Randal Howard “Rand” Paul
Randal Howard “Rand” Paul is an American politician from Kentucky who has served as a junior U.S. Senator since 2011 alongside the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell.
Early Life and Education
Senator Rand Paul, born on 7th January 1963 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the son of the retired U.S. Representative Ron Paul and Carol Wells. Senator Rand Paul attended some of the best schools in the country including Baylor University and the Duke University School of Medicine where he graduated to become a physician (Robinson, 2013).
Medical Career and Humanitarian Services
Before getting into politics, Rand Paul practiced ophthalmology for several years from 1993 to 2007 when he eventually decided to establish his own clinic. One of Senator Rand Paul’s most notable achievements in his medical career is the founding of the Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic which was aimed at providing eye surgery and exams for people who could not afford to pay for such medical services in other hospitals (Robinson, 2013). As a result of his dedication to providing such humanitarian services, Senator Rand Paul was recognized and awarded with the famous Melvin Jones Fellow Award.
Political Involvement and Organizations
Senator Rand Paul’s involvement in politics commenced during his time at Baylor University where he headed the local branch of the Young Conservatives of Texas. As part of his political journey, Rand Paul actively participated in his father’s campaigns and successfully managed his father’s congressional campaign of 1996. Rand Paul also founded and chaired a couple of organizations such as the North Carolina Taxpayers Union and the Kentucky Taxpayers Union, which was at the time, an anti-tax organization that aimed at persuading politicians to vote against the proposed increase in tax (Robinson, 2013).
Journey to Senator
Rand Paul’s journey to becoming a senator began in 2009 when his father’s political supporters successfully pushed for his candidacy in a bid to replace the then-troubled Republican Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. During the 2010 Senate election, Rand Paul successfully defeated other five opponents in the primary Republican nomination by a whopping 58.8% of the votes cast after which he won against Jack Conway and Billy Ray Wilson in the general elections by an amazing 55.74% (Robinson, 2013). Senator Rand Paul’s swearing-in took place on the 5th of January 2011 after which he was selected to be part of a number of house committees such as the Energy and Natural Resources, Labor and Pensions, Education, Health, Small Business, as well as the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees. During the 2016 Senate election, Rand Paul came first in both the primary Republican nomination as well as the General U.S. Senate elections in Kentucky, winning by relatively huge margins. However, Rand Paul tested defeat in the two Republican presidential primaries of 2016, coming in at 5th and 8th positions respectively.
Political Beliefs and Positions
Senator Rand Paul holds a number of political beliefs and positions that touch on some of the most important and crucial subjects affecting the United States of America. Being one of the founding members and a big supporter of the Tea Party Movement, Rand Paul portrays himself as a staunch constitutional conservative and libertarian. Senator Rand Paul is a solemn supporter of a balanced budget amendment, term limits, flat tax rates, and the Read the Bills Act (Robinson, 2013). He also feels that the issue of same-sex marriage should be left to the states to resolve as opposed to the federal government. Senator Rand Paul opposes the legalization of marijuana, cocaine, and other recreational drugs but does not support the government’s act of jailing marijuana users. Instead, he fully supports the formulation of state laws to legalize the use of medical marijuana. He categorically opposes all aspects of gun control and considers it an infringement of the Second Amendment rights, while at the same time, fully advocating for personal property rights. Senator Rand Paul is also a huge critic of neo-conservatism and opposes the U.S. support for the intervention in Yemen led by the Saudi Arabians (Buchbinder, 2016). On the issue of abortion, he supports the ban on abortion by the federal government but also claims that the issue surrounding the legality of abortion should be decided by individual states with minimal federal involvement.
Religious Beliefs and Voting Record
Having been baptized into the Episcopal Church, Senator Rand Paul is a devout Christian. However, he admits that talking about his faith is not easy, suggesting that his faith did not always stick. Senator Rand Paul’s voting record is also a very interesting aspect of his career in the House of Representatives. Some of the most crucial national key votes that Senator Rand Paul voted for include the Stop Illegal Reentry Act, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act, the Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013, as well as the Prohibits Insider Trading by Government Officials (Buchbinder, 2016). Some of the national key bills that Senator Rand Paul voted against include the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, as well as the bill Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women, all of which were eventually passed by the Senate.
Issues for Discussion in Congress
There are two issues that I would like to be discussed in the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House Of Representatives.
