In a Newtshell
There’s a big long document at http://www.newt.org/answers/ with embedded videos and all sorts of text, but here’s the short version, because we know you’re busy, and we appreciate your time.
Menu
- Ryan Medicare Plan
- Health Insurance Mandate
- Ethanol
- Fairness Doctrine
- Global Warming/Cap and Trade
- Immigration/DREAM Act
- Spanish a “ghetto language”
- Agriculture Subsidies
- TARP
- Zero-Based Budgeting in Foreign Aid/Inclusion of Israel
- Libya
- U.S. Sovereignty/Council on Foreign Relations
- China’s One Child Policy
- NAFTA
- Vote for Department of Education
- Education Tour with Sharpton/Duncan
- Consistent Pro-Life Record
- End-of-Life Care
- Healthcare Rationing/Donald Berwick
- Second Amendment
- Dede Scozzafava Endorsement
- Praise for FDR
- Government Shutdown
- Ethics Investigation
- Lobbying
- Relationship with Freddie Mac
- Personal Life
- FEC Requests on Reimbursements to Gingrich and Staff
Newt is the only candidate in the race for the Republican nomination who has led a national movement to elect a Republican majority and then actually achieved substantial conservative reforms of the federal government, including welfare reform, balanced budgets, and tax cuts. These historic reforms liberated the American people to create 11 million new jobs in just four years. Read more about the remarkable Newt Gingrich record here.
No candidate in the race can match Newt Gingrich’s 35-year career as a public figure advocating, explaining and achieving conservative reforms in government.
With this vast amount of experience, however, comes over 7,000 votes, over 1,500 speeches, thousands of television and radio appearances, thousands of articles and opeds and 24 books to scrutinize.
The following are the most commonly asked questions about Newt’s record:
Paul Ryan (and the House GOP’s) Medicare Plan
Newt’s plan and Ryan’s plan are more similar than any other two proposals. They agree on almost everything. Newt quickly apologized for the “right-wing social engineering” comment. He admits it was a poor way to express one of his few critiques of Ryan’s 2011 plan, that some people would be forced into it. Newt opposes any attempt to govern against the will of the people.
Mandate to Purchase health insurance
Newt opposes Governor Romney’s health insurance mandate, and Newt opposes President Obama’s health insurance mandate. Newt believes mandates to buy health insurance are wrong on principle, and in the case of the Obamacare health insurance mandate, unconstitutional as well.
Newt opposes Romney’s mandate and Obama’s mandate. Newt feels that while a state has the power, that still doesn’t make it a good idea; not for Massachusetts, not for America.
Ethanol
Newt’s position on ethanol has been consistent for decades, as part of an “all of the above” energy policy that actually works. Unlike pond scum and sunlight, ethanol actually works in your engine. Obama’s energy plan is a weapon aimed at the United States economy, and Newt has always viewed ethanol dollars going to (say) North Dakota a better investment than oil dollars going to Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. Ethanol is not perfect, but is an important component of a realistic energy policy for the near and mid term.
Fairness Doctrine
Oh, Hell no.
Global Warming/Cap and Trade
Newt’s ad with Pelosi was intended to showcase the fact that conservatives by nature support environmentally sound policies, but disagree as to what the problems and solutions are. If you hunt, fish, farm, hike, or breathe, you are concerned about the environment as well. Newt’s goal was to bring the left to a more centrist position by showing their horror tales about conservatives to be untrue. The ad was a failure.
Newt of course opposes and always has opposed idiot schemes like Cap and Trade, and the globalist money structures built on them such as international carbon credit exchanges.
Immigration/DREAM Act
Newt’s sense of the importance of citizenship of course carries through to his policies on border control and immigration. He supports realistic policies to choke off illegal immigration by controlling the border, identifying criminals, prioritizing enforcement, and enforcing the law. Just like using a photo ID to vote, Newt has long argued that systems developed by and for the private sector such as credit card verification should be used to verify citizenship. This step alone could devastate illegal immigration.
Read Newt’s 10 step immigration plan here.
