Please allow me to share with you some of my core beliefs. I believe a person’s core beliefs and values are critical to understanding him. My family, faith, community service, and business experience have shaped my perspective. Ultimately, the beliefs outlined below define me and my approach to representing the 10th District.
Nothing has shaped my perspective more than my family - my parents, my siblings, my wife, and my children. We need to strive to strengthen the family unit. At the core of any strong family are four key components: education, safety, jobs, and faith. First, we need to improve our educational system, and this needs to be done at the local level. Next, we must protect the safety of all Americans. Our neighborhoods must be safe and our country protected against external threats. As such, I am a firm believer in a strong national defense. Third, a focus on creating and maintaining jobs is essential. Keeping parents employed in satisfying, meaningful jobs is crucial to sustaining strong families. To achieve this end, parents must be permitted to retain a substantial portion of their wages by lowering taxes and reforming healthcare. Finally, we need to protect the religious freedoms upon which our country was founded. In short, we need to remember: “people are the point.”
Over the years, especially living here in Illinois, I have watched a series of politicians fail and even go to jail because they abandoned integrity. Well, I believe that for all of us, and particularly for those elected to serve, “your integrity determines your identity.” This is not a catch phrase. This is straight from my heart. Man is meaningless without integrity.
As an attorney with an MBA, I learned multiple frameworks for problem solving and decision-making. However, as a leader in the community, working with young men in the Scouting program and running Rose Pest Solutions, I learned that the best way to solve problems is through common sense. In Washington, I have made a point to not get caught up in the complexities of partisan politics and fail to recognize the power of common sense. The following quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe is similar to my beliefs on this topic:
Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done. - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Our family business is a customer service business. A central part of our mission statement is making customer satisfaction our top priority. Our company's focus on customer service has taught me that listening to a customer first and then acting to solve that customer’s problem is the single best way to be successful in business. I use this same perspective in every aspect of my life including my marriage, my work with Scouts, and now as a representative in Washington. By carefully listening to my constituents and then acting decisively on their behalf, I continue to embrace this philosophy as a servant of the people of the 10th District.
Our country’s Founding Fathers believed that the federal government should be limited in size and scope. So do I. I believe in the power of the American people and their ability to accomplish anything they put their minds to. I think that the federal government has grown too big. We need to get back to the original intent of the Founders and empower families to make more decisions and keep more of the decision making at the local level. I agree with Abraham Lincoln that we are a nation with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
We have to do everything we can to create private sector jobs in America. This is one of my top priorities as an owner and operator of a small business and has continued to be a top priority during my time in Congress.
From my earliest memories, I remember being taught by my parents and my pastor that we should give everything our best effort. I think this belief is best summarized in a phrase I often say to my friends and to my children…“a job worth doing is a job worth doing well.” I ran for Congress for many reasons, but the primary reason is that I believe in the words of one of our great Presidents:
Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. - Ronald Reagan
I want to make sure that my children and the children of the 10th District have the same opportunity…to stand on the shoulders of my generation. I want to be able to look my daughters and son in the eye and tell them that we helped make America stronger. Finally, I want you to understand that I consider it both a privilege and an honor to serve as the Representative from the 10th District in U.S. Congress. I thank you for your continuing support and your vote.
