Exclusive responses on issues facing our nation and our district
South Carolina Dist 4
“William Timmons began his term in Congress committed to cleaning up Washington and fighting for the values of South Carolina’s 4th District.
His experience as a small business owner inspired him to run for public office because he was tired of overbearing government regulations and exploding health care costs. While he served as a state senator, he worked with his colleagues to find creative solutions to limit government and make it more accountable to taxpayers. He brings the same mindset to Capitol Hill in an effort to solve the biggest issues facing our nation.
One of Williams’ core values is service to his country and community. During his time as a prosecutor with South Carolina’s 13th Circuit Solicitor’s office, William’s top priority was serving victims of domestic violence. Service is ultimately what motivated him to run for public office and to become a JAG Officer and First Lieutenant in the South Carolina Army National Guard.
William is a lifelong member of Christ Church in Greenville. He studied law and International Studies at the University of South Carolina and holds degrees in International Affairs and Political Science from George Washington University. He currently serves on the Education and Labor, and Budget Committees, as well as the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.”
With so many freshman Congressional members making news on a variety of issues we asked our Fourth District Congressman William Timmons to offer his views on key issues facing the country and our district.
Sentinel: What is your position on immigration? Are you in favor of building the wall? What funding can be done to help alleviate the crisis at the border?
Representative Timmons:
The immigration system in our country is broken. It is time to stop ignoring the issue and begin the process of fixing it. I believe we need to act swiftly to curb the flow of illegal immigration into our country.
There are currently over 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States and hundreds of thousands more that enter the country illegally each year. We need additional resources at our ports of entry and at our borders to make it more difficult to enter.
To that end, I support the construction of a physical barrier along portions of our nation’s southern border, and I support the President’s executive action. We have a crisis that demands it.
Sentinel: What committees are you serving on and what legislation are you considering?
Representative Timmons:
I am on the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on the Budget, and was appointed to the new Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
These committee assignments will help me fulfill my promises to the people who elected me: clean up Washington and make it more accountable; cut spending and balance the budget; push decisions and tax dollars as close to the student as possible; and keep America’s workforce second to none.
While the jurisdictions of the Education and Labor and Budget Committees are well-known, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress was just created this Congress as a part of the House rules package. The select committee is small – only 12 members, six from each party. I am one of the two freshmen members chosen to serve, and I am the only Republican freshman member.
We need more transparency, more accountability, and a Congress that listens to the people, and that is what I plan to do as the Representative of the Fourth Congressional District of South Carolina.
Sentinel: There are rumblings that the House is considering impeachment of the president. What evidence if any is being debated? How are your colleagues on both sides of the aisle reacting to this debate?
Representative Timmons:
As you probably know, Attorney General William Barr released Robert Mueller’s report — minus redactions required by law and Department of Justice regulation — on April 19, 2019.
After reviewing the report, I can confidently say that I agree with the Attorney General’s initial assessment. There is no evidence that President Trump, or any other American citizen, colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 election. And the evidence presented regarding obstruction of justice is not sufficient to establish one of the critical elements of the crime: intent.
It is worth noting that these are the same conclusions Trey Gowdy and the House Intelligence Committee came to when they finished their investigation of the same events in April 2018. We spent $25 million and did not learn much more than we already knew.
There was no collusion and there is no reason to impeach President Trump.
Sentinel: What proposals have been submitted to fund a Medicare For All campaign? In your opinion, where does the majority of Congress stand on this issue?
Representative Timmons:
The Democrats’ proposal to provide Medicare for everyone in the country is fiscally impossible. In 2018, George Mason University conducted a study that estimated it would cost $32.6 trillion — $3.26 trillion per year — over 10 years to have provide Medicare for all. By comparison, the entire federal budget for fiscal year 2019 is about $4.4 trillion.
If the Democrats got their way and Medicare for all was signed into law, taxes would skyrocket, care would be rationed, and healthcare choice would be completely eliminated, and this is a best case scenario; at worst, the proposal would literally bankrupt our nation.
Sentinel: What is your position on abortion in this country? More specifically, where do you stand with respect to the recent infanticide legislation in New York and Virginia?
Representative Timmons:
Many of us fundamentally disagree about when life begins. I believe that life begins at conception. There is no greater miracle we will witness during our time on Earth than our ability to create life.
We must protect these miracles and advocate for their right to exist.
Recently, New York passed a law allowing for third-trimester abortions, essentially abdicating their interest in the life of the child. Virginia has pending legislation that would allow the same.
While the governor of Virginia claimed that his statements were taken out of context, he is on record supporting the proposed law and saying that it allows for a full-term child to be born, and THEN the parent can make a decision to end the child’s life.
While those who support the legislation have attempted to justify these laws as merciful to both the parent and child, this is and should be an alarming moment in our nation’s history. Euthanizing a living, breathing child outside of the womb should shock our collective conscience regardless of political party.
This past February, I joined dozens of my colleagues in introducing H.R. 962. This critical piece of legislation would provide legal protections for infants who survive failed abortions. Current law states that an infant who survives an abortion and is born-alive is indeed a person, but there is no law which would mandate immediate medical care and impose criminal penalties on medical professionals who fail to provide said medical care. The bottom line is that current law does not adequately protect infants who survive an abortion.
Unfortunately, since the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act was introduced, Democrat leadership has blocked its consideration because they do not want to expose their party’s radical position on this issue. To be clear, this piece of legislation is not about abortion. It is about providing protection for infants outside of the womb.
Euthanizing a living, breathing child outside of the womb should shock our collective conscience regardless of political party. If we cannot come together and condemn infanticide, then where are we as a nation?
Sentinel: Your district covers areas in both Greenville and Spartanburg Counties as well as our local community. Identify some of the issues you are working on that directly affect our district.
Representative Timmons:
Trade: The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is the trade agreement that has been designed to bring the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into the 21st century. President Trump recently finished negotiating the USMCA with the heads of state of Mexico and Canada.
The USMCA keeps much of NAFTA’s framework, but also provides greater protections for intellectual property, reduces government intervention in financial markets, and prevents the imposition of damaging retaliatory tariffs on our automotive industry. As written, I believe the agreement will protect jobs in South Carolina’s 4th District and improve the standing of our nation in the international trade market. I look forward to reviewing the implementing legislation when it is brought before me in Congress.
Camp Croft: Spartanburg County has a proud heritage with Croft State Park. The park was part of Camp Croft, a former Army training site in World War II. The decommissioned property was offered to the Spartanburg County Foundation and turned into a park, as well as residential and commercial areas. However, there were many unexploded ordinances, such as mortar shells and grenades, left behind in the area, and they remain to this day. The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program and is responsible for the cleanup of former defense sites, estimates that it will cost around $26 million to finish the clean up Camp Croft from the leftover munitions.
After recently meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as with the House Appropriations Committee regarding the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program and Camp Croft specifically, I submitted an appropriations request, urging the full funding the FUDS program. I will also be sending a letter to the Army Corps that requests they move Camp Croft to the top of the FUDS priority list for cleanup.♦