Spanish a “ghetto language”
Romney’s dishonest ad distorts Newt’s important message that fluency in and mastery of English is the key to success for young Americans. It is hostile to the youth of today to encourage adopting English as a second language only. It closes doors, books, and relationships to those young people, and consigns them to a metaphoric ghetto at any rate. Newt apologized for phrasing that can reasonably be seen as a slur, but of course, no slur was intended. The real slur is in setting kids up to fail by letting them slide by without the tools to succeed in society.
Agriculture Subsidies
Newt supports maintaining components of existing federal policy that safeguard American farmers against inherently unpredictable weather and price volatility, including a strong crop insurance program, while also streamlining USDA bureaucracy so it better serves American farmers and consumers
Agriculture is critical to the economy and only becomes more important as the world’s population rapidly continues to grow beyond 7 billion people. Newt supports maintaining components of existing federal policy that safeguard American farmers against inherently unpredictable weather and price volatility, including a strong crop insurance program, while also streamlining USDA bureaucracy so it better serves American farmers and consumers.
Newt’s plan for prosperity for rural Americans in Iowa and across the country begins with an outright repeal of the death tax, which has inflicted disproportionate pain on family farms. Job-killing EPA regulations make it difficult for American farmers to earn a living, and the new threats to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act are downright destructive. Newt will replace the Washington-centric job killing EPA with a new Environmental Solutions Agency that will work with agriculture more closely and constructively. In addition, community banks provide a credit lifeline to American farmers, and Newt will work to repeal the Dodd-Frank regulatory bill that puts disproportionate strain on banks in rural America.
TARP
Newt’s position here is No more TARPs, Audit the Fed, repeal Dodd-Frank, and end “too big to fail”.
Zero-Based Budgeting in Foreign Aid/Inclusion of Israel
Zero-based budgeting for everything means for EVERYTHING. This is not the repeal or abrogation of multi-year commitments, which are still appropriate in many circumstances. What it means is that as things change, so should budgeted amounts of aid, rather than automatically lumbering on unless adjusted by hand.
Newt knows who America’s friends are.
Changing Position on Libya
Newt’s position has been consistent given the circumstances. He always believed and said that special forces with quiet coalition-building was the right answer. Once Obama announced we were going there in public, Newt supported the President in his immediate use of troops in harm’s way. As “days not weeks” became months, Newt criticized the dithering that hazarded troops and America’s prestige.
U.S. Sovereignty/Council on Foreign Relations
Newt believes that we must always be vigilant about our sovereignty, and hold our lawmakers and courts accountable to our Constitution – and only our Constitution.
This is a belief firmly rooted in American Exceptionalism. As citizens, we came together to create an American government and body of laws of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Newt has vocally stood up for American sovereignty against Washington elites and an Obama Administration who view America as an unremarkable nation.
Newt believes that it is a violation of our sovereignty when the Department of Justice attempts to cite “international norms” to restrict our Second Amendment rights. It is a violation of our sovereignty when the White House sends taxpayer dollars towards a UN environmental program, Agenda 21, that infringes on Americans’ property rights. And it is certainly a violation of our sovereignty when our President seeks approval from the United Nations – not Congress – to send our troops into war, as he did with Libya.
Q: If he is a defender of U.S. Sovereignty why is Newt a member of the Council on Foreign Relations?
After 9/11, Newt was asked to serve on CFR’s Terrorism Task Force and he accepted. On this task force he has brought his same commitment to defending U.S. sovereignty as he has throughout his career.
China’s One Child Policy
“As to US contributions to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, their continuation will be conditional on “concrete assurances” that no part of the US monies will be used for abortion and the Fund does not support abortion or coercive family planning programs”
-US Policy Statement for the International Conference on Population, 1984
Speaker Gingrich was one of nearly 150 co-sponsors of a bill in 1989 which included provisions to fund the UN Population Fund. He never voted for this legislation and this never became law. This bill would not have overturned the Mexico City policy, and this funding would never have gone through. Gingrich was assured that Ronald Reagan’s “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits any American tax dollars from funding or promoting abortions overseas, was in effect, so no funds from this bill would go toward supporting China’s barbaric “One Child” policy or any other programs that used abortion as means for “population control.”
