Thom Tillis Quotes

The number-one defender of the Second Amendment rights is the National Rifle Association. The NRA works tirelessly to elect pro-Second Amendment candidates, and it fights fearlessly to win tough public policy battles and preserve those rights.

- Thom Tillis

We don't classify all doctors as incompetent because of the infrequent instances of medical malpractice. We don't use the example of one bad teacher in our children's school to draw a negative conclusion of the entire teaching profession. We should apply that same rational standard when it comes to how we view law enforcement.

- Thom Tillis

In cyberspace, weapons systems get created in 24-hour cycles. You have no earthly idea whether or not you have a defensive capability against them.

- Thom Tillis

Nothing could be more important for a child affected by Zika virus than to have continuity of care, seamlessly from before birth to after birth.

- Thom Tillis

As a freedom-lover and avid outdoorsman, I understand the importance of protecting the Second Amendment, which has been under attack by liberal special interest groups funded by elitist billionaires.

- Thom Tillis

Anytime ISIS takes ground, it's a bad thing.

- Thom Tillis

I think the best way to fight your detractors is to produce positive results and not think about them, but think about winning the hearts and minds of North Carolinians - or Americans - on good policy.

- Thom Tillis

The main opposition to Judge Gorsuch's confirmation comes from a handful of Democratic Senators who are using the playbook of far-left special interest groups, the same groups that routinely attack anyone who doesn't actively promote their agenda.

- Thom Tillis

We should refuse to settle for a deal that fails to secure the release of American hostages and paves Iran's path toward realizing its nuclear weapon ambitions.

- Thom Tillis

My Democratic colleagues, many of whom hold law degrees, should know better than to intentionally oversimplify court rulings to mislead the public and score political points.

- Thom Tillis

When officers' actions violate their duty, justice should be served in accordance with our legal system.

- Thom Tillis

I've been a paperboy, a short-order cook, a warehouse clerk, and, eventually, a partner at IBM.

- Thom Tillis

As Speaker of the North Carolina House, I've proven I'm a problem-solver, balancing budgets, cutting wasteful spending, and providing teachers with historic pay raises.

- Thom Tillis

Democrats misinterpreted the mandate for change in 2008 as an ideological mandate to move the country sharply to the left. They rammed through policies like ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank with little, if any, bipartisan support.

- Thom Tillis

A paperwork error can get you on the fly list. A name similar to someone else can get you on the fly list, so there's any number of opportunities where mistakes or abuses could probably put somebody in that horrible position of a government agency really clawing back your rights.

- Thom Tillis

Any time you do tax reform, you really need to have a transition period.

- Thom Tillis

I believe there are several conservative democrats who are prepared to join Republicans in opposition to measures that propose new entitlements and reparations.

- Thom Tillis

Fort Bragg is an enormously important presence as the home to the 82nd Airborne and the Global Response Force of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

- Thom Tillis

We already have two branches of federal government that factor political considerations into their decision-making, and our Founding Fathers determined long ago that we don't need a third.

- Thom Tillis

As the former state speaker of the North Caroline House of Representatives, I helped push two landmark bills that protected and expanded gun rights for citizens.

- Thom Tillis

I think that you find out what your boss wants you to do, and you do more. To me, that's work ethic. Because, if you demonstrate that your capabilities extend past your current job, they'll probably give you a better job.

- Thom Tillis

If we don't do a better job of getting illegal worker immigration policies in place, it's going to be a significant impediment to a number of industries.

- Thom Tillis

Fulfilling your promises is the easiest way to get elected, and breaking your promises is the easiest way to get fired.

- Thom Tillis

I strongly support the construction of the Keystone Pipeline and favor expanding offshore drilling to make our nation less dependent on foreign oil.

- Thom Tillis

Since I became a senator in 2015, my office has been inundated by countless letters, emails, and calls from North Carolinians telling us how Obamacare has been a nightmare for them and their families.

- Thom Tillis

Everyone knows that my key drivers to moving health care policies is improving access and reducing costs and improving outcomes.

- Thom Tillis

'Til such time that the U.S. produces a continuous supply of home-grown talent, I want U.S. visa programs that support people from abroad come into the country.

- Thom Tillis

We need to get back and make the agencies who are putting more burdens on businesses and employers and hardworking taxpayers and question whether or not there's a true benefit, and if there isn't, we must take steps to repeal them.

- Thom Tillis

I believe that what we should do first and foremost is seal the border. The Republicans and Democrats have both failed on this issue for decades. And one of the reasons why is I don't think we have stabilized the problem by taking credible steps to seal the border. Then let's discuss what we do with the population who is illegally present.

