FRED’S PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE PEOPLE OF

FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

PREAMBLE Our Creator has blessed us with certain inalienable rights in-cluding Life, Liberty & the pursuit of Happiness. We the People of America have secured the blessings of Liberty under a Con-stitution that is the envy of humankind.

We also understand that with Liberty comes the responsibility to respect the freedoms and needs of others who share it with us if our republic is to survive and thrive. Freedom without responsi-bility is anarchy.

Our founders set forth a Constitution that takes into account the frailties of human nature, employing checks and balances to prevent the tyranny of the mob (majority) from trampling on the rights of those who are out-voted. That’s why they established a Congress (Legislative Branch) to make our laws, a President (Ex-ecutive Branch) to enforce them, and a Supreme Court (Judicial

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Branch) to interpret them and assure they are not abused. Al-though our union is not perfect, it has the means to correct its flaws thanks to the genius of our founders.

If you honor me with a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, I pledge to you the following:

1. PERSONAL & PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

Our founders saw elected public service as a sacred obligation, not a path to self-enrichment at the expense of those who put public servants in office. As your Congressman from Florida CD6 I will:

• Support a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits of 12 years for members of the House and Senate.

• Seek to end Congressional pensions. • Seek a requirement that members of Congress abide by the same

rules and laws that apply to all other Americans. • Support a life-time ban on Congressional or White House officials be-

coming lobbyists after leaving government service. • Support a lifetime ban on White House, members of Congress or

Congressional officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government after leaving government service.

• Support President Trump’s proposed ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.

• Support passage of a “No Budget-No Pay” bill requiring members of Congress to forfeit their paychecks upon failure to pass a timely Fed-eral Budget.

• Seek to reduce the annual budget deficit by at least $100 Billion each fiscal year until we balance the budget.

• Seek passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment that includes a line item veto for the President.

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• Support enactment of a “One Percent Plan” under which every Fed-eral department must cut its budget 1% each fiscal year until we achieve a balanced budget. Social Security and Medicare should be exempt from this restriction.

• Seek full transparency and financial disclosure by Members of Con-gress, who will be compelled to resign after casting a vote involving a previously undeclared conflict of interest.

• Support a legislative ban all Congressional earmarks. • OPPOSE new Federal programs or agencies until the annual budget

deficit is eliminated. • Support an audit of the Federal Reserve.

2. TAX REFORM: YOU DESERVE THE FREEDOM TO KEEP, SPEND OR IN-VEST MORE OF YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY

• Support the FAIR Tax, which would replace Federal Income, Social Security and Medicare taxes with one simple consumption tax on purchases, eliminating the need for an IRS to pick our pockets every April 15. Every taxpayer would receive a Federal “pre-bate” to help lower income Americans offset the tax. No more need for IRS audits, accountants or sleepless nights pouring over documents and receipts.

• Until a FAIR Tax is enacted, support President Trump’s “Middle Class Miracle” Tax Reform.

• The Trump Tax Reform framework will unleash the power of American free enterprise, individual initiative and innovation by cre-ating a 0% tax rate for couples making up to $24,000, and three additional rates of 12-25-35%.

• The Trump Tax Reform plan would simplify the tax code so that most Americans will be able to fill out just one or two sheets of paper to file.

• The Trump Tax Reform plan would save every American household an average of $4,000 according to President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors.

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• The Trump Tax Reform plan would eliminate most deductions ex-cept for charitable contributions and home mortgage interest.

• The Trump Tax Reform plan would provide childcare and eldercare tax credits to working families.

• The Trump Tax Reform would kill the “Death Tax,” thus allowing families to retain the legacy of a family farm or business.

• The Trump Tax Reform would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, which forced many taxpayers with multiple deductions to pay a higher tax.

• The Trump Tax Reform would reduce the corporate Tax Rate from a non-competitive 35% down to no more than 20%, allowing Ameri-can businesses to expand, hire, and compete on a level playing field with the rest of the globe.

• The Trump Tax Reform would create a one-time low tax rate to re-patriate trillions of American corporate tax dollars currently invested overseas to avoid paying the current non-competitive US rate of 35%.

• Fully support lower taxes and eventually the FAIR Tax as a means of freeing individuals and businesses to spend, invest and grow their for-tunes in America.

3. REPLACE OBAMACARE: FREE MARKET SOLUTIONS

• Support the repeal of Obamacare, including all related mandates and taxes.

