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Tom Emmer's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

Office:

On The Ballot: Running, Republican for U.S. House (MN) - District 6

Key

Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Tom Emmer has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2024 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.

What is the Political Courage Test?

Issue Positions

For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2024.

  • Voted against HR 8297: "Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022" (votesmart.org)
  • "As a father of seven who values the sanctity of life, I am proud to have received an A+ rating from @sbaprolife on my pro-life scorecard. I will always protect the lives of the unborn." (x.com)
  • "I am inspired by everyone who walked to defend the unborn this week at marches around the country. From St. Paul to Washington, D.C. - I stand with all of you. #ProLife" (x.com)
  • Rated 100% by the National Right to Life Committee (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • Rated 0% by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • "Proud recipient of the 2018 Medicare Advantage Champion award from @protectmyMA! I will keep fighting to protect Medicare Advantage for the millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities who depend on it." (x.com)
  • "We are committed to a government that’s accountable. We will rein in government abuse of power and corruption, provide real transparency, and save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare." (x.com)
  • Rated 7% by the Alliance for Retired Americans (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 1: "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "Democrats’ reckless spending and massive tax hikes are destroying our economy." (x.com)
  • "Today the House passed and I supported Tax Reform 2.0 to make tax cuts permanent for individuals and families, expand retirement-savings incentives, and tax breaks for startup businesses. #TaxCutsWork" (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 6760: "Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018" (votesmart.org)
  • Rated 84% by FreedomWorks (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • "Tom is, and always has been, dedicated to reducing Washington’s runaway spending. Americans know how to spend their money better than Washington bureaucrats, and Tom has taken action to decrease our growing debt and ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent as responsibly as possible. He will continue looking for ways to cut waste, find more reforms, and advocate for sticking to the "regular order" process of appropriations rather than resort to bloated omnibus bills." (emmerforcongress.com)
  • "The Supreme Court's ruling was a big win for @realDonaldTrump and America." (x.com)
  • "In honor of National Police Week, several of my colleagues and I hosted a roundtable with law enforcement stakeholders about how we can best support our men and women in blue. While Democrats wage war against police, House Republicans have proven we will always have their backs." (x.com)
  • "Liberal prosecutors have overplayed their hand in going after @realDonaldTrump on sham charges. Today’s Supreme Court’s decision is a victory for democracy, the rule of law, and President Trump." (x.com)
  • Voted against HR 7120: "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021" (votesmart.org)
  • "This week, the @HouseGOP will lead the charge in strengthening our military and supporting our service members through the FY25 NDAA." (x.com)
  • "As a strong supporter of our military, Tom has also consistently voted to give our troops the resources they need to protect our country at home and abroad." (emmerforcongress.com)
  • "Republicans ARE NOT going to cut defense spending. This is more fearmongering from the Democrats. We're going to make sure our men and women in uniform always have the tools they need while putting this country on a path to sustainability and fiscal responsibility." (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 2670: "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 3746: "Limit, Save, Grow Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "President Biden’s stimulus didn’t bring jobs—it brought us an inflation crisis. Now, small businesses are paying the price." (x.com)
  • Voted against HR 5376: "Build Back Better Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "Tom is, and always has been, dedicated to reducing Washington’s runaway spending. Americans know how to spend their money better than Washington bureaucrats, and Tom has taken action to decrease our growing debt and ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent as responsibly as possible. He will continue looking for ways to cut waste, find more reforms, and advocate for sticking to the "regular order" process of appropriations rather than resort to bloated omnibus bills." (emmerforcongress.com)
  • Voted against HR 8294: "Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act" (2023) (votesmart.org)
  • "This week, I spoke in support of @RepTimmons’s amendment to allow public housing residents to withhold rent for every month in which their safety concerns have been left unmet, finally giving public renters the same protections as their private-market counterparts." (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 5735: "THRIVE Act" (2018) (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 4521: "America COMPETES Act of 2022" (votesmart.org)
  • "Out-of-control government spending and anti-American energy policies that Democrats are pushing are why inflation continues to hit working families hard." (x.com)
  • Voted against HR 7688: "Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "I think it’s very obvious that one of the main drivers of inflation has been runaway government spending over the past year, which has pumped trillions of new dollars into the U.S. economy – despite our $30T debt." (x.com)
  • "American taxpayers, including people who didn’t go to college, should NOT be forced to subsidize billions of dollars in student loans." (x.com)
  • "Debt cannot be cancelled; it can only be transferred. President Biden’s socialist proposal to "cancel" student loan debt will fuel inflation and do nothing to fix our broken higher education system." (x.com)
  • "Biden’s student loan scam would’ve bailed out the wealthy while forcing taxpayers – including those who didn’t go to college – to foot the bill. I’m glad SCOTUS set the record straight: Biden does NOT have the Constitutional authority to unilaterally "erase" student loan debt." (x.com)
  • Voted against HR 2547: "Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 5746: "Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "Soon, the Senate will vote on @HouseDemocrats’ cynical, partisan power grab #HR1. This bill will seize power from the states, legalize ballot harvesting & make basic election security ILLEGAL. I voted against this bill in the House & hope my Senate colleagues will do the same." (x.com)
  • Voted against HR 4: "John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 9: "Climate Action Now Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "Joe Biden centered his energy agenda around appeasing the radical, Green New Deal members of his party...Now, it's costing Americans on every front." (x.com)
  • Rated 100% by American Energy Alliance (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 4447: "Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019" (votesmart.org)
  • Rated 100% by American Energy Alliance (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • "Developing energy pipelines like #Line3 is key to strengthening rural infrastructure. Pipelines don’t just deliver resources like oil and gas; they also generate major tax revenue." (x.com)
  • "This Administration is completely out of touch. Gas prices have DOUBLED since President Biden took office, and they’re still saying we don't need to increase drilling. Unleash American energy!" (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 1: "Lower Energy Costs Act" (2023) (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 7910: "Protecting Our Kids Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "As this administration continues to demonize law-abiding gun owners, we are standing up to defend them. Every year, thousands of individuals are deprived of their constitutional liberties when the federal government incorrectly denies their right to purchase a firearm." (x.com)
  • Rated 100% by the National Rifle Association (justfacts.votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 8: "Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021" (votesmart.org)
  • "Tom has seen firsthand the devastating effects healthcare costs are having on working families and small businesses, so he’s pushing to bring patient-centered reforms with more competition and more choices for patients without sacrificing protections for individuals with preexisting conditions or children who want to stay on their parent’s health plans." (emmerforcongress.com)
  • "#ACA is in a death spiral. Americans can't afford this failing healthcare law anymore" (x.com)
  • "Small business employees are hurting under #ACA. Glad @POTUS is committed to unwinding the disastrous Obamacare" (x.com)
  • Voted against HR 6201: "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 3: "Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 6833: "The Affordable Insulin Now Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "There continues to be a crisis on our southern border that the Biden Administration has created. Our communities all around the country are less safe due to these policies." (x.com)
  • "He has co-sponsored and passed legislation that helps ensure we keep our homeland safe by strengthening immigration and refugee admittance process, and securing our borders." (emmerforcongress.com)
  • "Right now, our government has paid $2 BN in taxpayer funds…for DOD contractors to NOT build a #border wall. Meanwhile, illegal immigrants are pouring into the country at a 20-year high. The American people deserve border security—and answers." (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 2: "Secure the Border Act of 2023" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted against HR 6: "American Dream and Promise Act of 2021"
  • "Immigration MUST be done legally, so I'm glad Sec. Kelly ended the Obama Admin's unlawful executive amnesty program." (x.com)
  • "Joe Biden's mass amnesty, election-year executive order is just another example of the Biden administration protecting illegal immigrants at the expense of American citizens." (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 2: "Secure the Border Act of 2023" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 8030: "Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 6968: "Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 7108: "Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 8035: "Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 5692: "Ukraine Security Assistance and Oversight Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of HR 8035: "Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024" (votesmart.org)
  • "TikTok’s lawsuit confirms what we already knew: They’re nothing but a CCP spy app, plain and simple. Congress refused to stand idly by as China exploits the data of 170 million American users, and we trust the courts will see this as the national security threat that it is." (x.com)
  • "TikTok is a CCP spy app. Plain and simple. House Republicans just passed a nonpartisan bill protecting Americans' data by sending a clear message: TikTok must sever ties with the CCP or lose its access to American users." (x.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 7521: "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" (votesmart.org)
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

