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Office you seek
U.S. House of Representatives, 13^th District seat                               

Occupation
Member U.S. House of Representatives

Age
54

Address
2306 Beechridge Rd., Raleigh,NC  27608

Web site/e-mail address
brad@bradmiller.org

Party affiliation
Democrat

Elective experience
I was elected the Chair of the Wake Democratic Party in 1985 when I was 31 years old. In 1992, I was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where I served two years. I was elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1996, where I served six years. As a member of the state legislature, I wrote North Carolina's safe gun storage law, which dramatically curbed juvenile gun deaths. I also introduced legislation to expand North Carolina's domestic violence law; to reduce air pollution from cars and trucks; to limit the influence of political patronage in state government hiring; and to protect consumers from dishonest automobile mechanics. In 2002, I was elected to Congress to represent a new district gained by North Carolina after the 2000 Census. I now serve as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Science and Technology Committee. I also serve on the Financial Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Other relevant experience (boards and commissions)
Wake County Mediation Services, Raleigh Theater in the Park, Research Triangle Visitors Center

Family
Wife-Esther Hall; Dog - Harper Hall Miller

Why do you want to continue to hold this office?
My work in Congress is just beginning. I want to put government on the side of all the people to make government the trustee for the whole nation.

Key congressional accomplishments:

Protecting Home Buyers

I have continued to lead efforts to protect homeowners from predatory lending practices.  I introduced a bill modeled on North Carolina's landmark anti-predatory lending law which seeks to limit indefensible up-front fees that rob vulnerable consumers of the equity in their homes.  The bill passed the House in November by a bipartisan vote of 291-127.  During the next few years, 2.2 million American families will be at risk of foreclosure.  We must make sure this never happens again.  

Making College More Affordable for Everyone

One of my first votes in the new Congress was to support the single largest investment in college financial assistance since the GI bill in 1944.  The bill would increase the Pell Grant by $1,090 over five years; forgive loans for graduates who provide 10 years of public service; and cut student loan interest rates in half.   

Raising the Minimum Wage

People who work every day should not live in poverty.  Congress passed the first increase in the federal minimum wage in more than a decade with my strong support. The bill will increase the minimum wage by $2.10 over the next three years, increasing annual pay for nearly 13 million workers by $4,400 a year by 2009.

Holding Washington Accountable

Fighting corruption and secrecy in Washington has been a top priority in my new role as Chairman of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee on the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology.  You deserve to have your tax dollars spent wisely.

List your top three campaign issues and your stances on those issues (briefly, please)
My number one priority in Congress is protecting homeowners and their ticket into the middle class. The subprime mortgage crisis could force 2.2 million American families to lose their home to foreclosure in the next two years. Every foreclosure means a family is falling out of the middle class into poverty. I am fighting to pass national legislation to crack down on abusive predatory lending practices in the mortgage industry. I have also introduced legislation to provide emergency relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. My bill would revise a provision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to include modifying mortgage agreements for a family's only home. The law currently allows judges to modify mortgage agreements on vacation homes and yachts, but not home mortgages.

Second, plant closings and job losses are too common in our state. I know what these losses add up to in the small towns of North Carolina -- they add up to double-digit unemployment and people unable to find work after a year or more. This Administration has done a woeful job of standing up for American workers.  Free trade means nothing if it is not fair trade, but trade policy is not the only problem.  The criterion for success of economic policy should be creating broad prosperity.

North Carolina producers need more open markets for their products, and we need to ensure our competitiveness by leveling the international playing field on trade to create long-term stability and economic growth.  I am committed to fighting for American workers and manufacturers and to creating jobs and growth.  I will continue to vote against any trade proposal that is unfair to North Carolina workers, and will stand with our companies when they are struggling.

Our future depends on having the most skilled workforce in the world, and that requires a commitment both to formal education and to on-the-job training. As Co-Chair of the Community College Caucus, I will continue to look for ways to re-train our workforce after so many factory closings in North Carolina.