• I believe you and your doctor should be in charge of your health care decisions, not government bureaucrats, arcane, impractical “one size fits all” rules, and insurance company bottom line feeders.

• Support Direct Primary Care as the most effective way to deliver effective and cost-efficient health care. Let’s replace the paperwork and overhead with a simple plan whereby you contract directly with your primary care physician for routine care. Instead of paying hun-dreds, even thousands of dollars to big insurance for limited benefits, how about getting the basic primary care you need for $100 per month paid directly to your doctor?

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• Support linking Direct Primary Care with Comprehensive Cat-astrophic Care insurance to cover unforeseen future medial emergen-cies, including an accident or future chronic illness. Such coverage, separated from the routine care can be purchased at relatively afford-able rates for patients who already have a Direct Primary Care agreement with a primary medical provider.

• Blanket coverage of those with pre-existing conditions is like allowing folks to buy car insurance after they get into an accident. I offer this practical alternative: Offer “open enrollment” for everyone regardless of pre-existing conditions for a 3-month period. Everyone gets a shot. But after that period ends, anyone with pre-existing conditions who signs up late, will face significantly higher premiums and/or de-ductibles. Just as it is not fair to other auto policyholders to allow you to buy auto insurance at the same rate they pay after you need it be-cause you were in an accident, it is not fair to the other healthcare policyholders to allow you to wait to buy healthcare insurance until after you need it … without paying a significantly higher rate.

• Support establishment of a “High Risk Pool” covering indigent pa-tients who have the greatest medical needs but no coverage. The Fed-eral government would partner with hospitals by reimbursing cover-age at Medicaid rates. Keeping this separate “High Risk Pool” will help to control costs for Medicaid and the regular insurance pool.

• Support expanded Health Savings Accounts. Patients covered under a Direct Primary Care Medicaid plan who did not inappropriately use an Emergency Room for Primary Care would receive a $500 annual contribution that could be used for glasses, hearing aids, dental care, etc.

• Support President Trump’s executive order allowing consumers to shop for health care insurance across state lines and through associa-tions that will be empowered to negotiate better coverage, lower pre-miums and deductibles. It is common sense to allow competition to drive down cost instead of sending billions of dollars in federal subsi-dies to insurance carriers, fueling their appetites for higher and higher premiums, deductibles and coverage exemptions.

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• Support President Trump’s executive order cutting off billions of dollars of unconstitutional federal subsidies to insurance companies that were ordered by President Obama but were never appropriated by Congress. Those subsidies merely provided a means for Big Insur-ance to feed its voracious appetite for outrageously high premiums, with the taxpayers picking up the additional cost.

• Devolve Medicaid decisions to the states. Federal block grants and waivers should allow individual states to serve as laboratories for inno-vative health care solutions that best suit their own residents. I reject the top-down Soviet-style management of an Obamacare labyrinth of bureaucrats who don’t know you or your needs. Obamacare is a fes-tering sore that will not heal on its own.

• Support President Trump in his call for Big Pharma to allow global price competition on FDA approved drugs. Americans should have the opportunity to shop anywhere for the most affordable prices on essential prescriptions that prolong and improve their quality of life.

• Support expansion of Telemedicine through the internet to provide medical care for under-served regions of America. I support scholar-ships and student loan forgiveness for health care practitioners who have agreed to practice in under-served areas. I support expansion of programs to train and graduate Physician Assistants and Advanced Registered Nurser Practitioners to provide better coverage to under-served regions of America.

• Support the elimination of costly restrictions and regulations such as Certificates of Need that often limit the expansion of Surgical Care/Recovery Centers.

• Support Tort Reform. If a patient opts to be in a study using experi-mental drugs & treatments, the patient should waive the right to sue because of unsuccessful outcomes. If a doctor’s success rate is above the national average, the doctor should not be sued for an unsuccess-ful outcome absent evidence of willful negligence. Limit damage awards to actual medical costs and annual lost income. Pain & suffer-ing award should only be allowed in cases of proven willful neglect by a medical practitioner.

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• All medical insurance policies should be fully portable. The patient should own the policy, even if it was originally purchased through an employer’s group plan or through an association.

4. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: IT’S A MATTER OF ECONOMIC COMMON SENSE AND NA-TIONAL DEFENSE

• I support President Trump’s approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

• I support President Trump’s reversal of President Obama’s job-chok-ing EPA rules that nearly killed the American Coal mining industry.

