StemCell Therapy

Adam Putnam was the youngest member of Congress when he went to Capitol Hill in 2001 six months shy of his 26th birthday.

Success came quickly to the newcomer from Bartow, whose grasp of policy and skill at messaging made him a protg of House Speaker Dennis Hastert and No. 3 in the House Republican hierarchy.

Along the way, Putnam racked up a record of votes, some of which haunt him as he seeks the Republican nomination for governor next year in a field that is yet to take shape.

Putnam voted for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit; $700 billion for the so-called Wall Street bailout; $187 billion to rescue mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; and $2 billion for a Cash for Clunkers car trade-in program.

Lets go back and look at what the world was like, Putnam said in a Herald/Times interview at a Masonic lodge in rural Wausau, recalling the Great Recessions misery in 2008 and 2009 with its double-digit unemployment. Every decision I made then was hard but had working men and women and families in mind.

But for Putnam, who has long dreamed of life in the Governors Mansion, one issue in Congress still stalks him like no other.

On immigration, many conservatives see any attempt to chart a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as amnesty, a vague but toxic term in a race for governor in which Putnam is sure to face serious challenges from the right.

Amnesty is an elastic word. The dictionary says its the act of an authority [such as a government] by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has called it an unconditional pardon.

Putnam, whose familys citrus and cattle business employs immigrants who are legally eligible to work in Florida, twice pushed for legislation in Congress that would have helped undocumented workers. Both proposals had conditions that had to be met, such as specific work hours and a clean criminal record.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam speaks with Bob Swindell, with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance and Jose Basulto, with Memorial Hospital System, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance Luncheon on May 15, 2017.

Emily Michot emichot@miamiherald.com

Eight years ago, he was a co-sponsor of H.R. 2414, a bill known as the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act, or the Ag Jobs Act of 2009.

A bipartisan effort in President Barack Obamas first term to repair the nations broken immigration system, it had a guest worker program and was supported by some of the most liberal members of Congress such as Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.

That state, like Florida, has an agricultural economy that needs immigrant labor, both legal and illegal.

The bill had a pilot program of earned status for immigrants, who after working a specific number of hours in the fields, would get work visas known as blue cards. Then, after three years of lawful labor, they could apply for citizenship an idea labeled amnesty by a prominent conservative group

This would provide amnesty and a direct path to citizenship, the Heritage Foundation said at the time. Reject amnesty.

It died without a vote. Then as now, Putnam rejects the notion that he favors amnesty for immigrants.

Ive never supported amnesty, he said. I worked to find a way to fix a broken immigration system.

After a White House meeting on immigration with President Obama and congressional leaders in 2009, Putnam said: Immigration is a complex issue, so there are any number of reforms possible. But granting amnesty to people who are here illegally must not be one of them.

Six years earlier, in 2003, Putnam was one of a dozen House Republicans who co-sponsored a bill, H.R. 2899, with a guest worker program for undocumented immigrants in all job sectors, patterned after a proposal by Arizona Sen. John McCain. It failed to pass.

Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, who served in Congress from 1996 to 2010, praised Putnams approach to immigration.

He often was about solving problems, Wexler said. He was part of the responsible wing of the Republican Party.

But asked if Putnam still supports those ideas, his campaign said it was unrealistic to take stands on bills that are dead.

Adam Putnam felt then and does now that our national immigration system is broken and Washington needs to fix it, spokeswoman Amanda Bevis said.

Jack Oliver of North Palm Beach, legislative director of an anti-immigration group, Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, said hes disillusioned with Putnams overall record on immigration, including his lack of support for a federal law known as E-Verify to check the legal status of immigrant workers.

Oliver recalled that Putnam, in his first year on Floridas Cabinet in 2011, worked with then-Republican Sen. JD Alexander of Lake Wales to narrow the scope of an E-Verify bill (SB 2040) in the Florida Senate.

Adam Putnam campaigns at the 48th annual Possum Festival in Wausau, Fla., on Saturday, Aug. 5.

Paul Goulding Real Florida Media

Alexander noted that his family citrus businesses in Polk County employed immigrants, and the E-Verify proposal drew flak from contractors and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which questioned its reliability and accuracy.

The amended bill limited E-Verify to one-stop career centers and state agencies and exempted private employers.

Its the same old thing, Oliver said of Putnam. When they run, they say theyre for something. Then when push comes to shove, they dont follow through. Were just kind of leery. Hes been a disappointment in the past.