Gingrich has always supported the Mexico City policy, and on day one of his presidency, he will reinstate Ronald Reagan’s policy to assure that no tax dollars fund non-governmental agencies or charities that perform or promote abortions in foreign countries.
Newt supported a very limited aspect of the 1989 bill that promoted hydrogen energy research. This is consistent with his long support of aggressively developing American sources of energy, including American oil, natural gas, coal, and alternatives. The same week he supported these aspects, he voted against the Kostmayer Amendment, legislation seeking to nullify the entire Mexico City Policy.
The world’s population recently passed 7 billion, and Gingrich continues to believe that robust economic growth, free markets and trade, and vastly expanded development of energy resources are the key to ensuring safety, health and prosperity at home and around the world.
NAFTA
As an ardent supporter of capitalism and the free market, Newt has always been a staunch supporter of expanding opportunities for American manufacturers, farmers, and businesses to bring their goods and services to the world market.
Since first entering Congress, Newt has put the interests of American entrepreneurs, producers and consumers first, as he supported the historic Reagan tax cuts, then went against many in his own party to oppose the George Bush and Clinton tax hikes. When the North American Free Trade Agreement in came up for a vote in 1993, Newt recalled the words of Ronald Reagan in 1979: “A developing closeness among Canada, Mexico, and the United States–a North American accord–would permit achievement of that potential in each country beyond that which I believe any of them, strong as they are, could accomplish in the absence of such cooperation.”
Although controversial at first, NAFTA has created vast new opportunities for American producers and consumers. In the first fifteen years after NAFTA’s passage, U.S. industrial production rose 57% and unemployment averaged 5.1%. In the decade preceding the trade agreements, industrial production only rose 28% and unemployment average 7.1%.
However, a strong American manufacturing base is an economic and national security imperative, and there are steps that Newt will take on day one to rebuild American industry. Newt will immediately eliminate the capital gains tax for all manufacturers, and will give manufacturers the opportunity to fully write-off capital investments in one year, freeing up more resources to hire more employees. Gingrich will implement an “all of the above” American Energy Plan to lower energy costs for manufacturers and their employees, and replace the EPA, ending its 40-year assault on American energy and entrepreneurship.
Vote for Department of Education
As President, Newt will dramatically shrink the Department of Education to a research and reporting overview agency, and restore decision-making powers to states and communities.
When Newt voted for the creation of the Department of Education, the institution was only structured to provide research and collect data. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy ballooned, so while Speaker, Newt aggressively campaigned to pare down the Department back to its appropriate role and return power to the states.
As President, Newt will dramatically shrink the Department of Education to a research and reporting overview agency, and restore decision-making powers to states and communities. Most responsibilities and positions will be eliminated, and its new role will be to help find new and innovative approaches to then be adopted voluntarily at the local level. Newt will steadfastly oppose any national curriculum standards, and will reverse Barack Obama’s nationalization of the student loan industry.
Education Tour with Al Sharpton and Arnie Duncan
Newt has long been an ardent supporter of empowering parents to choose the best school for their children by removing power from educational bureaucracies and unions.
A critical first step in empowering parents is to vastly expand the number of charter schools, which are now artificially limited by caps set by bureaucrats. Newt will with work with anyone, regardless of political affiliation, who shares his pro-family conviction that it is the parents’ right to send their student to a charter school of their choice. In 2009, Rev. Al Sharpton and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – two prominent figures on the Left – decided that they agreed with the Gingrich position, and the group appeared in several events together promoting the charter school movement. Newt was not endorsing any other initiatives, including the Obama Administration’s so-called “Race to the Top.”
Consistent Pro-Life Record
Newt Gingrich has consistently upheld a pro-life standard. He had a consistent pro-life voting record throughout his twenty years in Congress, including his four years as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Gingrich pledges to uphold this consistent pro-life standard as president.
Gingrich’s consistent pro-life standard is reflected by the following:
1. 98.6% Lifetime Pro-Life Rating from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). For the 20 years that Gingrich served in Congress (1979-1999), Gingrich supported the pro-life position in 70 out of 71 votes. (In the one instance that he did not take the NRLC position, it was because the NRLC opposed an early 1995 version of welfare reform because it changed certain welfare payments for mothers with children; NRLC did not oppose the final version of Gingrich’s welfare reform passed in 1996)
2. Supported the Hyde Amendment. Gingrich consistently voted for the Hyde amendment and other bans on government funding of abortions.
