Summary

Twitter

About

Source: Campaign page

Doug Collins grew up in Hall County, where he learned about public service from his dad, a Georgia State Trooper, and his mom, a care provider to local senior citizens. Following their example, Doug has lived a life of faith, public service and conservative values.

Doug has proudly represented Northeast Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013. In 2018, his colleagues elected him to serve as Ranking Member of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, where he leads his Republican colleagues in the fight against Democrats’ baseless investigations into President Donald J. Trump.

Prior to his service as a U.S. Representative, Doug was elected to represent District 27 in Georgia’s House of Representatives in 2006. During his time in the state legislature, Doug led House Republicans as the Governor’s Floor Leader, spearheading efforts to secure programs like Georgia’s HOPE scholarship for future generations.

In addition to his service as a pastor and representative, Doug has also ministered as an Air Force Reserve chaplain since 2002. Stationed at Balad Air Force Base, he was deployed to Iraq in 2008.

Doug graduated from North Hall High School, and he earned a degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice from North Georgia College and State University. Doug also has a Master’s degree in Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and a law degree from John Marshall Law School in Atlanta.

Doug has been married to Lisa Collins, a 5th grade teacher, for over 30 years. Doug and Lisa have operated small businesses, ranging from a scrapbook store to the law firm of Collins and Csider, LLC.

They have three children – their daughter Jordan, and sons Copelan and Cameron. The Collins Family are members of Lakewood Baptist Church in Gainesville.

Experience

Work Experience

• Representative
  : Georgia House of Representatives, District 27
  2007 to 2012
• Pastor
• Lawyer

Education

• B.A.
  North Georgia College
  1988
• M. Div
  New Orleans Theological Seminary
  1996
• J.D.
  John Marshall Law School, Atlanta
  2008

Personal

Birth Year: 1966
Place of Birth: Gainsville, GA
Gender: Male
Race(s): Caucasian
Religion: Southern Baptist
Spouse: Lisa Collins
Children: Cameron Collins, Jordan Collins, Copelan Collins

Contact

Email:

• Government

Offices

Washington D.C.
1504 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225 9893
Fax: (202) 226 1224

Gainesville Office
210 Washington St NW Suite 202
Gainesville, GA 30501
Phone: (770) 297 3388
Fax: (770) 297 3390

Web

Government Page, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Campaign Site

Politics

Source: none

Recent Elections

2020 of 9th District

Source: Ballotpedia

Finances

COLLINS, DOUGLAS A (DOUG) has run in 8 races for public office, winning 7 of them. The candidate has raised a total of $5,167,465.

Source: Follow the Money

Committees

Committees

House Committee on the Judiciary

Voting Record

See: Vote Smart

New Legislation

Source: Congress.gov

Issues

Source: Government page

Agriculture:

Northeast Georgia is home to a thriving agriculture industry and hardworking farmers, ranchers, growers, and processors who contribute to America’s economy and our communities. In our corner of the state, more than 10,000 farm operators grow products from peaches to cattle, chicken to strawberries, and many need relief from burdensome federal regulations.

Georgia remains the country’s number one broiler producer, while the Ninth District leads the state in both poultry and cattle production. Keeping our agricultural industry competitive means reining in government overreach. For this reason, I advocated tirelessly to overturn the Waters of the United States Rule, which amounts to a bureaucratic land-grab that could devastate farmers and ranchers. I’ve also worked on legislation to reform the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In recent years, the ESA has had little success in strengthening populations of certain species, but federal authorities have frequently employed the law to limit land use and impose new burdens on farmers and ranchers.

The Georgia delegation worked together to bring the country’s premiere poultry lab to the University of Georgia. Additionally, I have advocated to the Department of Agriculture to review the use of increased line speeds in poultry processing facilities, to help the U.S. remain competitive in a global market in which some countries have outpaced our production speeds.

Broadband:

High-speed internet access has become a pillar of our 21st-century economy. It’s a prerequisite for economic growth in America, yet some communities in northeast Georgia and other parts of the country lack meaningful access to broadband services because their infrastructure is under-developed.

To date, government efforts to support broadband expansion have seen limited success, and grant programs intended to fuel broadband expansion in rural areas have been routinely awarded to service providers that fail to make necessary investments in infrastructure.

