Wilkes
County native looks to restructure NAFTA, world trade
Twenty-six years after his graduation from Appalachian
State University, Joseph H. Byrd, a 52-year-old native of
Wilkes County, is running for the United States Congress.
“I have been involved with politics for 20 years,”
Byrd said. He said he decided to run for Congress for a few
reasons, one of which is the economy.
“We have enjoyed an entrepreneurship spirit in this
country since colonial times,” he said. “To reclaim
it, we have to make changes.”
Byrd said he wants to restructure the North American Foreign
Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization to make
U.S. foreign trading partners comply with wage and working
standards. China’s admission to the WTO was a mistake,
he said.
“They too need to comply with wage and workplace standards,”
he said.
Another issue Byrd said he wants to address is healthcare.
Approximately 43 million Americans are unable to afford prescription
drug coverage, he said.
“That’s one of six Americans,” Byrd said.
The recent Medicare Reform bill passed by Congress did not
do enough to properly address the issue, he said. Byrd said
if he were elected, he would introduce legislation in Congress
that will allow U.S. pharmacies to buy drugs from other countries,
such as Canada and Mexico, so long as the Food and Drug Administration
approves of the drug.
“We’ve got a crisis as far as health care,”
Roger D. Smithey, a residential and commercial developer,
and an associate of Byrd’s, said. “Why can’t
we buy our drugs from Great Britain or other places that
meets FDA approval?”
The reform bill made such business illegal, but competition
with other countries over drug prices will force pharmaceutical
companies to reduce the costs of their products and make
drugs more affordable for Americans who need them, Byrd said.
Other issues Byrd said he wants to tackle are making the
Social Security fund inaccessible for other uses before it
is depleted, maintaining a global leadership role for the
United States, and encouraging other nations and international
organizations to step up in the war against terrorism.
“We have to do that to defend our homeland and maintain
our place in the world,” he said. Byrd said he supported
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last March, and added the United
Nations should take a stronger stance in pursuing terrorists,
both militarily and otherwise.
“Everyone’s concerned now with the job losses,”
Smithey said. “I think he’ll work hard at it.”
Byrd began attending Appalachian State in 1971, but had to
leave after he lost his deferment and served in the U.S.
Army as a military policeman.
Byrd got out of the Army in 1973, and came back to Appalachian
in 1974. He graduated from the university in 1978 with a
bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Technology.
Byrd has also served as a parole officer and a real estate
developer. He is a member of the National Rifle Association
and the Fraternal Order or Police, according to his Web site
(www.joebyrd4congress.com).
Byrd and his wife, Paula, have two daughters, Laura and Heather.
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