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Burr now represents 'all 100' counties of North Carolina in decisions
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Published: October 16, 2009
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr said the situation in Pakistan is worrisome, the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy should be examined to see if its time has passed and that he would give up his Senate seat if meant a reversal of the nation's economic woes.
In an interview with the R&L on Thursday, Burr spoke about these and a number of other issues.
The biggest concern, he suggested, is the economy.
"If I was somehow magically given a chance to turn it around and not keep my seat," he said, "I would do it without hesitation."
Burr said the Senate will meet soon to discuss the extension of unemployment benefits and that he will vote in favor of it.
Burr said funding for that extension should come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the stimulus package.
He said he was asked by a reporter if such a move would hurt him politically.
"I told her that when I go home every week, people are talking about getting jobs," Burr said. "They don't want an unemployment check. They want to get back to work."
Burr, who who sits on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (where he is the ranking member) and the Select Committee on Intelligence, said issues involving the military are important to him in part because the military is so vital to the state.
"We probably have more troops overseas — either from or stationed in North Carolina — than any other state," he said.
Despite the fact that Burr has spoken out in favor of a Constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, he is not necessarily against having gays in the military.
"What I'm waiting to see is what the experts, like the military contingent and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are saying," Burr said. "I think it's always a good idea to look at all policies and see if they're outdated."
Burr said if the evidence shows that ending the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy would benefit the military, he would be in favor of repealing the ban against gays altogether.
"But if, in any way, shape or form ending it created a detriment to our ability to win, I'd be in favor of leaving it alone," he said.
Regarding the fight the troops are currently engaged in, Burr said the best thing President Barack Obama can do in Afghanistan is listen to the top officer on the ground there, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
"The president has three choices," Burr said. "He could fulfill the general's wishes of adding between 40,000 and 60,000 troops. He could say the cost of this is too high and do nothing. Or he could come down somewhere in the middle. I would be most against him coming down somewhere in the middle."
Burr said Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, may turn out to be the most serious problem in that region.
"They already have nuclear capabilities," Burr said. "And things there could go south in a hurry."
On the home front, Burr said he will probably be against whatever bill emerges from the Senate on the issue of health care reform.
"We're not sure yet what the bill will actually look like," Burr said. "But whatever it is, calling it health care reform is wrong because if it really involved reform, it would include a way to pay for itself."
Burr, who lives in Winston-Salem, is the former U.S. representative from the 5th District. That district encompasses much of Iredell County, including Statesville.
He said his five years in the Senate have differed from his time in the House mostly in the amount of time he has to devote to confirming nominees to various positions.
"Because our terms are six years, we get this wonderful deal of seeing the presidents change or re-elected," he said. "And that brings an enormous number of nominations, which almost all include hearings. It's incredibly time-consuming."
He said each nominee has to be carefully vetted and researched.
"Because you don't want to vote for someone who has anything, like tax problems, or something more nefarious in their background," Burr said.
Burr, a Republican and the state's senior senator, said a more important difference is that instead of representing a handful of counties in North Carolina, he now represents "all 100 of them."
And he hopes to continue to do so. Burr will run for a second term next year.
"Anyone who tells you they are not thinking about their upcoming campaigns is being disingenuous," he said. "But I think my election will be about whether or not I kept my promises, and I think I can make a case that I did, but it will be up to the voters to make that determination."
Burr — who took 81 percent of the vote during his five victories as a representative, from 1994 to 2002 — knows getting re-elected to the Senate will not be that easy.
"I see any opposition that comes out of the Democratic primary as a strong enough candidate to get me to run a full-fledged campaign," he said.
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