TOP 5 POLICY ISSUES
PARENTS SHOULD HAVE THE STRONGEST VOICE IN THEIR CHILD'S EDUCATION
Many come to America because they believe that hard work should be rewarded. Parents want their children to succeed. Parents encourage their children to be diligent students. Parents make sure their homework is completed. Parents are the taxpayers who are funding public schools.
Parents are the most important stakeholders in the education system. Their voices should be listened to when making curriculum decisions. Parents should be respected for advocating for better conditions for their students.
Resources must be focused on the curriculum that will make American students stronger and more competitive than their counterparts overseas. Education policy needs to focus on the skills needed for our students to be competitive in the world. They need to excel in mathematics, science, language and history. Their time should not be burdened with the latest political fad.
No one should be penalized for hard work. Wes Hallman was against Proposition 16.
Wes’s opponent supported Proposition 16.
As your Congressman Wes Hallman will work to make sure parents are the core stakeholder in any Federal education legislation. Wes will work to make sure the resources are used appropriate for a quality education. He will hold government accountable to make sure government officials prioritize a non-disruptive school environment so that everyone can learn.
LOWER GAS PRICES BY PROMOTING
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
Gas prices are soaring in 2022. They don’t need to be. Bad policy decisions are restricting supply and driving up prices. Higher gas prices mean higher prices for food, consumer goods, and everything not grown or manufactured in our neighborhoods. If you are not growing all your own food yourself, you are relying on trucks to bring food to your neighborhood. If we are not manufacturing products locally, then we are relying on trucks and trains and ships to bring it too us. Higher fuel costs drive higher transportation costs, and those higher costs make everything more expensive.
Solar Power works great in Southern California – during the day. We should take full advantage of that natural resource that is solar power here.
But work trucks need fuel around the clock. We should not be paying $2 more per gallon in California just so people can get to work. We need to prioritize lowering energy costs for those who run small businesses and who rely on automotive transportation to get to work and school. It’s unjust to suggest that the poor should purchase a $50,000 electric vehicle.
The United States and North America should be energy independent. They should produce enough surplus energy to make our industries competitive with those around the world. We should produce enough surplus power that Europe and other nations turn to North America for their energy needs, not the bad actors in the world.
Canada and the United States need to be effective partners. That includes pipelines, which are safer than trains, to move petroleum from Canada to refineries in the U.S. Only by working together can countries with shared values provide energy to fuel our economy without relying on the bad actors of the world. Lowering oil prices by increasing production in North America offers the added benefit of de-funding our adversaries and their attacks on other nations. That’s how we stop wars: remove their ability to fund them through fossil fuel sales.
We need an all-of-the-above energy strategy. That includes efficiently extracting fossil fuels to drive the economic engine and get inflation under control.
WILDFIRE RESPONSE: UPGRADE USFS WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITIES
Our 28th District includes some of the most vulnerable
wildfire areas in Southern California.
During his White House Fellowship Wes was assigned to the Department of Agriculture. While there he was assigned to a working group with the U.S. Forest Service to look at opportunities to upgrade the wildland firefighting fleet of aircraft.
In 2002, a C-130, call sign Tanker 130 owned by Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming and operated under contract to the United States Forest Service (USFS), had its wings fall off mid-flight as it was fighting northern Californian wildfires. It rolled, inverted and crashed into the forest below, killing all three crewmen (pilot Steve Wass, co-pilot Craig Labare, flight engineer Michael Davis) aboard.[1]
As part of the working group, Wes brought his expertise as a pilot to the discussion. Several types of military aircraft are suited to the wildfire mission. A key consideration is making sure future aircraft are engineered to handle the stresses of high-g low-level flight.
As your Congressman Wes is committed to working with the USFS to make sure the proper equipment is selected to fight wildfires, and make sure wildfire mitigation is properly
COMMUNITY SECURITY:
MAKE THE STREETS SAFE FOR EVERYONE
Everyone should be able to walk the streets of the San Gabriel Valley
without fear of street crime.
Law Enforcement Resources
The first responders for everyone’s safety are local law enforcement. Our city and county law enforcement departments need the support of politicians, both in terms of resources and support for the decisions they make to keep everyone safe. Wes Hallman supports Senator Tim Scott’s efforts to improve policing and community engagement with law enforcement departments.
District Attorneys
Wes Hallman stands with the 20+ cities in Los Angeles County who are calling for the recall of District Attorney George Gascon. Like San Francisco, the people of the San Gabriel Valley are experiencing too much crime. If the District Attorney will not prosecute criminals, no one is safe. We need to advocate for a change so that criminals face justice.
Care for the Poor
As part of making the streets safer we need to partner with those organizations caring for the poor, homeless and mentally ill. Faith-based organizations are key stakeholders when working with these populations. Government needs to partner with them to make sure the safety of everyone is prioritized.
Human Right to Self Defense
Appeals Court Judge Kenneth Lee in Pasadena, the first Korean-American judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote a thoughtful opinion about the role of the 2nd Amendment in allowing people of many ethnic groups to defend against hate crimes in the United States. The 2nd Amendment is a unique feature of America. All of us should consider what he wrote in his opinion in Duncan vs. Bonta.[1] It is critical that we have a frank discussion about the fundamental human right to Self Defense.
STRENGTHEN AMERICA'S NATIONAL SECURITY
As an F-15 and F-22 Fighter Pilot, Wes protected refugees by flying combat missions in no-fly zones and was part of the forward force providing stability in the Asia-Pacific.
America is the beacon of freedom for people across the globe. Many come to America for a
better life. They want freedom to run their business without government interference. They
want freedom to worship. And they want freedom from violence.
To deter the warfare that creates global instability, human tragedy, and refugee crises requires
a well-resourced military. When our adversaries see that we are prepared and possess the
ability and will to act, they do not attack. The reason no-fly zones worked is because our
adversaries knew that well-trained pilots with the best equipment and the will to take action
were patrolling the skies. That is what keeps the refugees on the ground safe.
We as a country must make a commitment to that deterrence. We need to make efficient use
of taxpayer dollars. We need to be competent in how we manage the resources entrusted to
defense. And, we need a Congress that will not only hold accountable those making defense
decisions, but will also make sure the necessary resources are provided to keep America’s
strength a credible deterrent against aggression. Bad actors will always look for weakness to
take advantage. We need to be strong enough that we can deter future attacks.
As part of that process, we should be investing in the relationships with other countries with
similar values. Countries that value political, religious and economic freedom are our allies. We
need to invest in those trade and other relationships to ensure that together we present a
united deterrent to those who would take away people’s freedom and impose their
system on us.
Wes knows this both from his time in combat and serving at the highest levels of our
government to include in the White House and as the senior Air Force officer in the House of
Representatives. He is a national security expert and holds four master’s degrees in
international relations, military arts and sciences, grand national strategy, and resourcing.