X a) Abortions should always be illegal.
b) Abortions should always be legal.
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
h) Other or expanded principles

State Budget: Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.State Taxes: Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.

Maintain Status a) Education (Higher)
Maintain Status b) Education (K-12)
Slightly Increase c) Emergency preparedness
Maintain Status d) Environment
Slightly Increase e) Health care
Slightly Increase f) Law enforcement
Maintain Status g) Transportation and highway infrastructure
Greatly Decrease h) Welfare
i) Other or expanded categories
Slightly Increase a) Alcohol taxes
Greatly Increase b) Cigarette taxes
Slightly Decrease c) Corporate taxes
Slightly Decrease d) Gasoline taxes
Maintain Status e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000)
Maintain Status f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
Greatly Decrease g) Property taxes
Maintain Status h) Sales taxes
Slightly Increase i) Vehicle taxes
j) Other or expanded categories
No 1) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
No 2) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget?
Undecided 3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
4) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

No a) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Minnesota governors?
No b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Minnesota state senators and representatives?
No 1) Individual
Yes 2) PAC
No 3) Corporate
No 4) Political Parties
Yes d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
Yes e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns?
Yes f) Should Minnesota participate in the federal REAL ID program?
No g) Should Minnesota allow homeowners whose mortgage is in foreclosure a one-year deferment on their primary residence?
h) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
X b) Establish the death penalty in Minnesota.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
e) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
X f) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
X g) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws.
X h) Support hate crime legislation.
i) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs.
b) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
X c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students.
X d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
X f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
X h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers.
X i) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
j) Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of Minnesota to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
k) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.

a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today's job market.
b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector.
X c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
X d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
f) Increase the state minimum wage.
g) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
X h) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
X i) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
j) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
k) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

X a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
X b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc).
c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops.
d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
e) Support funding for improvements to Minnesota's power generating and transmission facilities.
f) Support funding for open space preservation.
g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
i) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

Yes a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
Yes b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
Yes c) Should a license be required for gun possession?
Yes d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
Yes e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
f) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
X b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
X c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs.
X e) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality.
f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Minnesota.
g) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
h) Other or expanded principles

['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']

No a) Should Minnesota recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
No b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
No c) Should Minnesota provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples?
Yes d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools?
Yes e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
Undecided f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
Yes g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
No h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions?
Yes i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
Yes j) Should Minnesota continue affirmative action programs?
Yes k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research?
Yes l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research?
Yes m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it?
n) Other or expanded principles
Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.

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