes.com, “Senator Lindsey Graham Says Suspend the Constitution For Boston Marathon Suspect And Designate Him An Enemy Combatant,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.Res.345,” accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ BuzzFeed, "Lindsey Graham: No Death Penalty For CT Home Invaders 'Makes Me Want To Throw Up'," August 18, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.47 - Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013,” accessed January 14, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.1789 - Fair Sentencing Act of 2010,” accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “H.R.3633 - Controlled Substances Trafficking Prohibition Act,” accessed January 22, 2015