• I support expansion of America’s oil refining capacity. • I support new technologies & exploration that have opened up vast re-

serves of oil and natural gas to fuel a resurgence of America’s domi-nance on world energy markets. This will free us of dependence on hostile suppliers of oil (Venezuela, Iran) who would seek to hold us hostage to their demands, and force American reliance on unstable regions and unreliable partners.

• I fully support proper and necessary environmental safeguards in all exploration for new energy sources.

• I support off-shore drilling where safety standards can adequately in-sure environmental protection and where the affected states give con-sent.

• I believe new technologies will eventually allow us to reduce our re-liance on fossil fuels. Until that day arrives, we must tap the wealth of natural resources available for our use.

• I agree with President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. The agreement is a thinly veiled attempt to penalize America for the success of its free market & redistribute wealth from our country to other regions of the World. At the same time, it gives a pass to leading polluters and population centers of the globe, prin-cipally China and India. It is one-sided. I agree that climate has changed on this planet for eons. I do not agree that human impact on

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potentially catastrophic global warming is a matter of settled science. History teaches us that science is seldom settled because it advances through new discoveries and theories that turn conventional wisdom upside down. Albert Einstein and Galileo come to mind.

5. HOMELAND SECURITY: DEFEND AMERICA’S BORDERS!

• BUILD THAT WALL! FUND THAT WALL! We can find ways

for Mexico to compensate us in subsequent negotiations. In his poem “Mending Fences” America’s legendary poet Robert Frost observed that “Good fences make good neighbors.” This is a foundational promise that President Trump made to the people who elected him. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 approved 700 miles of border fence. The Senate vote of 80-19 included yes votes from Senators Schumer, Clinton and Obama along with 23 other Democrats! It’s time to in-clude funding of a border wall in any immigration deal the President may strike with Congress, including DACA.

• I support President Trump’s strong enforcement of U.S. Immigra-tion Law. His predecessor’s lax enforcement opened the floodgates of illegal immigration which included some criminals who preyed on in-nocent Americans. Illegal immigration has dropped dramatically since President Trump took office. I support funding for additional Border Patrol, ICE agents, and Immigration Judges as requested by President Trump.

• I oppose Federal funding for illegal “Sanctuary” cities, counties, or states that refuse to abide by Federal Immigration Law. I co-spon-sored legislation while serving in the Florida House of Representatives to withhold State funding from Florida cities and/or counties that il-legally declared “sanctuary status.” Failure to act cooperatively puts Federal agents in greater danger as they seek to find and deport law-breakers who enter our country and endanger our citizens. While the Federal government may not be able to force states or localities to comply, it CAN and should put conditions on the receipt of federal grants.

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• I support Kate’s Law, which imposes tougher criminal penalties on deported aliens who return to the U.S. in violation of law.

• I support a merit-based immigration system as proposed in the RAISE Act (Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Econo-my), The RAISE Act opens the road to citizenship to the most quali-fied immigrants who come to America legally.

• I OPPOSE a path to citizenship for anyone who enters the U.S. in vi-olation of Immigration Law.

• I OPPOSE “Anchor Baby” policies that allow family of citizens born in the U.S. to stay simply because their child was born here while they were here illegally.

• I OPPOSE “chain migration” policy that allows US citizens to auto-matically bring in other family members.

• I am however, open to solutions to the DACA Dilemma and other common sense reforms if President Trump can negotiate an accept-able remedy with Congress. President Obama’s executive order al-lowing deferred action for children of aliens was illegal because it was never approved by Congress.

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6. DEFENDING AMERICA: PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH

• I support President Trump’s mission to rebuild our military and equip the arsenal of democracy with cutting edge technology and hardware to meet new challenges of the 21st Century. The World is a safer place when America is strong.

• I support President Trump’s decision to reverse the top-down micro-managing of our military that was employed by his predecessor. Mili-tary commanders in the field are now free to make decisions based on real-time circumstances without second-guessing from the Pentagon or White House. As a result, ISIS is in retreat and defeat, thanks in large part to Defense Secretary James Mattis’ policy to “surround and kill” the enemy.

• I support President Trump’s tough stance on North Korea’s nuclear threat to its neighbors and the world. Kim Jung Un is an unstable ex-tortionist and the regime is a dark spot on the globe. He threatens millions with nuclear annihilation. Appeasement has failed for decades. The U.S. military must be prepared to pre-empt any at-tempt by North Korea to commit nuclear genocide.