1. Abortion
The first issue I would like to be discussed in the U.S. Senate is abortion. Currently, in the United States, abortion is regarded as being legally accepted with a few restrictions at the states level. Most states have set laws that limit and restrict the late-term abortions, demand for the disclosure of abortion risk information to parents prior to the procedure, and also require notification for minors by parents. However, according to the U.S. Judiciary Committee, there are no notable legal barriers in the United States against abortion no matter the stage of pregnancy (Buchbinder, 2016). As a matter of fact, all U.S. states allow abortion with each one of them having at least one abortion clinic set up in the region. Personally, I think abortion should not be allowed in any U.S. state unless it is deemed as a necessary means to protect the life or health of the mother under the prescription of a certified medical practitioner. Statistically, over 50 million children have been killed as a result of abortion, showing just how much of a menace abortion is. I believe that life begins at conception and protecting life should be the government’s basic function. I also think that it is very unconscious for the government to facilitate the taking of innocent lives. Senator Rand Paul also opposes the issue of abortion as shown by his sponsorship of the anti-abortion bill of 2013 (Buchbinder, 2016). Having practiced as a physician, Rand Paul acknowledges that ‘doing no harm’ is one of the first things they learn. According to Senator Rand Paul, the government should stop funding abortions and also believes that by giving states the power to pass anti-abortion laws, the country may save millions of lives and avoid doing harm to unborn children. As an alternative, Rand Paul supports the Plan B morning-after pill and opposes taxpayer funding for abortion acts. Furthermore, Senator Rand Paul proposed a bill to include pre-born children in the 14th Amendment protection act that sought to ensure equal protection for the right to life for all preborn and born human beings (Buchbinder, 2016). I, therefore, believe that the issue on abortion should be discussed once again in the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House Of Representatives and new measures put in place to change the law and illegalize the same.
2. Gun Control
The other issue that I would like to be discussed in the U.S. Senate or in the U.S. House Of Representatives is the issue of gun ownership and gun control. Currently, in the United States, the right to keep and bear arms is protected in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Webster & Vernick, 2013). The right of any law-abiding individual to own a gun for personal use is fully affirmed. Felons, mentally ill, and fugitives are, however, prohibited from owning or carrying firearms in sensitive places such as government buildings and schools. However, despite being protected in the constitution, mass murders committed with guns are very rampant and common. As a matter of fact, the United States has recorded a very high rate of homicide-by-firearm as compared to other developed countries that allow gun ownership (Webster & Vernick, 2013). Personally, I believe that access to guns should be limited in a bid to reduce such unwanted incidences. I think that limiting gun ownership and access will reduce crimes and save more lives. Despite being protected in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, I believe that the right given to the U.S residents to keep and bear arms has resulted in more harm than good. This is evident in the frequency with which mass murders have been committed in the country with guns. Examples of such cases that have caught the attention of the nation include the mass murder of 49 individuals in a nightclub in Orlando in 2016 and the annihilation of 6 adults and 20 children at the Newtown elementary school in Connecticut in 2012 (Webster & Vernick, 2013). Such issues have unsuccessfully sparked debates about the necessity of sterner gun control laws with politicians opting to steer away from the debate. Senator Rand Paul opposes all laws that would limit the right to own and bear arms. He claims that, as President, he would specifically protect the right to bear arms and would totally oppose any proposed gun control law (Harpine, 2016). Senator Rand Paul even went further ahead to oppose the Patriot Act, which was proposed to allow the government to search homes without a warrant in a bid to search and check for guns, significantly interfering with any measures to deal with the gun issue (Harpine, 2016). According to Harpine (2016), Senator Rand Paul’s only proposes that terror suspects, people who have been investigated by the FBI and still have open files, should be blocked from buying guns, which according to me, is not sufficient to deal with the gun issue in the United States. I, therefore, think that the issue of gun control should be discussed in the U.S. Senate once more in a bid to come up with better laws that restrict gun ownership.
References
Buchbinder, M. (2016). Scripting dissent: US abortion laws, state power, and the politics of scripted speech. American Anthropologist, 118(4), 772-783. doi:10.1111/aman.12680
Harpine, W. D. (2016). The illusion of tradition: Spurious quotations and the gun control debate. Argumentation and Advocacy, 52(3), 151-164. doi:10.1080/00028533.2016.11821867
Robinson, P. (2013). "We are going to stand on principle": Senator Rand Paul on libertarianism and the GOP; the senate; and the constitution. Hoover Digest,
(4), 124.
Webster, D. W., " Vernick, J. S. (2013). Reducing gun violence in America: Informing policy with evidence and analysis. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