- Thom Tillis

Americans from all walks of life have voiced their deep frustration with Washington's seeming inability to get anything constructive done. For decades, they have watched politicians talk a good game while failing to deliver.

- Thom Tillis

I've actually got a Motley Crue channel on Pandora.

- Thom Tillis

Democrats creating the expectation that judges should act as politicians in robes is a dangerous precedent to set, threatening the very independence of the judiciary.

- Thom Tillis

To indiscriminately cast all law enforcement as enemies of our communities is to engage in an attempt to divide our nation by turning Americans against each other.

- Thom Tillis

In the Senate, I will work to shrink the size of our federal government to its core Constitutional role so the private sector can thrive.

- Thom Tillis

I have immense respect for Loretta Lynch both personally and professionally.

- Thom Tillis

Greece has to stay in the euro.

- Thom Tillis

The NRA is a true grass-roots organization, and the collective power of its membership is simply unparalleled.

- Thom Tillis

People who truly represent an extreme on either side have a very difficult time getting bipartisan support for what they're doing.

- Thom Tillis

Obviously, we want people to be paid a wage that could help make ends meet, but when you increase artificially the cost of labor to do a job, then oftentimes, those jobs will just go away.

- Thom Tillis

I want to create an economy where minimum wage is a very brief stepping stone to higher-paying jobs so people can realize their dreams.

- Thom Tillis

One of the biggest disagreements between Sen. Hagan and I - I don't believe we should be building an economy that's founded on making ends meet on minimum wage. It's impossible; it's a stepping stone.

- Thom Tillis

The heartaches of Obamacare don't have to be the norm.

- Thom Tillis

I've never listed my education degree as why people should vote for me. I think the average person is thinking more about what I've accomplished in my professional career and what I've accomplished in my career as a legislator.

- Thom Tillis

I graduated from University of Maryland, 1996 - or '97, actually.

- Thom Tillis

Senators should not play politics by threatening filibusters and evaluating Judge Gorsuch based on what his policy preferences are or how he might come down on a specific case that may come before the Court.

- Thom Tillis

People bring up Willie Horton or some other political bombshell in the past, but what they're not being intellectually honest about is if we do not work on early release, if we do not rehabilitate 95 percent of the people who go into the prison system and come out, far more innocent people are going to be harmed.

- Thom Tillis

We owe it to the American people to set aside the areas where our ideology may prevent progress and find common ground where there are plenty of opportunities to produce good results.

- Thom Tillis

BDS is not a typical act of political correctness, undertaken by radical academics whose usual prey is the youth of America. This is a worldwide movement designed to destroy the one democracy in the Middle East and the hopes of people who have occupied that land for over three thousand years.

- Thom Tillis

I am a U.S. senator from North Carolina. I'm worried about doing the business on the Capitol Hill. I'm not going to get into the parlor games and the political discussions about a separate and co-equal branch.

- Thom Tillis

A Greek exit from the E.U. and the euro would mean the Greek economy would be difficult to sustain.

- Thom Tillis

I think we've got a pretty good track record of definitively opposing Obamacare in the state of North Carolina.

- Thom Tillis

As the economy turns, one of the most significant impediments to economic growth is going to be labor availability.

- Thom Tillis

Let's be clear: the American people didn't give the GOP a stamp of approval or a mandate to ram through an ideologically-driven, far-right agenda.

- Thom Tillis

Barack Obama and Kay Hagan think that the minimum wage needs to be the same in the mountains of North Carolina and in the city of Boston - it makes no sense to me.

- Thom Tillis

I want to go to Washington and clean up Kay Hagan's mess.

- Thom Tillis

Their failures, both Obama's and Kay Hagan's, are obvious.

- Thom Tillis

We don't need something as large and complex and costly as the Affordable Care Act, because it can't work.

- Thom Tillis

Anybody who doesn't support the Republican nominee... is a RINO.

- Thom Tillis

Republicans should remember that when Trump campaigned, he wasn't holding up a conservative manifesto at every rally.

- Thom Tillis

In-person town halls generally require a commitment several weeks in advance - a commitment my office is not prepared to make given the full schedule of the Senate and the duties attendant to service there.

- Thom Tillis

In Washington, I will focus on creating a climate that helps create jobs and opportunities for Americans.

- Thom Tillis

I think it has just been ingrained in me since an early age that the harder you worked, the more successful you were.