3. Partial Birth Abortion Ban. During Gingrich’s tenure as Speaker, the House of Representatives twice passed legislation banning partial birth abortions. President Clinton vetoed this legislation both times. Finally, a partial birth abortion ban was signed into law in 2003. The legislative effort to ban partial birth abortions had a very positive impact increasing pro-life support in the United States.
4. Signed the Susan B. Anthony List Pro-Life Leadership Presidential Pledge. In June 2011, Gingrich signed the SBA List Pro-Life Leadership Presidential pledge in which Gingrich pledges to the American people that if elected President he will (i) only nominate judges to the Supreme Court and federal judiciary who are committed to restraint and applying the original meaning of the Constitution, and not legislating from the bench (ii) select pro-life appointees for relevant executive branch positions, (iii) advance pro-life legislation to permanently end all taxpayer funding of abortion in all domestic and international spending programs, (iv) defund Planned Parenthood; and (v) advance and sign into law a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.
5. Pledges to Sign Two Pro-life Executive Orders on the first day of a Gingrich Administration.
i. “Mexico City Policy” of Respect for Life. Reauthorize President Ronald Reagan’s policy – also known as the “Mexico City Policy”— to stop the federal funding of any non-governmental agencies or charities that perform or promote abortions in foreign countries.
ii. Respect the Beliefs and Integrity of Healthcare Workers. No American working in a medical environment should be forced to perform any action or procedure that he or she finds morally or ethically objectionable. This protection should include, but not be limited to, abortion and sterilization procedures. Existing conscience clause protections need to be strengthened.
End-of-Life Care
Newt has always been a vocal proponent of proper end-of-life planning — and an equally vocal opponent of government intervention in the most sacred of moments. Proper end of life planning empowers individuals and their families to choose with their doctor the care they want at the end of life. However, the involvement of the government creates a slippery slope from reimbursing providers for this counseling to dictating what should be said, particularly when you see the dramatic expansion of powers that Obamacare gives the government. Newt believes the best policy is for patients and their doctors to voluntarily have these conversations, with the government staying out of the process altogether. Newt publicly praised Gunderson-Lutheran hospital for their approach to end of life care, which does not involve the government, after seeing the care his father-in-law received at the facility.
Healthcare Rationing/Donald Berwick
Newt is deeply opposed to government imposed healthcare rationing and has consistently spoken out against it. He rejects the recommendations of the former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Donald Berwick, for a system like the British National Health Service that rations the health care Americans can receive. Read the debate Newt had on rationing with Michael Rawlins, the chair of the British rationing board NICE, to see that Gingrich has always opposed any government effort to deny or ration care. Where Newt has praised Berwick was in the work he did with the Save 100,000 Lives campaign, which put forth solutions on preventing infections in hospitals; preventing deadly medication errors; and improving the treatment of patients who have suffered heart attacks. Newt believes Berwick’s views on rationing care, however, are controversial and dangerous.
Second Amendment
Newt has been long recognized as a strong defender of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. Newt is a recipient of the National Rifle Association’s Defender of the Second Amendment Award. His legislative voting record was consistently scored by the NRA as either an A or A+ all 20 years that he served in Congress. Furthermore, Newt is the only candidate in the GOP race who has spoken out about the threat to the second amendment from the United Nations and other global governance organizations, and on the first day, he will instruct the Department of Justice and State Department to defend American sovereignty and block all international treaties that infringe on Second Amendment rights. For more details on Newt’s record of defending the Second Amendment, click here.
Dede Scozzafava Endorsement
Newt has admitted it was a mistake to back Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee in the 2009 NY-23 special election.
Whether it was helping to build the Republican Party of Georgia back when Democrats controlled the entire state or leading the nationwide effort in 1994 to break 40 years of Democratic rule in the House, Newt has always tried to advance the cause of a truly conservative Republican party. This has always meant supporting the most conservative nominee possible as selected by Republican primary voters.