• I support President Trump’s decision to de-certify the Iran Nuclear Deal and to call out Iran as the world’s leading state-sponsor of ter-rorism. The agreement forged by President Obama with other West-ern nations and Iran, is incapable of preventing the radical mullahs from fulfilling their goal of obtaining nuclear weapons capable of de-stroying the State of Israel. It was a huge giveaway sending billions of dollars that rescued Iran from the brink of economic ruin. We have to change the course of this history.

• I support President Trump’s demand that other members of the NATO alliance pick up their fair share of the tab for mutual defense.

• I support President Trump’s demand that the United Nations live up to its mission, with members paying their fair share, and abandoning political agendas that harm the interests of the U.S. and its chief Mideast ally Israel.

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• I support a withdrawal of all US financial aid for the Palestinian Au-thority as long as it still pays compensation to the families of terrorists who kill Americans and other innocent victims.

• I support President Trump’s call for European leaders to stand up for Western Civilization against the onslaught of radical Islamists who seek to replace Democratic institutions with Sharia Law.

• I support President Trump’s call for Islamic nations of the world to reject radical Islamist ideology and to ally with the U.S. in driving them “from this world.”

• I stand with President Trump’s fundamental doctrine to put Ameri-ca First. That means taking care of American jobs, businesses and well-being before any other nation. This is a matter of national de-fense.

• I support President Trump’s effort to scrap the Trans Pacific Partner-ship, and to re-negotiate agreements including NAFTA

• I oppose any commitments or agreements that subject America’s sov-ereignty to international institutions. Our Constitution must prevail in all instances.

• I oppose American foreign aid to nations that don’t support freedom.

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7. ONE NATION UNDER GOD! STAND FOR OUR FLAG!

• Support individual rights based on faith and conscience. Our First Amendment guarantees the God-given right to freedom OF religion. It does not guarantee freedom FROM religion. We are one nation under God. While the establishment clause prohibits a state religion, it does not prohibit people from practicing their faith in public.

• I cheerfully join President Trump in wishing you a Merry Christmas, or Happy Hannukah and I encourage others who celebrate to do the same. Those who don’t choose to participate have that choice.

• Oppose Sharia Law because it violates our rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. The courts of the United States cannot be supplanted by religious-based courts, which DO violate the establishment clause.

• Support repeal of the Johnson Amendment, an unconstitutional pro-vision of law that has been used to intimidate pastors and their churches from taking positions in the political arena. The muzzling of preachers by threatening to yank tax exempt status because of comments from the pulpit, is a DIRECT violation of the First Amendment!

• As a Vietnam Era veteran, I appreciate the sacrifices of all those who sacrifice so much to defend our freedom. The least we can do is to salute them all, thank them for their service, and keep our promises to them.

• We need to stand for our National Anthem to honor those who sacri-ficed and died for a nation that although not perfect, is still perfectible because we remain a free people. Our freedom is not automatic. Freedom is not inherited and is only one generation away from extinc-tion. Those who protest ignore the price that was paid in precious blood to allow it to happen.

• We also need to honor the men and women of law enforcement who put their own lives on the line daily to keep our homes, our families, our communities safe from criminals.

• I believe NFL players have a First Amendment right to protest. But the NFL and its owners also have the right to set rules of conduct un-

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der terms of employment. I will join many other patriotic NFL fans who chose not to watch when the players choose to disrespect our American Flag and National Anthem. The NFL should lose its tax-exempt status whether the players stand or not.

8. CARE FOR OUR VETERANS

• I support full funding for the VA so that veterans get the best quality care available.

• I support the VA Accountability Act. Care for our veterans properly or get fired.

• I support flexibility to allow veterans to seek private healthcare at VA expense if the VA cannot provide the needed care.

• I support better whistleblower protections for VA employees who re-port abuses.

• Those who don’t choose to support our military need to realize that they are essentially advocating for a return of the draft.

9. THE RIGHT TO LIFE

• I earned a score of “100” from the Florida Right to Life PAC from my record in the Florida House of Representatives.

• Oppose any government funding for abortion. • Do everything under the law and Constitution to defend the rights of

the unborn. • Your choice ends at the moment of conception. After that, another

human life is involved. I will protect life.

10. THE RIGHT OF SELF DEFENSE

• I am a Life Member of the NRA and earned an “A” rating for my record in the Florida State House of Representatives.

• Support the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms for personal self-defense, in line with the Second Amendment.