Finally, I am Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight on the House Committee on Science and Technology, which handles a variety of investigations into corruption, secrecy and junk science. Here are two examples of hearing I have held this year:

Revealing Airline Safety Secrets - NASA spent more than $11 million dollars on a survey of airline pilots to identify aviation safety problems. The survey found that runway incidents and mechanical failures occurred at a much higher rate than government estimates. But NASA withheld the survey results because it would undermine public confidence in the airlines and hurt airline profits.

Ending a $63 Million Boondoggle for Taxpayers - Congress spent more than $63 million in earmarks on an experimental aircraft that has never flown more than a few feet and that the Pentagon doesn't want or need. Supporters of the flawed aircraft failed this year to win further earmarks for the plane after our hearing.

What is your position on congressional earmarks?
Government appropriations ideally should be based on neutral criteria that are neutrally applied.  Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has been no better about disregarding politics in distributing federal funds.

Under the Republican rule of Congress, the number of earmarks in appropriations bills skyrocketed, and a process that provided no way of knowing which earmark was requested by which member of Congress left the system wide open to abuses.

After the earmark explosion under Republican leadership, Congress has begun bringing transparency and accountability to earmarks.  Congress instituted a one year moratorium on earmarks for 2007 until a reformed process could be put in place.  On the first day of the 110^th Congress, we adopted rules that provided for greater transparency in earmarks, and there has been a significant reduction in earmarks.

I apply for earmarks at the request of local community leaders who have requested money for the public good, and I have obtained no earmarks I would not be proud to explain.

What measures should be taken to boost the sagging national economy?

Protecting American Jobs- Plant closings and job losses are too common in our state. I know what these losses add up to in the small towns of North Carolina -- they add up to double-digit unemployment and people unable to find work after a year or more.

This Administration has done a woeful job of standing up for American workers.  Free trade means nothing if it is not fair trade.

North Carolina producers need more open markets for their products, and we need to ensure our competitiveness by leveling the international playing field on trade to create long-term stability and economic growth.  I am committed to fighting for American workers and manufacturers and to creating jobs and growth.  I will continue to vote against any trade proposal that is unfair to North Carolina workers, and will stand with our companies when they are struggling. 

Expanding the Economy & Creating Jobs -  Over the past few years, small businesses have lost out on opportunities when contracts intended for them were awarded to large corporations.  Though the federal marketplace continues to grow at record rates, small businesses' contracting opportunities are dwindling. For the past six years, the federal government has failed to meet its 23 percent contracting goal - costing small businesses nearly $4.5 billion in lost contracting opportunity last year alone.   Small firms also face challenges as the government continues to combine work into contracts that are too large for entrepreneurs to bid on, making the work less accessible to small businesses.  These factors have all resulted in lost contracting opportunities for this nation's small firms.  


Last year, I voted to pass H.R. 1873, the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act. This legislation is an important step in putting small businesses on a level playing field with big corporations by increasing their access to federal contracts.   Small businesses make up nearly 99.7 percent of companies, yet they continue to face numerous challenges that prevent them from receiving their fair share of the $340 billion dollar federal marketplace.   In addition to increasing small business access to federal contracts, this legislation would: Make "contract bundling"-the practice of grouping small government contracts together and awarding them as one large contract-more difficult by forcing government agencies to justify why they have bundled contracts in the first place;Require the Small Business Administration to reach out to small businesses regarding opportunities for earning government contracts;Raise the federal small business government-wide contracting goal from 23 to 30 percent, and includes new provisions to fight fraud in the contracting process;Expand contracting opportunities for small businesses by opening up opportunities overseas and increasing enforcement on subcontracting goals;Require the Small Business Administration to keep small businesses informed about the opportunities to compete for government contracts;Mandate stricter oversight of government agencies to ensure that these agencies are making progress toward awarding contracts to small businesses.

Increasing the Minimum Wage - Last July I voted to raise the federal minimum wage by $2.10.  The increase, which be will be completely phased in by 2010, is the first minimum wage increase almost 10 years.  This increase is long overdue.  The minimum wage, which until this year was only $5.10 and is currently only $5.85, is simply not enough to cover the needs of the average family as they struggle with increasing costs of child care, education, health insurance, and gasoline prices. The value of the minimum wage has dropped to its lowest level in over half a century.