Therefore, Newt will almost always back the nominee of the Republican party and not back an independent candidate in a race against a Democratic candidate.
Newt still believes in this principle, however, he has admitted it was a mistake to back Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee in the 2009 NY-23 special election. Although she was the Republican nominee, the problem was that Republican primary voters did not pick her, the local party leaders did, otherwise her liberal views would have prevented her from becoming the nominee. The Conservative Party candidate whom Scozzafava was running against, Doug Hoffman, recently remarked about Newt’s endorsement of his rival, “I would advise other conservative republicans: Don’t hold this against him.”
Praise for FDR
When the Japanese sneak attack at Pearl Harbor threw the United States into a global war against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan, Franklin Delano Roosevelt rose to the challenge. He led the allies in a global war with remarkable skill and built the greatest military in history. Newt believes that without FDR’s leadership as Commander in Chief during World War II, the 20th century would have been a Nazi century rather than an American century. Ronald Reagan too praised FDR, saying that “like the Founding Fathers before him, F.D.R. was an American giant.”
Government Shutdowns
Gingrich-led Republicans stuck to their principles. The result: 4 consecutive balanced budgets, over $400 billion of debt paid off, bipartisan welfare reform, 11 million new jobs, and unemployment falling to under 4%.
In February 2011, Newt wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post to set the record straight about the government shutdowns of 1995 and early 1996. Read it here. Excerpts:
The Washington media establishment believes that the government shutdowns of 1995 and early 1996 were disastrous mistakes that accomplished little and cost House Republicans politically. The facts are exactly the opposite.
While the shutdown produced some short-term pain, it set the stage for a budget deal in 1996 that led to the largest drop in federal discretionary spending since 1969. The discipline imposed by this 1996 budget let to a balanced-budget deal in 1997, the first of four consecutive balanced budgets – an achievement Congress and the White House had not achieved since the 1920s. Overall spending grew at an average of 2.9 percent a year while Newt was Speaker, the slowest rate in decades, and Americans created 11 million new jobs…
This process hardly damaged the Republicans politically: Americans rewarded House Republicans the following November, as they became the first Republican majority to be reelected to a second term since 1928. Republicans would go on to hold the House of Representatives for all but four years between 1995 and today…
This would all have been impossible had Republicans not stood firm in 1995 and shown the American people (and the White House) that we were serious about reducing spending.
Ethics Investigation
In 1999, after a 3 ½ year investigation, the Internal Revenue Service (under President Bill Clinton) concluded that Gingrich did not violate any tax laws, leading renowned CNN Investigative Reporter Brooks Jackson to remark on air “it turns out [Gingrich] was right and those who accused him of tax fraud were wrong.”
Eighty four politically motivated ethics charges were filed against Newt when he was Speaker of the House regarding the use of tax exempt funds for a college course he taught titled “Renewing American Civilization.” Eighty-three of the eighty-four charges were found to be without merit and dropped. The remaining charge had to do with contradictory documents prepared by Newt’s lawyer supplied during the course of the investigation. Newt took responsibility for the error and agreed to reimburse the committee the cost of the investigation into that discrepancy. In 1999, after a 3 ½ year investigation, the Internal Revenue Service (under President Bill Clinton, nonetheless) concluded that Gingrich did not violate any tax laws, leading renowned CNN Investigative Reporter Brooks Jackson to remark on air “it turns out [Gingrich] was right and those who accused him of tax fraud were wrong.”
Lobbying
Newt has never engaged in lobbying, period. Newt made a decision after resigning that he would never be a lobbyist so that nobody would ever question the genuine nature of his advice and perspectives.
Relationship with Freddie Mac
Recent reporting from Bloomberg News on the Gingrich Group’s consulting services for Freddie Mac confirms that Gingrich and his firm were not paid to lobby and that Gingrich never acted as an advocate to stop any legislation or regulation affecting Freddie Mac.
