U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks was in Florence to rally his troops before the March 13 primary election.

Brooks, R-Huntsville, will face former U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith in the Republican

primary.

Brooks told supporters and candidates in local elections that attended his campaign kick-off event Saturday he is committed to America and will work in Washington to create policy that is in the best interest of the country and citizens.

“I’m not one that is going to go around pandering to people telling Democrats one thing, telling Republicans another, telling the elderly one and the young a different thing,” he said.

Brooks said voters need only to look at what he has supported since his election to the congress in 2010 to know where he stands on issues, particularly his stances on government debt, illegal immigration and job creation.

Brooks said he took a hard stand on debt control in Washington and pushed for a balanced budget amendment to be included in the budget control act that raised the debt ceiling in 2011.

Brooks said balancing the budget will help stabilize the country in the future.

“I voted for an amendment to the constitution that would force Congress to do it’s job, and that is to balance it, so we don’t risk insolvency and bankruptcy 10, 15 or 20 years from now,” he said.

Self-described conservative Clint O’Connor said he appreciates Brooks’ fever on fiscal issues. O’Connor said he fears the country could be headed toward a debt situation like Greece is experiencing “where we could go into default.”

“If we default on our debt that will be catastrophic,” he said.

Brooks said one of the main issues he is hearing about from constituents is the economy and job creation. He has a three-point approach that he feels will create jobs and stimulate the economy.

He said his plan would include reducing government regulations that he said are expensive for employers to abide by, imposing an import tariff or environment cost tariff on goods from foreign countries that don’t have the same regulations as the United States and supporting free enterprise and “fighting socialism.”

“Free enterprise works if we allow people to engage in it,” he said. “We have to stop this socialism where the government is controlling more and more what goods and services are produced and who is going to succeed and who is not.”