We must ensure that our communities have the tools necessary for sustainable economic growth, and that includes high-speed internet access. To that end, I introduced the Gigabit Opportunity (GO) Act to incentivize firms to expand broadband infrastructure to communities that lack high-speed access. By streamlining the process of building up broadband infrastructure, the GO Act would encourage more companies to enter low-income rural and urban communities, replacing de-facto monopolies with meaningful competition.

As long as some internet providers accept federal dollars yet underserve their areas, Congress should exercise oversight. I continue to hold carriers accountable and work to expand broadband access at local and federal levels.

Constitutional Liberties:

We must respect the Constitution and the God-given rights it protects. As political hostility towards the Bill of Rights—particularly the right to bear arms and religious liberty—increases, Congress has a responsibility to uphold the Constitution and fight for the values upon which America was established.

U.S. Representatives take an oath to defend the Constitution, and I will continue to champion the principles outlined in our nation’s defining document, including personal freedoms, fiscal responsibility, and limited government. I am constantly reviewing the best ways to promote these principles in Congress and will work to ensure that the federal government upholds these values at every level.

Corps of Engineers:

Georgia’s Ninth District is blessed with rich resources, including four lakes managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. These lakes provide residents and visitors with an array of opportunities, but they also come with challenges. As the voice of northeast Georgians, I have worked with the Corps of Engineers to serve our communities better, and I’ve held the Corps accountable for the decisions that affect my neighbors.

We can build a more productive relationship with the Corps while reforming policies and proposals to better serve northeast Georgia. When Lake Lanier residents protested the proposal for a new marina at Bolding Mill, we successfully convinced the Corps to suspend the project.

When the Corps of Engineers gave no public notice and unilaterally attempted to change water withdrawal policies for irrigation—which would have affected thousands of Lake Hartwell and Lake Lanier residents—I called on Corps leadership to halt the policy change. The Corps then reversed its irrigation policy and committed not to enact new irrigation policies without providing a period for public comment or opening the door to public input.

Serving northeast Georgia means engaging with the Corps of Engineers to implement policies that work for our unique communities and ensuring that the Corps hears our neighbors’ voices on issues that impact them.

Criminal Justice Reform: 

An effective criminal justice system is an essential part of a safe and just society. We must hold those who break the law accountable, but we must also pursue justice in a way that is compassionate, sensible, and fair. If we focus on improving our criminal justice system, we will make our country safer for law enforcement and communities while saving taxpayer money, helping offenders turn their lives around, and reducing the number of future victims.

Ninety-five percent of individuals incarcerated in prisons will be released at some point. These individuals will rejoin our communities, yet our current criminal justice system does little to help them reintegrate in a way that protects neighborhoods and restores individuals. In Georgia, we’ve seen the impact that meaningful reforms can have on the criminal justice system, and I’ve worked in Congress to build on that success.

The Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act, which I introduced, became law in 2016 as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. This law is designed to help state and local governments train law enforcement and other first responders to recognize individuals suffering from mental illness and interact with them more safely. It also provides resources to expand mental health and veterans treatment courts, while encouraging greater collaboration among the justice system and community members. The Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act recognizes that it doesn’t make sense to use our jails as mental health institutions, and it moves us away from that flawed model.

I’m also committed to efforts to strengthen other aspects of the justice system. States like Georgia and Texas have paved the way for conservative criminal justice reform, which can save money and improve lives. I introduced the Prison Reform and Redemption Act to create a federal prison-wide system for evaluating the risk of every individual prisoner for reoffending and then offering evidence-based resources—like mental health care, vocational skills, substance abuse treatment, and faith-based programs—that make them less likely to reoffend when they are released. I’ve seen the results of similar state-level programs, and thoughtful prison reform works.

By building on proven reform efforts, we can continue to make the United States a safer place.

Defense & National Security: 

Congress has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the United States and to protect our interests at home and abroad. As an active member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, I understand how imperative it is that we maintain the national security of the United States. We must equip our nation’s armed forces with the resources they need to keep Americans safe.

For this reason, I have consistently supported the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to provide for the training, tools, and benefits that make our troops the most effective in the world. The NDAA that the House passed for fiscal year 2018 provided a 2.4% pay raise for our troops—the largest in eight years—and moved to strengthen key pieces of America’s military strategy, defense posture, and troop readiness.