- Thom Tillis

You have to make some hard decisions when you're speaker.

- Thom Tillis

We need a Congress that understands the sanctity of life, the sanctity of traditional values, the sanctity of traditional marriage.

- Thom Tillis

Federal dollars and resources come with so much red tape that state and local experts can't use that funding for initiatives that are working the best or are most needed.

- Thom Tillis

A focus on regulatory overreach, things that the benefit doesn't outweigh the cost, is probably the single greatest opportunity we have for having a positive impact on job creation.

- Thom Tillis

Law enforcement officers are entrusted with a tremendous responsibility; that is why we hold them to such a high standard. With that said, there are a small number of officers who have not lived up to that standard.

- Thom Tillis

Change, while sometimes good, is difficult to absorb. I think that a part of it is just having to see the results.

- Thom Tillis

I have serious concerns with the discussion around minimum wage because it drives up costs, and it could harm jobs.

- Thom Tillis

When I was speaker in North Carolina, the state was gripped with a deficit, and we made a fundamental policy decision to adopt austerity budgets for four years.

- Thom Tillis

Standing up for Israel at home validates those fundamental principles of freedom enshrined in our Constitution.

- Thom Tillis

What I want to do is create jobs that make the minimum wage irrelevant.

- Thom Tillis

Instead of focusing on this sort of defeatist mentality where we've gotta up the minimum wage, why don't we focus on creating better-paying jobs?

- Thom Tillis

I worked on minimum wage; I didn't go to college out of school. I worked multiple jobs, and it's probably not something Sen. Hagan's not had to worry about because we grew up in very different life circumstances.

- Thom Tillis

Obamacare is a great idea that can't be paid for.

- Thom Tillis

Violent felons and people with mental health problems need to be rehabilitated.

- Thom Tillis

If you just focus on producing good outcomes, all that other stuff sorts itself out.

- Thom Tillis

My Democratic colleagues should not forget that President Obama's Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were both given up or down votes by Republicans.

- Thom Tillis

If the BDS Movement was isolated to a few tenured college outliers, that would be easy enough to handle. Unfortunately, it is not.

- Thom Tillis

In politics, as in physics, every reaction is met with an equal and opposite reaction.

- Thom Tillis

It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations.

- Thom Tillis

I'm for creating high-paying jobs.

- Thom Tillis

My dad would much rather work a couple jobs than be on government assistance.

- Thom Tillis

What we have to do is find a way to divide and conquer the people who are on assistance.

- Thom Tillis

I resolve to work with my colleagues to succeed in producing the good rather than failing to produce the perfect.

- Thom Tillis

We have to show respect for that woman who has cerebral palsy and had no choice in her condition, that needs help, and we should help.

- Thom Tillis

I've never seen anything that I didn't want to jump off of.

- Thom Tillis

The Senate could use more people who had to sweat for a living and fewer of the politicians who made this mess.

- Thom Tillis

I'll be reaching across the aisle to find opportunities to work with Democrats on the issues that desperately need to be addressed.

- Thom Tillis

One of the problems fundamental to health care in the United States is access and cost.

- Thom Tillis

Republicans do need to communicate that we agree that there are serious health care issues among the American people that we need to solve.

- Thom Tillis

Labels are irrelevant. It's the results.

- Thom Tillis

We need to tell the far-right and the far-left to go away and have people in the center solve the problem.

- Thom Tillis

You will never satisfy the far extremes on the Left and the Right.

- Thom Tillis

I was a partner at Pricewaterhouse before I got my four year degree.

- Thom Tillis

I'm an organizational guy.

- Thom Tillis

'Intensity' is a good word. It's like ambition, if it's not ambition at expense of someone else.

- Thom Tillis

I think you should consider anything that frees up the market, that creates more jobs.

- Thom Tillis

I just received the endorsement of the National Right to Life, and more than anybody else, more than any organization I can think of, I'm proud that they recognize the work that we've done to save the lives of the unborn.

- Thom Tillis

What we need to do is be the party of results.

- Thom Tillis

Dot Helms and North Carolina are one and the same.

- Thom Tillis

I've always had the kinds of careers that have a tendency to go home with you.

- Thom Tillis

It's good, sound business to treat all the teachers fairly, and I think it's a good story to tell.

- Thom Tillis

If Israel did not exist, the United Nations would go out of business.

- Thom Tillis

You can't put a gun in the hands of someone who represents a danger to themselves or society.

- Thom Tillis

I've been anything but an establishment kind of guy.

- Thom Tillis