About Mark

Americans want a safe home, safe schools, safe neighborhoods and a country where the rule of law is enforced. We must stop gun violence. Prosecuting attorneys need to use the Habitual Offender charge to enforce penalties, deter gun violence, and keep the guns out of the hands of criminals.

On the borders, we must create work visas that are easy to understand and easy to enforce. Texans and Arizonans that Mark has spoken to need workers—documented immigrants. This means eliminating bureaucratic red-tape and modernizing the work visa system. While a small part of the problem, birthright citizenship should be stopped, not protected. No person should fly into the United States to simply have a baby. Uncompensated care in our border states has skyrocketed due to the treatments provided to those who are not U.S. citizens.

A nation without secure borders is not a nation. I believe that those who come to America illegally are not granted some of the protections afforded to US citizens under the 14th amendment.

Mark supports efforts to restart construction of the border wall in key areas of our Southern border, as well as deploying greater technology on the southern and norther border, increasing the number of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and border patrol agents who are underpaid, and strengthening and streamlining our asylum process.

We need to use our military when working with the Mexican government on the Southern border.

More can be done to move government off the back and out of the pockets of parents so that resources can be used to raise children. We presently spend $800 billion each year for educating American students in public elementary, junior high and high schools. That is $15,621 per student. We must allow school choice and also eliminate inefficiencies in teaching our kids reading, writing and arithmetic. This means decreasing bureaucratic budgets at the U.S. Department of Education. While federal aid to targeted areas for children with disabilities, etc is needed, many of the “good ideas” and the bulk of spending should be controlled and occur at the local level.

School boards, private schools and home schooling families must work to allow parents to train up their children, set the values and discipline. Parents have the fundamental right to raise their children and educate their children.

Gender transitioning and ideological indoctrination have no place in the institutions that were created to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. Mark Hurt strongly supports the Protect Kids Act which will require all federally funded elementary and middle schools to seek and receive parental consent before changing their child’s pronouns, gender or name on any school form. Locker rooms and bathrooms must remain safe.

Parents must vigilantly keep their children off addictive social media. The state of Utah recently passed strong laws that also help children who have no family.

We need to expand child care tax credits, cut taxes and help American families keep their hard earned money.

Mark Hurt believes life is precious and has intrinsic value, both at the beginning and end of life. This is an unalienable right, for without the right to life there is no right to liberty or property. For that reason, Mark Hurt will fight to protect life at all phases of live—protections for the unborn, those with special needs, and the elderly. As an extension of that value, Mark Hurt is morally opposed to euthanasia in its various forms.

Because we are called to be compassionate, Mark is strongly supportive of pregnancy resource centers which provide coaching in parenting skills, as well as other direct assistance to women and men in need. Mark is also a strong supporter of the Hyde amendment which prohibits taxpayer dollars funding abortion through Planned Parenthood clinics.

We have a spending problem in Washington D.C. The qualitative easing and reckless printing of money has caused inflation. Both Democrats and Republicans have overprinted and overspent causing budget deficits that pose moral challenges for our nation and the future of our children. We must reduce our debt (presently more than $32 trillion dollars) by bringing some of the money home from overseas and protecting and preserving Social Security and Medicare, and cutting waste and inefficiencies in the delivery of services. In short, the government must downsize and we must do a better job of identifying and stopping funding for ineffective programs and those programs not fulfilling their intended purpose.

Many individuals in the 5th Congressional District can only work at slower speed due to the need for expansion of rural broadband development. Mark Hurt will work to provide quicker and more reliable internet access for farmers who need to compete in a global market.

During the Trump administration, the USA was a net exporter of energy. America must be energy independent and that means expanding nuclear energy, drilling and fracking to use fossil fuels and using wind and solar energies where advantageous. We must remove newly added federal regulations that inhibit the use of domestic energy. Utility bills must go down, the Keystone XL pipeline must move forward and the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline should not be green lighted.

During the last 3 years, the Biden environmental agenda has posed an existential threat to our energy independence and a strong American economy. We must work to decrease the role of the federal government. Mark is a strong believer in the 10th amendment and believes we must tame the beast at the federal level. In this vein, Mark strongly opposes the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. President Reagan has warned us to be extremely cautious when the federal government offers a call for help.

Mark Hurt firmly believes the Second Amendment of the US Constitution is a fundamental right, not just for hunting but for personal defense. For that reason, Mark Hurt fully supports Justice Antonin Scalia’s precedent setting opinion in the District of Columbia v. Heller (June 26, 2008) when the United States Supreme Court re-affirmed our individual right to keep and bear arms. Research is clear that conceal and carry laws work to protect innocent people, particularly women and the more defenseless among us. For that reason, Hurt is a member of the NRA and supports their ongoing efforts to protect the legal rights to keep and bear arms.

Our troops deserve the best in training and equipment when they go into battle and provide for our common defense while serving at home and abroad.

A few ideas, we must work to decouple industries deeply contracted to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). President Trump started a move to stop the piracy and stealing of technology by the PRC. More must be done now and We must stand strong when the PRC targets and retaliates against U.S. farmers. Allies need guarantees of our willingness to keep IndoChina free and the shipping lanes open.

While we cannot write a blank check to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine, if we do not stop the expansion of Russia in Ukraine, we will see an advancement into Moldova, Romania where my children were born and the old Iron Curtain. In sum, if Ukraine is taken, the Russians will move forward with plans in Poland and we will see American soldier’s boots on the ground. Peace through strength means we deal with Russian expansionism now so that American troops are not in Eastern Europe later.

Veterans and those serving in the U.S. military are underpaid. The recent 5.2% pay raise is a step in the right direction.

Promises made must be upheld and veterans care is key. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs operates the largest integrated health care system in the USA. This care must be patient-centered and Mark will work alongside caseworkers who will fight for veterans. The SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act is one example of how we can expand access for toxic-exposed veterans.

We can do better for those who have been damaged by war. Why not convert some of the closed down military bases for hubs for veterans? Americans could provide beds, food and counseling who are suffering from trauma. Restored military bases can launch job programs targeted for services veterans.

The decaying of the American family offers a central reason for an increase in crime. Fathers and mothers must teach their children the character qualities of honesty, following the law, and helping others.

Fentanyl is killing a generation of Americans. We must work to help children and adults stay away from illegal drugs. Those who deal drugs should be strongly punished. We must freeze the assets of cartels and place sanctions on bad actors who assist these criminal enterprises. That means tough sentences for drug dealing and human trafficking.

We must take care of those who work hard to take care of us. Law enforcement has seen increased retirements and a shortage in manpower in the past decade.

Jail should not be a revolving door and we simply need to enforce the laws. The issue before us with guns is not the second amendment and the right to bear arms, the issue is not enforcing the laws on the books. We must get stolen guns out of the hands of criminals.

Justice delayed is sometimes justice denied. We need more prosecuting attorneys who are properly paid and we need a quicker judicial system on our border so immigrants are not caught, released and returned to the United States.

Up to 40% of those incarcerated are dealing with a mental health issue. No co-pay or deductible when receiving your behavioral health care in a jail. More must be done to build and staff more group homes, increase the pay for psychiatrists and counselors and to attract and train more life skill clinicians and doctors serving the mentally ill.