Putnams campaign said that he opposes a patchwork of state laws and that immigration is a federal responsibility.

Throughout Putnams decade on Capitol Hill, he compiled a voting record that The Almanac of American Politics called reliably conservative.

Putnam consistently got A-plus grades from the NRA, and his ratings from the American Conservative Union ranged between 92 and 100. Congressional Quarterly said Putnam voted with President George W. Bush about 98 percent of the time.

Numbers USA, an advocacy group that supports lower immigration levels, was not so generous. Putnams record with the group was a 65 a C.

That reflected both his support for guest worker bills and his opposition to other proposals, such as giving legal status to Dreamers, children who came to the U.S. illegally, and a requirement that federal contractors use E-Verify.

On other key issues, Putnam voted for Bushs tax cuts, oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and allowing the parents of Terri Schiavo to intervene in the Pinellas County womans right-to-die case.

He opposed stem cell research, raising the minimum wage and ending a ban on same sex marriages.

Putnam, 43, is a rarity: a candidate for Florida governor with a long voting record in Congress. Democrat Lawton Chiles, also a Polk County native, walked away from a safe U.S. Senate seat and ran for governor in 1990. Jim Davis had served as a Democratic Tampa U.S. representative for 10 years when he ran for governor in 2006. His opponent, Charlie Crist, ran a series of TV ads that lampooned his tenure in Congress.

Putnams track record on Capitol Hill has not yet emerged as an issue because he didnt have announced opponents until Friday.

Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, joined the race Friday, filing papers to make his campaign official. He could seek a moderate path to the Republican nomination in a four- or five-person race.

Adam Putnam campaigns at the 48th annual Possum Festival in Wausau, Fla., on Saturday, Aug. 5.

Steve Bousquet Tampa Bay Times

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Ponte Vedra Beach, and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, are both poised to run as conservatives, with Corcoran hiring a pollster and political advisers who shaped President Donald J. Trumps message and TV ads in 2016.

Corcoran pollster Tony Fabrizio was among the first to directly attack Putnam over immigration.

Fabrizio posted a tweet July 7 on Putnams lengthy pro-illegal immigration record. On Aug. 1, Fabrizio again tweeted: Adam Putnam is for amnesty for illegals.

PolitiFact rated Fabrizios claims half-true because of Putnams frequent votes to stop illegal immigration, such as a 2010 vote to oppose amnesty for so-called Dreamers.

Putnam won two statewide elections, but they were for the most obscure Cabinet post.

In whats sure to be a brutal primary, Putnams rivals will try to define him before he can do it himself, using those votes in Congress.

His opponents are thinking, We will define who Adam used to be before he has the opportunity to, said a veteran Florida political strategist, J.M. (Mac) Stipanovich, a harsh critic of Trump who says Putnam is pandering to supporters of the president.

Every election cycle is different, but they are clearly fighting the last war 2016. Its dispiriting, Stipanovich said.

Putnam has led a charmed life in Florida politics.

His closest race was his first run for Congress, in 2000, when he got 57 percent of the vote. He has never been seriously tested in a Republican primary.

Anticipating the attacks, Putnam said: Im a consistent conservative. Im a long, strong conservative. Ive been attacked by the media from time to time for being too much of a conservative.

Tampa Bay Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

As a member of Congress from 2001-10, Adam Putnam cast hundreds of votes and rose to No. 3 in the House GOP hierarchy, which required him to support his partys agenda. Some Putnam votes will be controversial with Republican primary voters if, as expected, he is challenged from the right.

Year

Issue

Position

2003

Create new visa program for undocumented immigrants

Yes*

2003

Add a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare

Yes

2005

Raise members of Congress salaries by $3,100, to $165,200 a year

Yes

2008

Increase the federal debt ceiling

Yes

2008

Override Pres. Bushs veto of farm programs, crop subsidies, food stamps

Yes

2008

Approve $700 billion Wall Street bailout for banks to buy distressed homes

Yes

2009

Grant U.S. citizenship to farm workers who work a certain number of years

Yes*

2009

Approve $187 billion bailout for mortgage lenders Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

Yes

2009

Spend $2 billion for Cash for Clunkers vehicle trade-in program

Yes

* Neither bill passed, but Putnam was a co-sponsor of both.

Sources: Almanac of American Politics; CQs Politics in America; Congressional Record; votesmart.org; Congress.gov; legistorm.com

More here:
Congressional voting record may make or break Putnam's run for governor - Miami Herald

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