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Jim Lawrence

Jim Lawrence

Credit www.lawrenceforcongress.com
Race: District 2, U.S. House of Representatives
Party: Republican
Political Experience: 
2002-2008 – New Hampshire House
Personal: Lives in Nashua
Education: U.S. Air Force Academy

Candidate Website

Issues

Lawrence is running, he says, because other Republicans in the race aren’t focused on issues that are important to New Hampshire voters. “We have huge issues with government accountability right now. You look at the IRS scandal, issues with the Veterans Administration. You look at what’s going on with the NSA and now we’re hearing inklings from the CIA. These all stem from a lack of accountability in Washington.”

On money in politics and whether he will have the resources to win: “Yes, it is going to take resources, but the fact that it takes resources doesn’t make any excuses for people who are running and trying to earn the votes of the people of New Hampshire arguing about who’s getting campaign checks from who and what donations are legitimate and not. That’s not what the people want to hear. As a matter of fact, that’s the kind of thing that turns people off from politics.”

Lawrence says the U.S. must secure its border to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants. “We need to finish building the fence where we can, we need to augment our border patrol with additional personnel, use the National Guard if necessary. Use electronic countermeasures, as well. But we have to secure the border before we talk about anything. We have to stop the bleeding before we can have a real debate about immigration reform. And no amnesty.”

On foreign policy, Lawrence, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, is, against committing troops to Iraq, and he supports air strikes against the militant Islamic States of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). But overall, he says, the Obama administration has exercised “the worst foreign policy” in decades.

“I can honestly look you here in the eye and tell you with a straight face that a first-year cadet at the Air Force Academy would know that you don’t broadcast to your enemy your exit strategy, nor your timeline, nor when you’re going to withdraw troops. That was a huge mistake that we made. Not to mention the fact that President Barack Obama also withdrew all the troops out of Iraq without a plan to maintain stability in that country.

"These are the types of errors that we cannot afford. We see the result of it right now. We see the emergence of ISIS, which is a larger threat than Al Qaeda in my mind.”

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