Education: 

As the husband of a school teacher and father of three children who graduated from Georgia public schools, I’ve seen the critical role education and educators have in a child’s life.

Too often, the federal government takes an ineffective, top-down approach to education. Common Core, for example, was initially established as a voluntary, state-led effort to institute a set of educational standards for grades K-12. Unfortunately, the federal government under the Obama Administration further eroded states’ control over education by tying federal grant funding to whether or not a state adopted Common Core.

Decisions about education should not rest in the hands of unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. So, in 2015, I supported the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to move education in the right direction by removing many of the federal government’s rigid, one-size-fits-all educational requirements. Importantly, ESSA specifically stated that the federal government could not use funds to coerce or incentivize states to adopt Common Core. ESSA returned educational authority to states by allowing school districts to develop their own accountability formulas and implement tailored plans for underperforming schools.

As we work to restore local control of education, I support efforts that put more decisions back into the hands of parents, teachers, and state and local school officials instead of federal bureaucrats.

Federal Budget & Spending: 

Currently, the federal government is spending far more than it takes in, and the result is a national debt of more than $20 trillion. In order to strengthen our economy and encourage job growth, we must rein in government spending, reform entitlement programs, reduce costly red tape, and cut out waste and fraud in government programs.

It’s time for Congress to make fundamental improvements to our federal budgeting process. A constitutional amendment requiring Congress to adopt a balanced budget is a good way to accomplish this, and I have co-sponsored a bill to send such an amendment to the states to ratify. Requiring Congress to pass a balanced budget—rather than sink Americans deeper into national debt with each fiscal year—remains a necessary and commonsense step toward strengthening our economy and global position for future generations.

As a former small business owner, I understand the hard work that starting, running, and expanding a small business demands. These enterprises bring jobs, growth, and opportunity to Americans, and Congress should strive to implement policies that shore up such cornerstones of our economy. To that end, I continue to advocate for small businesses as well as cuts in wasteful spending, reducing our national debt, and long-term fiscal responsibility.

Foreign Policy: 

The United States is a beacon of hope and democracy in the world. We have a responsibility to exercise responsible foreign policy that protects American interests and promotes American ideals abroad.

Israel: Israel is a critical ally and a strong friend to the United States. Intelligence sharing between our nations has been a crucial part of the War on Terror and has saved countless lives. As the only democracy in a volatile region, Israel has a military strength that remains vital to protecting representative government, free speech, human rights, and freedom of religion.

I support policies that strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and have actively worked to that end. In the 113th Congress, legislation I authored to bolster Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME) through increased review became law as part of a larger pro-Israel package.

Iran: I believe that continued sanctions against Iran are crucial to promoting security and stability in the Middle East. Iran’s continued disregard for its regional neighbors, threats towards Israel, and open hostility to Americans demonstrates that the Iranian regime should receive no leeway to further develop its nuclear programs and must be carefully monitored.

The short-sighted Iran Deal placed the safety of Americans and our allies at risk. In 2017, I voted for and the president signed the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, which imposed further sanctions against Iranian ballistic missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, the sale or transfer to Iran of military equipment, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Congress has a responsibility to ensure the safety of Americans and to protect our interests here and abroad. America must remain steadfast in its support for Israel and opposition to a nuclear Iran.

North Korea: The North Korean regime remains a destabilizing force. Its leadership has committed human rights abuse after abuse and pursues nuclear weapon development with aggression and abandon. The government has launched numerous test missiles and wrongly imprisoned several foreign citizens, including Americans.

I have advocated for numerous pieces of legislation aimed at further sanctioning the country in response to its belligerence. In the 115th Congress, the Korea Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act passed the House with my support and would strengthen our legislative efforts to end North Korea’s aggression and human rights abuses while supporting America’s national security interests.

I also supported the House passage of the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act and a resolution condemning North Korea’s development of multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Russia: In the international community, Russia is a perennial bad actor. The Russian government has a history of strictly limiting the civil liberties and political rights of its people—a practice that stands in stark contrast to our American values of freedom and openness.

Economic sanctions are an important tool for the international community to utilize when governments become threats to their own citizens or those of neighboring countries. Modern U.S. sanctions against Russia were established in 2012 and led to Russia’s current ban on allowing American families to adopt Russian orphans. I have consistently worked to reopen this diplomatic channel in order to reunite loving families in America with their adopted children in Russia.

Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine, the U.S. and other Western nations targeted individuals and businesses in Russia with additional sanctions.

In 2017 and with my support, the House passed and the president signed the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, which imposes sanctions on certain Russian activities impacting cyber security, crude oil projects, financial institutions, corruption, human rights abuses, evasion of previously enacted sanctions, transactions with Russian defense or intelligence agencies, export pipelines, privatization of state-owned assets by government officials, and arms transfers to Syria.

Healthcare: 

Americans need a health care system that provides them affordable access to effective care, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is failing to achieve this. Instead of government mandates, we need free-market solutions that bring our hardworking neighbors choices of insurance providers, coverage options, physicians, and cost structures.

Northeast Georgians have felt the nominal positives and crushing negatives of the ACA as they struggle under fewer choices and less access to meaningful care, and the rest of the country has suffered with them. We must reform our health care structure to move toward a patient-centered system, focused on consumer choice and free-market innovation.

Since coming to Congress, I have voted more than 50 times to repeal the ACA. Holistic health care reform may also include elements like making health savings plans more accessible and allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines.

One of the ways I’m working to reduce medical costs and improve care is by addressing the pharmacy middlemen that drive up prescription drug costs. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have increased prices for consumers and community pharmacists, making it harder for people to receive the medicines and advice that they need. I introduced the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act to promote transparency in drug pricing and prevent PBMs from secretly increasing the prices of prescription medications.

I also have supported additional legislation, including the Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Drug Spending Act, to shine light on anti-competitive practices and reduce prescription drug prices for Americans. Our community pharmacies represent critical health resources, and I will continue to champion policies that ensure these providers can serve our communities effectively.

Immigration: 

America boasts one of the most generous legal immigration systems in the world. As we address the problem of illegal immigration, we must begin by enforcing the laws already in place. Border security should be our first priority, and our authorities must not reward individuals who break our laws.

In previous years, our immigration laws have too often been ignored, and some policies from the last administration actually encouraged local authorities to violate the rule of law. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I have stood on the front lines of these issues, advocating to strengthen our immigration laws, while reforming our current system to achieve its intended outcomes—a smart, fair system that protects Americans, promotes ingenuity and innovation, and upholds the rule of law.

I introduced the Tax Credit Accountability Act to prohibit illegal aliens from receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for years in which they file taxes or when they retroactively file taxes. The Obama Administration issued certain illegal aliens Social Security numbers and allowed them to receive the EITC benefit, even for years in which they had never filed taxes to begin with. This practice is unjust and unacceptable. It penalizes hardworking Americans and workers who reside in the U.S. legally, and my legislation would stop the practice decisively.

I have also worked alongside members of the Judiciary Committee to advance interior enforcement legislation such as the Davis-Oliver State and Local Law Enforcement Act. This legislation enhances national security measures and promotes better cooperation among state, local, and federal officials. It strengthens existing immigration statutes and prevents federal dollars from flowing to sanctuary cities that ignore the law and put Americans at risk.

As a member of the Rules Committee, I have also shepherded legislation to the House floor that would check criminal aliens and sanctuary cities. Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act passed the House with my help in 2017. Kate’s Law would enhance penalties for criminal aliens who re-enter America illegally. The No Sanctuary for Criminals Act would crack down on sanctuary cities by denying them certain federal funds while enabling local law enforcement to work with federal immigration officials more effectively.

I will continue to labor to restore the rule of law within our borders and enact smarter immigration policies that protect all Americans.

Medicare & Social Security: 

Georgians should be able to count on the Social Security and Medicare benefits for which they’ve worked. However, the current structures of these programs are unsustainable. According to the non-partisan Medicare Board of Trustees, the Medicare program as currently structured will only remain solvent until 2024, and the Social Security Administration projects that funds for Social Security benefits will be exhausted by 2037.

Without meaningful reform, these programs will lead to higher taxes on American workers and job-creators, fewer retiree benefits, or both. Improving retirement security means making reforms that protect current recipients while ensuring benefits are available to future recipients. We can prevent tax increases and help ensure that Social Security and Medicare will be available to our children and grandchildren by putting responsible policies in place to guide these programs into the future.

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