When I was walking across Tennessee in my campaign for governor, a woman in Hawkins County gave me good advice I’ve never forgotten about how to get elected:

“First, don’t make any promises – we’ve heard them all before. Just do the best you can. Second, keep the taxes down; we can’t afford more. Third, for heaven’s sakes, behave yourself when you get in!”

That good advice has helped me keep my feet planted on the ground at home as governor, and now as your United States senator. It’s upon this firm ground that I’m hoping to earn your vote again.

My goal as your U.S. senator is to transfer to Washington, D.C. more of the low-tax, balanced budget and job growth policies that I helped put in place as governor of Tennessee. By staying true to our conservative roots and working to get a result, I know together we can move the country in a more conservative direction.

Here’s where I’d start:

1. Raise family incomes – It is too hard to find a job today because it has become too hard to create new jobs. The main reason for this is that the federal government has imposed so many costs and regulations on job creators, especially through Obamacare. 

Obamacare has made it harder to create jobs by putting taxes on medical devices and moving those jobs overseas, by turning millions of Americans into part-time workers instead of full-time workers and by adding new costs so every time an employer thinks about hiring a new employee, he or she has to think about the cost of Obamacare.

To repair that damage, we need to move in a different direction with step-by-step reforms I’ve proposed that increase freedom and choice and reduce the cost of health care. They include enabling small businesses to pool their resources and purchase lower-cost insurance, and allowing for the sale of insurance across state lines to give families in Tennessee more choices.

2. Fix the Debt – As governor I left the state with balanced budgets, a AAA bond rating and zero road debt. That’s why I find the federal government’s $18 trillion debt to be so shocking.

If we do nothing, Medicare will be too broke to pay all of seniors' hospital bills in 12 years, according to its Trustees. And I know plenty of Tennesseans who are counting on Medicare.

Soon we’ll have let America slip from the hands of the “Greatest Generation” to the debt-paying generation, with nothing to show for it but the bill. That’s why Senator Corker and I have introduced legislation to reduce the growth of mandatory entitlement spending by nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years. 

3. No National School Board – As governor, I worked with President Reagan to get Washington completely out of our schools. As senator, I am fighting President Obama to reverse the trend toward a national school board.

I’ve introduced legislation that would send decisions about teachers and schools back to communities and parents where they belong. My legislation includes provisions to stop Washington from telling Tennessee or any other state what its standards should be.

These are all important goals, but they don’t mean much without the ability to get a result. And during my time as governor and senator I’ve focused on getting results.

When a deadly meningitis outbreak struck Tennessee, I worked to pass legislation last year that made medicines safer. When interest rates for college loans went up last year, I helped craft legislation that brought the rates back down, and made our student loan program fairer to hard-working taxpayers.

As a result of legislation I added to the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, Chickamauga Lock could be completed as much as six years earlier – helping to keep commerce moving and create jobs all throughout East Tennessee. And I’ve worked with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from restricting the freedom to fish below publicly owned dams on the Cumberland River.

I’m hopeful Republicans will win a majority in the U.S. Senate this fall, and I’d like to be a part of that majority. If I am, I’ll be able to accomplish even more as chairman of the Senate committee in charge of health, education and labor. I’ll also be in charge of the appropriations subcommittee that handles energy research and oversees federal funding of Oak Ridge and agencies like the Army Corps. 

My most important goal is to continue to earn your trust. I haven’t walked across the state in several years, but I’ve done the next best thing by traveling across the state to hear your concerns – and to keep a steady supply of that Tennessee common sense that we need so much more of in Washington.