The wrong kind of Republican
for New Jersey

Scott Garrett's record in Congress

Garrett's very first vote on the floor of the House was cast against an extension of unemployment benefits during the recent recession. This first vote was a bell weather for his entire record. He cast the only New Jersey vote against the measure (1-12). In fact, his was one of only four against votes in the entire House (416-4). This is remarkable extremism. - 1/08/03 (Three months later, he did it again!)

Garrett is anti-abortion even when a woman has been violently raped or is a victim of incest. 70% of people in our district have said that they are pro-choice. Garrett voted for the so-called "partial birth abortion" bill even though that procedure was only performed in extreme cases including threat to the life of the mother. - 10/02/03

Stunningly, Scott Garrett voted against a measure which provided funding to reduce the DNA testing backlog in rape cases. This bill meant a shorter wait for rape victims in going to trial and putting their awful experiences behind them. In light of his position on abortion in cases of rape, one has to wonder if Mr. Garrett is pro-rapist or just anti-women.- 11/05/03

Scott Garrett is one of the radical right-wing extremists in Congress who fought to allow the ban on assault weapons to lapse this past September. Every police organization in America supported the ban. Garrett prefers the ultra right-wing assault weapons lobby to the safety of your family and your police officers.

Garrett sports the worst environmental record of any politician in America since such ratings were introduced in the 1970's. Why is this so important? Because the Environmental Protection Agency recently listed our area of New Jersey as one of four places in the United States which are lagging far behind current environmental standards. Very few people these days drink straight from their tap. Children are being diagnosed with asthma at an ever more alarming rate. The fact is that most average folks know that there is a problem with the environment. Somehow this knowledge eludes Scott Garrett. - Ratings: Sierra Club 0 percent, League of Conservation Voters 10 percent, American Wilderness Coalition F rating (A-F).

Garrett has voted to the far right of his NJ Republican delegation 1-5 over fifty times in one and a half years in Congress. His 1-12 votes against the entire NJ delegation add up to similar numbers. This tells us that on issues on which all New Jersey residents can agree, we in the 5th district are being left out by Scott Garrett. Countless times Garrett has voted with minorities of less than 75 votes. This ranks him in the most radical right-wing 15% of members of the House. We don't believe this record represents the views or the values of our district.

Scott Garrett cast one of the two deciding votes in favor of the Fiscal Year 2005 budget. This budget under funded veterans' health care significantly below the current need. Veterans' groups across America opposed this budget. Garrett claims to be a very patriotic citizen but his actions don't match his words. - 3/02/04, 215-212

Garrett’s far-right social agenda is motivated by his fundamentalist Christian beliefs. Those beliefs are outside the mainstream of most American religion and are often directly opposed to values and ideals of most of his constituents in the Fifth Congressional District. These beliefs lead Garrett to radical positions on such issues as:

• Women’s health (opposing abortion even if the mother’s life is in jeopardy)
• Public education (choosing to home school his children)
• Science (opposing stem cell research, favoring creationism)
• Separation of church and state (holding a revival meeting at his campaign tent at the state fair in Sussex County)
• Human and civil rights (opposing even recognition of civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, favoring a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage)

Little wonder that Garrett is the Christian Coalition’s poster-boy in New Jersey. As such, he is unfit to serve as our representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.