After leaving public office, Newt Gingrich founded a number of very successful small businesses. One of these small businesses, a consulting firm called The Gingrich Group, offered strategic advice on a wide variety of topics to a very wide range of clients. One of these clients was Freddie Mac. At no time did Gingrich lobby for Freddie Mac, or for any client, and neither did anyone in Gingrich’s firm. This prohibition against lobbying was made clear to all Gingrich Group clients. Nor did Gingrich ever advocate against pending legislation affecting Freddie Mac, as some articles have incorrectly alleged. In fact, recent reporting from Bloomberg News on the Gingrich Group’s consulting services for Freddie Mac confirms that Gingrich and his firm were not paid to lobby and that Gingrich never acted as an advocate to stop any legislation or regulation affecting Freddie Mac.
Furthermore, as the New York Times documents, Newt urged House Republicans to vote against the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. View Newt’s Freddie Mac consulting contract here.
Newt is in favor of efforts to increase home ownership in America but as a conservative believes they must be within a context of learning how to budget and save in a responsible way, the opposite of the lending practices that led to the financial crisis. You can watch a video from March 2008 of Newt warning about the danger of politicized decision making in the housing crisis here.
As part of Newt’s Jobs and Prosperity Plan, Newt advocates breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and moving their smaller successors off of government guarantees and into the free market.
Personal Life
Newt has been honest and forthright about the fact that he has had moments in his life that he regrets, that he has had to seek reconciliation, and go to God for forgiveness.
Today, Newt and Callista have a very strong marriage. They produce movies, write books, and enjoy their time on the campaign trail together. They are also blessed to be very close to their family.
Newt believes that by continuing to be honest and forthright about his past failings, voters will come to understand the man that he is now and conclude they can trust him to represent the American people in the White House.
Furthermore, Newt welcomes the opportunity to clear up the many lies and misconceptions that persist about his past:
Extramarital Affair During Clinton Impeachment
The impeachment proceedings against President Clinton were due to the fact that the president committed perjury in front of a sitting federal judge, which is a felony.
Opponents often try to delegitimize Newt Gingrich by pointing out that he had admitted to having an extramarital affair during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. What these accusers are ignoring is that the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton were due to the fact that the president committed perjury in front of a sitting federal judge, which is a felony. As the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt felt that he had a duty to uphold the rule of law by pursuing impeachment. He stands by that decision today.
Asking Wife For Divorce While She Was In The Hospital Dying of Cancer
Newt’s daughter recently wrote a column to set the record straight about this smear.
This story is a vicious lie. It was first reported by a left wing magazine in the 1980s based on hearsay and has survived in left-wing chat rooms on the Internet until today. It is completely false.
Recently, Newt’s daughter, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, wrote a column to set the record straight about this smear. The column reveals that 1) It was her mother that requested the divorce, not Newt, and it was months before the hospital visit in question; 2) Her mother was in the hospital to remove a tumor, but it was benign, and she is still alive today; 3) Newt visited the hospital for the purpose of taking his two children to see their mother, not to discuss a divorce. You can read it here.
Asking FEC Requests on Reimbursements to Gingrich and Staff
As is common in campaigns and in private business, Newt 2012 reimburses its staff and the candidate for out-of-pocket expenses. In fact, FEC requirements mandate these reimbursements because unreimbursed expenditures would qualify as in-kind contributions to the campaign.
In a national campaign employing many people, these costs can become quite high. For example, during the first several months of the campaign, when Newt 2012 did not have an official campaign credit card, Speaker Gingrich and staff were reimbursed for several hundred thousand dollars in expenses, which included everything from travel and lodging to printing and internet service.
The Federal Elections Commission recently sent Newt 2012 requests for more information about these reimbursements. As reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it is not unusual for a major federal campaign to receive such inquiries from the FEC. The same inquiries have been made to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. In fact, the requests for additional information coming from the FEC to Newt 2012 are identical to recent requests the FEC sent to Speaker Boehner and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Like these other campaigns and candidate committees who have received similar requests from the FEC, Newt 2012 has elected not to itemize each and every sub-recipient of expense reimbursement because there is no legal requirement to do so. The FEC is fully aware that the information it is calling for is not required by their regulations. As authority they cite a footnote to a 1996 advisory opinion – not a regulation or law – when requesting this itemization.
Newt 2012 has in the past and continues to provide all information required by law and is operating completey within all FEC requirements.
