Buddy Carter


Earl Leroy "Buddy" Carter is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 1st congressional district since 2015. The district is based in Savannah and includes most of the coastal southern portion of the state. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a Georgia State Representative and Georgia State Senator.

Early life and education

Carter graduated from Robert W. Groves High School, in 1975, in Garden City, Georgia. He earned an associate degree from Young Harris College, in 1977 and a Bachelor of Science, in pharmacy, from the University of Georgia, in 1980.

Political career

Carter served on the planning and zoning commission for the city of Pooler from 1989 to 1993 and on Pooler's city council from 1994 to 1995. Carter served as Pooler's mayor from 1996 to 2004 as well. Carter was first elected to the state legislature in 2005—serving two terms in the House of Representatives from 2006 to 2010. Carter was elected to the Georgia Senate in 2009 and sworn into the upper house in 2010. He sat on the Senate Appropriations, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, and Public Safety committees.
In March 2014, a controversy emerged regarding S.B. 408, a bill authored by Carter that would increase reimbursement rates for pharmacies in Georgia. As he is the owner of three pharmacies which would see increased profits as a result of the proposed action, his vote was considered by many to be in violation of the ethical guidelines of the State Senate. "Obviously, it's borderline," he admitted when questioned afterwards.
Carter gave up his state house seat in 2014 to make a run for Congress after 22-year incumbent Jack Kingston announced he was running for the United States Senate. He finished first in the six-way Republican primary with 36 percent of the vote, well short of the 51 percent required for outright victory. He then defeated Bob Johnson in the runoff with 53 percent of the vote. In the general election, he trounced his Democratic challenger, Brian Reese, with 60.9 percent of the vote, carrying all but two counties in the district. In 2016, he was unopposed in both the primary and general elections, and took over 99 percent of the vote against a write-in candidate.

Political positions

Drug policy

The marijuana legalization advocacy organization NORML has rated Carter a "D", which indicates a strongly anti-drug stance.
Carter voted against the Veterans Equal Access Amendment in 2015 & 2016, against the McClintock/Polis Amendment in 2015 and against the Rohrabacher/Farr Amendment in 2015.
In 2017, Carter renewed his push to drug test citizens who receive unemployment insurance.

Health care

Carter supports the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He has stated that there is no circumstance that would induce him to vote in favor of keeping the ACA, including if most of his constituents were in favor of it.
On July 26, 2017, Carter was asked during a live television interview if he supported Trump's criticism of Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski for her opposition to the procedural vote to begin the Senate's healthcare debate. Carter agreed with the criticism, saying, "Somebody needs to go over there to that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass." The incident prompted widespread media coverage.

Tax reform

Carter voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. His reason for voting "Yea" on the bill was that he believed businesses located in his district would become more competitive in a global market. He also said it would help his constituents earn and/or save more money.

Immigration

Carter has stated that "granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is unconstitutional." However, he has co-sponsored a bill which would let illegal immigrants serve in the US military in exchange for legal residency.
Carter supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail immigration from six countries until better screening methods are devised. He stated that "While I believe there needs to be thoughtful clarifications on the executive actions similar to Secretary Kelly’s announcement about lawful permanent residents, the number one priority of the federal government is to provide for the common defense."
Carter wants to prohibit all federal funding from sanctuary cities in Georgia. Carter also stated he would like to test the huge backlog of rape kits in Georgia, except in sanctuary cities. He said about testing the rape kit backlog, "We'll do everything we can to help," but then added, "Unless they’re a sanctuary city."

Abortion

Carter opposes abortion. He cosponsored the Sanctity of Human Life Act, which would make all abortions illegal.
H.R. 586 provides a constitutional right to life to embryos at the moment of fertilization. While a similar bill in the Senate, S. 231, claims to not target women who use birth control, women who suffer from miscarriages, or families that want to conceive using vitro fertilization, the House bill contains no such exceptions. When asked by a constituent during a town hall in Savannah, Georgia whether he had concerns about restricting access to birth control when rape is so common on college campuses, Carter replied "I'm not going to vote for any bill that endorses abortion." H.R. 586, which would ban abortion, contains no exceptions for the life or health of the mother or for cases of rape or incest.

Education

When questioned during a February 2017 town hall in Savannah, Georgia as to whether religious doctrine ought to be taught in public school science classes, Carter responded "I have always thought we should teach the Bible in school."

LGBT rights

Carter believes gay marriage should be illegal.
During an August 2017 town hall in Brunswick, Georgia, Carter stated that he supported a ban on transgender people serving in the military, saying, "I don't want 'em serving in the military. I'm sorry."

Gun rights

Carter is a strong supporter of gun rights, and has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association for his stances on gun issues.
In 2018, Carter stated: "I support the 2nd Amendment so I don't want to see us outlawing anything. However, however I will say that I have recently come out and said I am against bump stocks." "Automatic weapons are against the law here in America and a bump stock in my opinion is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent the law so I don't think that we should have those," said Carter.
"But you know at the same time people have the right to bear arms, it's the 2nd Amendment," Carter reiterated. "And you know even if you were to outlaw some of these semi-automatic weapons they're going to get a get a weapon from somewhere," he said.
In February 2018 during a town hall in Hinesville, Georgia when asked about mass shootings in America, Carter told attendees to not look towards Congress for answers about gun violence, stating Congress is not responsible for gun violence in America.

Bills introduced and signed into law

The GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017, which was one of the first Acts of the 115th United States Congress signed into law by President Trump during the first 100 days of his presidency, was introduced to the House by Carter on January 1, 2017. It passed through the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and was passed by the full Senate, on January 17, 2017. It was signed by Trump on January 31, 2017. The bill ensures that the Government Accountability Office has full access to a database created by Congress in 1996 to track recent job hires mainly to assist agencies at the state level with child support enforcement. 115-3 will enable the GAO to ensure that recipients of federal means-tested programs like Unemployment Insurance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Earned income tax credit, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are eligible.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments