CD3 Forum Part 1: Conflicts with the party and whether to move to the gold standard

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

First in a series

A candidate forum for Congressional District 3 was held in Newberry on July 18, with the following candidates present: Bill Engelbrecht, Joe Dallas Millado, Judson Sapp, Kat Cammack, Ryan Chamberlin, Amy Pope Wells, and Gavin Rollins.

The forum was moderated by Tim Marden and Jennifer Cabrera.

The format allowed the first respondent to the question a minute to answer; the remaining candidates had 40 seconds to either add to or disagree with the first answer.

Question #1: Conflict between you, the party, and President Trump will arise. You work for us, not them. How can you reassure the people of Congressional District 3 you will follow your oath to the Constitution and us when this occurs?

Engelbrecht: “Every decision I will make will follow the Constitution… If we don’t stick to the Constitution, then we don’t have America. My plan was always to stand behind President Trump, who’s done an outstanding job, in my opinion.”

Millado: “People go up there ill-equipped, and they say they’re going to do these things, and what happens is… they get dangled from other people up there teaching them all the wrong things… I’ve already seen the corruption up there, and I survived, I thrived up there… You vote your district, your heart, and your conscience.”

Sapp: “I do love Trump, I think he’s doing a great job, but if he violated the Constitution, I’m not gonna go with you on that; that’s where I draw the line.”

Cammack: “Having served as Congressman Yoho’s long-time Deputy Chief of Staff, I saw firsthand the conflicts that exist within the party structure and when it comes time to make tough decisions. First and foremost, we have a responsibility to the American people, and that means being an American first and a Republican second, and when you come from the basis of Constitutional conservative, you vote with the Constitution in mind first and foremost, and then you come home and you explain your votes to your district.”

Chamberlin: “When I swear to uphold the Constitution… these are solid principles that I’ve lived by my entire life, and I believe that we’re going to be able to support President Trump because he’s not going to go against the Constitution, but anyone that would, we have to stand up against that and serve our people.”

Wells: “You surround yourself with people that you trust that are experts in the field when you’re making your votes… Washington is about power, money, and trade, and what you have to do is keep yourself close to the ground and let the Constitution and your constituents in your district become your direction for your path.”

Rollins: “The Constitution is the over-arching, binding guide that we will follow in Congress. I’ve taught the Constitution to students in a classroom, so I will absolutely follow it, regardless of party or president.”

Question #2: The Federal Reserve manipulates our currency by printing money out of thin air. Do you support trying to get back to a gold standard and maybe why?

Millado: “Absolutely going back to a gold standard, but it doesn’t have to be… one or the other. If we go back to gold standard, [that] means that our money actually has a value.”

Sapp: “The Federal Reserve has way too much power. If we can do that, it’s wonderful, and I’ll try to.”

Cammack: “We need to audit the Fed… next up after that is absolutely moving towards gold standard.”

Chamberlin: “Certainly think we could move toward the gold standard, but… the issue is trust. People no longer trust who we’ve elected… With the PPP, billions and billions of dollars have been abused by the Democratic Party and the establishment on the Republican side. We’ve got to elect people we can trust.”

Wells: “I agree with all these guys up here. It really starts with an audit, and we have to get to the gold standard… One of the things… the federal budget and spending, that we really need to talk about…is not what needs to be cut, is what needs to be kept. We need to actually drill down and remove from that control everything that’s not necessary.”

Rollins: “I support moving to the gold standard and also auditing the Fed, but we also have to hold China accountable. China has a lot of funny money going on, too. They have a Ponzi scheme going on, and the SEC and others need to make sure that we’re holding the Chinese international money markets accountable.”

Engelbrecht: “If I don’t balance my checkbook, I bounce checks… Our budget needs to be balanced at some point… However… in order to make money, sometimes you gotta spend money. And I think what President Trump did recently, with the PPP, was the best thing he could have done, versus giving the money to the banks and letting them distribute it to us.”