SEARCY -- The United States should secure its borders through high-tech security, give business a boost by reducing regulations and adopt the tax-overhaul plan proposed by the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said Tuesday.

Hill spoke to the Searcy Rotary Club, which met at the Searcy Country Club. About 50 people attended.

At several points in his speech and during a question-and-answer section, Hill differentiated himself from this year's presidential nominees -- fellow Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Of the House tax plan, Hill said, "It's a superior approach to either the Trump or Clinton approach."

The House plan would help small businesses by lessening their tax burden, he said. Small businesses are usually taxed at personal-income rates.

No previous tax plan has dealt with that problem, Hill said, but the House plan specifies that business income would be taxed at 25 percent. Clinton has proposed to simplify and reduce the tax burden on small business and Trump has proposed limiting all business tax rates to 15 percent.

Regulations also are holding back businesses, Hill said.

Already, there are "zero interest rates and we're running a federal budget deficit and the monetary policy could not be more accommodating," Hill said, so "smart regulation is one of the keys to getting faster economic growth."

After his speech, Hill was asked by Jim Carr, a senior vice president at Harding University, how the United States could be a sovereign nation without secure borders.

"I've heard all these stories about just what you described -- finding Islamic prayer rugs down on the Southern border people have left there as they've crossed," Carr said. "We're bringing in these folks from Syria. I know they need help, but we can't vet them."

Hill replied that he is not in favor of a religious test, but he is for a national security test.

Trump has said he wants to ban Muslims from entering the United States. He also said on NBC's Meet the Press in July that he wants to ban people "from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism," but that the policy was an expansion of his blanket ban on Muslims.

Hill said he has met with Yazidi women who represent a religious minority whose existence is threatened by the Islamic State militant group. The stories he heard are not appropriate for a lunch meeting, he said.

"I'd like to have a preference to bring these Christian minorities into the country, but we don't do that either," Hill said. "I hope people understand that American policy does try to be fair-minded."

Carr then asked about Muslims who don't support the ideals of the United States and prefer Islamic law.

Hill said new citizens swear an allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and though he's Catholic, there's no place for canon law of the Roman Catholic Church in government.

"We have our country. We have our Constitution. We have our laws and that's the way it is," Hill said. "People who emigrate to this country and become citizens are part of our country."

"Everyone can come to America and become an American," Hill added.

Asked in an interview afterward about differentiating himself from Trump, Hill said he's supporting "a Republican win in the fall."

"Getting the economy to grow faster, tax reform, regulatory reform, homeland security issues, I think, would be better-positioned if the House Republicans and the Senate Republicans are working with a Republican president," Hill said.

"With Trump's business background and his campaign focus on border security ... we're better-positioned to get our policy proposals passed and enacted into law than we would be with Mrs. Clinton."

Hill is up for re-election for a second two-year term. He faces Dianne Curry, a Democrat, and Chris Hayes, a Libertarian, in the Nov. 8 general election.

Metro on 08/03/2016