United States House of Representatives

8th District

Trent Van Haaften

 

Trent Van haaften for us congress

Bio

Trent Van Haaften and his wife, Beverly, who is administrator of the Vanderburgh County Volunteer Lawyer Program, reside in Mt. Vernon, the same small town where Trent was raised.  The youngest of three children of David and Dolores, Trent was the first in his family to attend college.

After graduating from law school, Trent returned home to Mt. Vernon and began work as Posey County’s Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney.  Three years later he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Posey County.  While serving as the lead law enforcement officer for Posey County Trent cracked down on the meth epidemic and took on the toughest criminals.  Trent’s expertise in the courtroom included being designated a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the prosecution of an international marijuana trafficking case, as well as being an instructor for trial practice skills for state prosecutors across the country.

Trent will take his experience as a no-nonsense prosecutor to Washington, DC to lead us through these hard times to get people back to work, reduce our out of control deficit and continue to protect our families and communities.

After twelve years as prosecutor Trent went from the courthouse to the statehouse.  For seven years Trent served as a state representative where he continued to use his experience as a tough but fair prosecutor to work across party lines in passing the strongest anti-meth law in the country.  Trent built a reputation as a bi-partisan leader promoting Hoosier small towns, job growth, educational opportunities and cutting wasteful government spending.

While living in Mt. Vernon, Trent has given back to his community in a number of areas. He served as President of the Posey County Community Foundation, assisted in the development of a community-wide recycling effort while a member of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Board and taught many young people the importance of teamwork as a youth football coach.  He was selected as a member of the Mt. Vernon Athletic Hall of Fame, and has served as chairman of the Posey County Democrat Party.

Trent and Beverly attend First United Methodist Church, the same church Trent has belonged to since he was a youth.  Trent’s family remains close as his parents reside in Vanderburgh County.  Brett, Trent’s older brother, resides with his family outside Mt. Vernon, while his sister, Jackie and her family reside near Louisville, KY.

Goals

Getting Hoosiers Back to Work
Indiana faces an unemployment rate of nearly 10%.  In some counties, that rate is upwards of 15%.  In these tough times, we need an aggressive, new approach to put Hoosiers back to work – protecting the jobs we have while also creating new ones.

Trent understands small businesses are the engines that drive our local economy.  He supports tax credits for small businesses that create new jobs here in Indiana and the U.S. Trent will provide real relief to small businesses by working to reduce unfair and unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that hinders job growth.  Furthermore, Trent will fight to increase demand for Indiana products and services here at home by protecting American businesses and jobs from unfair trade practices.

In Indiana, jobs are not only an economic issue, but also a matter of national security.  Trent strongly supports the important service provided by the civilians and soldiers at the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center.  Their work protects our uniformed men and women against the constant threat of IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan and provides hundreds of good-paying jobs in Martin, Daviess and Greene Counties.  Trent will work to strengthen Crane and opposes any effort that would reduce this critical installation.

Fixing Unfair Trade
Getting our economy back on track means providing incentives to create jobs here and ending unfair practices that wrongly encourage the outsourcing of jobs.  Trent will work to close the tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas and instead use those savings to create small business jobs right here.

Trent will work to fix our broken trade deals with countries like China and Mexico.  We need to stop shipping our good-paying manufacturing jobs to other countries and instead encourage job growth right here in Indiana – the manufacturing heart of America.  The promise of so-called free trade has only meant that our jobs are free for the taking by foreign countries. Trent believes it’s time for fair trade.

Reducing the Tax Burden on the Middle Class
While the big banks of Wall Street got a billion dollar bailout, Hoosier families got left behind, footing the bill. Simply put, that’s outrageous.  Trent supports tax relief for middle-class families, not taxpayer-funded bailout bonuses for Wall Street CEOs.  Trent also opposes a national sales tax that would put an unfair burden on working families.

Reducing the Deficit
Trent knows we need to get our deficit under control.  He will work to reduce wasteful government spending by opposing the creation of new government bureaucracies, demanding tougher audits of federal agencies and opposing new government spending that does not directly help to put people back to work or protect our nation.  As a fiscal conservative, Trent will look for new ways to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse in federal spending and programs.