Raising the minimum wage will mean a $4,400 yearly pay raise-money that could pay for 15 months of groceries, or more than two years of health care.  It could buy 19 months of utilities, 20 months of child care, or 30 months of college tuition at a public, 2-year college.Over the next two years, as the legislation takes effect, the minimum wage will increase from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 per hour. Thanks to this increase, by 2010 a family of four will move from 11 percent below the poverty line to 5 percent above the poverty line. Nearly 13 million people will benefit from the increase. 

Economic Stimulus - On February 8th, I voted to pass H.R. 5140, the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus Act. This bill will inject nearly $152 billion into the economy this year and more than $16 billion next year by providing one-time tax rebates of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child. 

Under H.R. 5140, people earning up to $75,000 a year, and couples earning up to $150,000, will be eligible for full rebates.  Those who earn more will be eligible to receive smaller checks.  In addition, the bill will assist lower-income Americans, including retirees on Social Security and disabled veterans who pay no income taxes, by making them eligible for rebates of up to $300. 

The rebates will be calculated based on 2007 federal income tax returns, which are due April 15, and rebate checks will be mailed in May. 

In addition to tax rebates, the bill will help some of the roughly two million Americans in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure by temporarily raising both the limit on Federal Housing Administration loans and the cap on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy to $729,750.  This will allow tens of thousands of homeowners to refinance unsustainable predatory mortgages into more sustainable, fixed rate mortgages.

The economic stimulus plan is not perfect.  As enacted, it does not include some important benefits that I support like unemployment assistance and funding for low-income Americans who cannot afford their energy bills. Nonetheless, by providing cash to consumers and targeted tax relief to businesses seeking to invest in job growth, the stimulus bill will be an important step in relieving some of mounting pressure on American taxpayers and our nation's economy.

When and how should the U.S. remove troops from Iraq?
As a protocol matter, it will be two years before our troops can be redeployed in an orderly way to protect their safety.  There will have been seven years our troops have been in Iraq.  A plan to withdraw or redeploy troops should be developed based on consultation with military commanders. I disagreed with the decision to invade Iraq at the time.  When the Bush Administration and their supporters in Congress gloated over the initial success of our military, I cautioned that establishing a government that Iraqis would accept as legitimate, not an American puppet, would be much more difficult than defeating the Iraqi military.  I said then that I hoped my concerns proved unfounded.  That hope was disappointed.

How should the U.S. become more energy independent? Is this issue a priority for you?
Yes, I believe the United States, as the world's leader in science and technology, has a responsibility to develop solutions that protect our planet's resources without adversely affecting economic and social progress.

Legislation I support:

H.R. 969 would amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish a Federal renewable energy portfolio standard for certain retail electric utilities, and for other purposes. It would specify a schedule of graduated annual percentages of a supplier's base amount that shall be generated from renewable energy resources, from 1% in 2010 up to 20 % in 2020 and thereafter.  It also authorizes a retail electric supplier to satisfy those requirements through submission of renewable energy credits to the Secretary of Energy and provides for energy credit trading or borrowing among suppliers.  Finally it directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) encourage federally-owned utilities, municipally-owned utilities, and rural electric cooperatives that sell electric energy to electric consumers for purposes other than resale to participate in the renewable portfolio standard program; and (2) establish by December 31, 2009, a state renewable energy account program.

HR 2337, the Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act would address alternative fuels development, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas capture and storage, and the impact of climate change on fish and wildlife. The bill would also strengthen environmental regulations for new energy projects, including guidelines for siting wind turbines. This bill has been referred to multiple House committees, which are currently working out procedural and policy concerns. One of these committees is the House Science and Technology committee, of which I am a member.

I am concerned about protecting the environment and taking action against global climate change. I am a co-sponsor of the Climate Stewardship Act, which would reduce emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from anticipated levels beginning in 2012. It requires that greenhouse gas emissions from covered entities are limited to year 2004 levels and will eventually reduce emissions to 70% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Submitted April 29, 2008