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• Oppose laws that infringe on the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

• Restrictive gun control laws disarm the law abiding to the advantage of the lawless. We already have laws on the books against violent crime. Self defense is a right.

• Support mental health programs to help identify and treat individuals who may be prone to acts of violence.

• Support longer prison sentences for offenders who use guns in a crime.

11. ROLL BACK THE DEEP STATE: FREE AMERICANS FROM UNNECESSARY FEDERAL RULES, REGULATIONS & COSTS

• Support President Trump’s Executive order requiring the elimina-tion of 2 Federal regulations for each new one imposed.

• Support further use of the Congressional Review Act to roll back fed-eral regulations that have no justifiable purpose directly linked to spe-cific enacted law.

• Re-affirm the reserve clause of the 10th Amendment which reserves all power to the individual sovereign states that is not specifically dele-gated to the Federal government by the Constitution.

• Support a dramatic reduction of the Federal work force by essentially eliminating agencies or departments that have outlived their practical purpose or have no constitutional authority to exist. Specific examples include the federal Departments of Education, Energy, Labor, Interi-or, HUD and the EPA.

• Support reduction of the Federal payroll through attrition. • Support the use of zero-based budgeting to curb the Federal govern-

ment’s appetite for more and more money. • Support a greatly reduced role for the US Department of Education,

returning all policy decisions to the individual states, with the Federal Department serving only as a clearing house where states can share best practices which may or may not be adopted in other states.

• Support School Choice and Charter Schools, with the Federal gov-ernment sharing block grants allowing states to implement programs

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that create more innovation and competition among institutions of learning. That may include tuition assistance allowing low income families to choose any private school, including a faith-based institu-tion if parents believe it provides a better road to success for their children.

• Allow private alternatives to the Federal Student Loan program to create more competition & flexibility.

• Support tuition caps for students receiving Federal financial aid who attend colleges and universities that accept Federal financial aid.

• Repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, freeing local community banks from crippling Federal rules and regulations and allowing them more dis-cretion to finance local businesses & farms in Main Street America.

12. UNLEASH THE POWER OF AMERICAN INNOVATION

• Support President Trump’s initiative to empower STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) programs in American schools.

• Support more resources to provide Vocational training for students who may not be college bound but have great skills for business, con-struction or vocational trades.

• Support President Trump’s goal of putting Americans on Mars. This will energize our space industry, and create an explosion of new private innovation and enterprise in the fields of science and engi-neering.

• Support President Trump’s proposal to advance NextGen. Next-Gen will modernize America’s antiquated ground radar-based Air Traffic Control System. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach is providing much of the research and development to bring NextGen technology to American flight paths. Replacement of Eisenhower-era radar- based air control with state of the art GPS based technology will dramatically reduce flight delays and improve safety.

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• Privatize America’s Air Traffic Control System by turning it over to a quasi-private corporation financed by airlines. The FAA would retain air safety responsibilities at a reduced cost to taxpayers.

• Enact President Trump’s bold plan to employ public-private partner-ships to rebuild America’s aging infrastructure. This is long overdue. This bold plan will move our critical infrastructure into the 21st Cen-tury & provide new job opportunities from sea to shining sea!

• CUT THE RED TAPE! Support President Trump’s plan to streamline the approval process for major infrastructure projects by designating one central Federal office for fast-track approvals to help developers and contractors navigate quickly through the bureaucracy. This will not decrease safety standards. Instead, it will inject common sense efficiency into the safety compliance regimen, cutting months, or even years off the timelines for major infrastructure projects.

President Donald Trump is a visionary, transformational President unlike any we have seen since Ronald Reagan. He has the courage to lead in the face of fierce opposition from never-Trump RINO Republicans, Left-wing ideologues, corrupt Media empires operating from New York and Washington, a hypocritical Hollywood Dream Machine that turned out to be a nightmare for America, and anarchists who seek to muzzle our free speech to replace American values with their repressive agenda.

Donald Trump instinctively understood the frustration welling up from middle America, where normal life is under assault by the perversion of politics and culture wars. Our game changing President has heard your cries for help, and he’s getting the job done.

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I have been on the Trump Train since early last year when I was the first Congressional candidate in Florida CD6 to formally endorse Presi-dential candidate Donald Trump as the best candidate to “DRAIN THE SWAMP.” I hear you too, because I have lived, worked, loved and led in this community for decades. I am asking for your vote to send me to Congress so we can complete President Trump’s mission to Put America First and Make America Great Again. Just remember this:

FRED! He stands for US!

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