Health Care
Health care costs continue to rise for average Hoosier families.  While there have been positive reforms – such as holding insurance companies accountable for abuses and ensuring they can no longer deny coverage because of a pre-existing conditions – we must address rising health care costs.  Trent supports reform that includes:

• Providing tax credits for small businesses so they can afford health care for their employees.
• Requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.
• Eliminating the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” to help seniors afford prescription drugs.
• Allowing children under 26 to be covered by their parents’ insurance policy.
• Making health care in rural areas more accessible.

Trent strongly supports Medicare and will work to keep the program strong for years to come. He will oppose cuts to beneficiaries.  Trent knows health care for our military veterans deserves special attention. He will work to strengthen health care for our military veterans and ensure that VA clinics are more accessible to our veterans, whether they be in urban or rural areas.

Ending Wall Street Bailouts
Trent opposed the bailout of the Wall Street banks and investment firms who were the root cause of our current economic mess.  He supports cracking down on Wall Street abuses and regulating the most speculative practices that wrecked our nation’s economy and cost Hoosiers’ jobs.

Trent believes there is no institution too big to fail. The only thing too big to fail is the middle-class.  He has no sympathy for the big banks of Wall Street that break the rules, run up our deficit and cut off credit for families and small businesses.  Instead, Trent supports our local community banks and credit unions. He’ll fight for improved access to credit and affordable home loans. And he will work to end hidden fees, confusing rules and bureaucracies that end up costing everyone even more.

Family Farms & Agriculture
Trent knows first-hand the importance of family farms and agriculture to Indiana and our country.

For 30 years, Trent’s father worked at a local seed corn plant, a place Trent also worked during high school and over college breaks, detassling corn and loading seed onto rail cars.  Trent is also a member of the Indiana Farm Bureau.  His wife Beverly grew up on a livestock and grain farm in Wabash County.

In Congress, Trent will fight to make the Farm Bill work for family farms so they may continue to feed America and the world.

Trent will work to reduce the burden of the death tax on family farms by increasing the standard deduction to $5,000,000 to ensure that farmers can pass on their machinery, land and their business to their children.  Trent also supports legislation which will transfer $7,000,000 in farm assets to a spouse in the case of an unexpected death.

Making Communities Safe
As a prosecutor for 12 years in Posey County, Trent worked closely with police and community leaders to make his community a safer place to live and raise a family.  This meant leading crime victims through the criminal justice system, prosecuting the worst of the worst and working with police to implement innovative methods to battle community ills such as meth.

Trent succeeded as a prosecutor because he put crime victims and his community first.  In the Indiana legislature, Trent was a leader on criminal justice issues, working across party lines to enact the toughest anti-meth law in the country.

In Congress, Trent will call upon his experience as a prosecutor to bolster law enforcement with the necessary tools to enforce our laws.  His years as a prosecutor taught Trent the key to a thriving community is to make it a safe community.

Education
Trent believes a quality education at all levels is necessary for our nation’s economic growth.  Trent will fight to bring dollars back to Indiana schools and work to reduce the cost of a college education.  Trent believes the best education occurs when the local community provides it, not when it is mandated by a federal bureaucracy.  Local families, communities and schools should be allowed to educate children without interference by the federal government.

Many higher education opportunities exist for our youth, but the cost of a college degree continues to rise at an alarming rate.  Trent will fight to make college affordable by expanding the availability of grants and student loans.

After being the first in his family to attend college, Trent returned to his hometown to live and work.  In Congress, Trent will fight to provide our children the same educational opportunities he was given.  A good quality education leads to job opportunities and means that our children can live and thrive in their hometowns.

Energy
Energy independence is not just an economic issue but a matter of national security.  Trent will fight to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by investing in alternative energy like wind, solar, and biofuels – energy that can be made in Indiana with Indiana products, creating jobs here at home.

Indiana is blessed with vast reserves of energy-producing coal.  Trent supports the local coal industry and the cutting edge technology our power plants, mines, energy companies and schools – like Vincennes University – are implementing to keep our coal clean, cheap and our energy affordable.

CountryMark, one of Indiana’s two oil refineries, is located in Trent’s hometown and employs his brother.  Trent understands the importance of home-grown energy and the need to preserve and expand our refining capabilities.  Trent supports the expansion of oil refineries across the country to increase our capacity to produce gasoline and reduce the cost of filling up our gas tanks.

Indiana is a manufacturing state.  Hoosiers build the best products in the country and possess the infrastructure, both natural and man-made, to transport products far beyond Indiana.  Trent will promote Indiana as the ideal place to manufacture the products needed in a green economy, similar to the efforts being made in Vermillion County to produce wind turbines for the harnessing of clean energy.

Trent believes federal legislation aimed at promoting energy independence must not be punitive to Indiana.  That is why Trent opposes “cap and trade” legislation which will increase energy costs, eliminates jobs and disadvantages our coal and oil refining industries.

Gun Rights
Trent is a strong supporter and advocate for the 2nd Amendment’s rights of each individual.  In the Indiana legislature, Trent authored and supported the right for each of us to legally possess and carry firearms as well as preserving the right to hunt and fish.  Advocating these principles is why Trent received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association in his most recent term as State Legislator.

Trent will always uphold the bedrock principles of our 2nd Amendment and support sportsmen and gun owners.

The Value of Family
Trent understands the strength of our communities depends upon the strength of our families.  He believes in the traditional family structure and will promote legislative initiatives that encourage parental involvement in the lives of their children and to keep families intact.

This belief in a strong family structure is why Trent’s beliefs are pro-life.  Trent opposes abortion, except in cases of incest, rape and when the health of a mother is critically threatened.

He opposes any government funding of abortion. In Congress, Trent will be an advocate for the protection of families and the unborn.

Veterans
Americans who put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms and our way of life deserve our utmost respect. Trent values the sacrifices our veterans made and current service members continue to make every day to protect us.

In Congress, he will work to ensure VA clinics are more available in rural areas and he’ll fight for the rights of every veteran and service member who needs help.  This will include providing the best equipment for our current troops, aid to the families at home and the proper medical and psychological care for those returning from our nation’s current wars.

Here at home, Trent values the research and service provided by both civilians and uniformed soldiers at the Crane Surface Warfare Center.  Their work protects our uniformed men and women against the constant threat of IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan, protects our Special Forces on the most sensitive missions and provides hundreds of good-paying jobs in Martin, Daviess and Greene Counties.

Trent will work to strengthen Crane, and opposes any effort that seeks to reduce this critical installation.

Homeland Security and the Terrorist Threat
Our troops have done everything we have asked of them. They have performed brilliantly and far too many have given the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.  We cannot thank them enough for their courage, their patriotism and the sacrifices they and their families are making.  We now need to show them our support by ensuring that they have the necessary equipment and realistic timelines for their service overseas.

We are at war with Al Qaeda because they attacked us – and we need to make sure they can never do it again.

More than eight years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, America is still the target of Islamic extremists.  Trent supports using all aspects of our national power to combat that threat.  Here at home, that means distributing anti-terrorism funding to state and local governments wisely. It also means working to increase the security of air travel and more closely monitoring cargo at our ports for dangerous shipments.  To preserve our way of life we can never let our guard down.  Keeping America safe must be our top priority!

Iran, Iraq & Afghanistan
A nuclear Iran is simply unacceptable.  That country already threatens Israel, the Middle East and parts of Europe with its advanced surface-to-surface missile technology.

Trent supports crippling economic sanctions on Iran’s reimportation of gasoline and on their central banking system to bring their economy to a halt and stop their reckless pursuit of nuclear arms.

Trent wants Al Qaida and the Taliban defeated so our troops can responsible pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq as soon as possible.  He believes as soon as the Taliban forces are brought under control and Afghanistan is stabilized, we should leave that country.

As a result of American military forces, Iraq is far more stable than it was even a few years ago.  Trent believes the United States’ military commitment to Iraq has ended and it’s time for Congress and the President to work together to end this war responsibly and bring our troops home.

Securing our Borders
Washington has failed when it comes to solving the problem of illegal immigration.  As a former prosecutor, Trent believes in upholding the law.

We need to confront this problem on two fronts.  First and foremost, we need to secure the border.  Secondly, the federal government has got to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. It's time we held these corporations accountable.

Trent believes we also need to increase our enforcement of laws against passport and visa fraud.  It's not surprising that states are attempting to deal with an issue for which Washington has failed them.  The federal government must step up, enforce our laws and do their job to prevent immigrants from crossing into our country illegally.

We need a fundamental, bipartisan common sense solution to immigration reform, now more than ever.

 

Email: trent@trentforcongress.com

Visit my website at http://trentforcongress.com

Trent Van haaften for us congress