Editing Jesse Helms (section)

===Entering the Senate===
{{quote|In a world where give-and-take is the key to success, Helms refused to play the game of compromise. Rather than get together with opponents to work out their differences, Helms preferred to stand his ground in defeat.|Journalist Rob Christensen|''The News & Observer'' (2008)<ref name="Christensen TNO 4 Jy"/>}}

[[File:Jesse Helms.jpg|thumb|Helms c. 1973]]
Helms quickly became a "star" of the conservative movement,<ref>{{cite news |title=Conservatives; Third Men |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=58 |date=February 22, 1975 }}</ref> and was particularly vociferous on the issue of [[abortion]]. In 1974, in the wake of the US Supreme Court's decision in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', Helms introduced a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited abortion in all circumstances,<ref>{{cite news |first=Linda |last=Charlton |title=Forces Against Abortion Assemble, With Optimism |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 2, 1974 |page=C13 }}</ref> by conferring [[due process]] rights upon every [[fetus]].<ref name="Anti-Abortion Drive Suffers">{{cite news |title=Anti-Abortion Drive Suffers a Setback |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 9, 1974 |page=22 }}</ref> However, the Senate hearing into the proposed amendments heard that neither Helms', nor [[James L. Buckley]]'s similar amendment, would achieve their stated goal, and shelved them for the session.<ref name="Anti-Abortion Drive Suffers" /> Both Helms and Buckley proposed amendments again in 1975, with Helms's amendment allowing states leeway in their implementation of an enshrined constitutional "right to life" from the "moment of fertilization".<ref>{{cite news |title=Constitutional Ban on Abortion Urged |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 11, 1975 |page=10 }}</ref>

Helms was also a prominent advocate of [[free enterprise]] and favored cutting the budget.<ref>{{cite news |title=The big black book of David Stockman |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=19 |date=February 14, 1981 }}</ref> He was a strong advocate of a global return to the [[gold standard]],<ref name="Republican support for a new gold standard">{{cite news |first=Frank |last=Vogl |title=Republican support for a new gold standard |work=[[The Times]] |page=15 |date=January 5, 1981 }}</ref> which he would push at numerous points throughout his Senate career; in October 1977, Helms proposed a successful amendment that allowed United States citizens to sign contracts linked to gold, overturning a 44-year ban on gold-indexed contracts,<ref>{{cite news |title=Gold (2); America gets the bug |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=October 22, 1977 |page=116 }}</ref> reflecting fears of inflation.<ref>{{cite news |first=Frank |last=Vogl |title=US permits contracts denominated in gold |work=[[The Times]] |page=20 |date=October 19, 1977 }}</ref> Helms supported the tobacco industry,<ref name="Helms Exhorts Tobacco">{{cite news |first=Mark I. |last=Pinsky |title=Helms Exhorts Tobacco Bloc to Fight Budget Cuts |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 21, 1981 |page=1 }}</ref> which contributed more than 6% of the state's [[Gross State Product|GSP]] until the 1990s (the highest in the country);<ref>{{cite book |title=Measuring the Impact of Tobacco on State Economies |last=Liang |first=Lan |author2=Chaloupka, Frank J. |author3=Ierulli, Kathryn  |year=2004 |publisher=National Cancer Institute |page=178 |chapter=Evaluating ASSIST }}</ref> he argued that federal price support programs should be maintained, as they did not constitute a [[subsidy]] but insurance.<ref name="Helms Exhorts Tobacco" /> Helms offered an amendment that would have denied food stamps to strikers when the Senate approved increasing federal contributions to food stamp and school lunch programs in May 1974.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/22/archives/senate-votes-rises-in-school-lunch-aid.html|title=Senate Votes Rises in School Lunch Aid |date=May 22, 1974|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In 1973, the [[United States Congress]] passed the [[Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act|Helms Amendment]] to the [[Foreign Assistance Act]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-international-family-planning-reproductive-health-statutory-requirements-and-policies/|title=The U.S. Government and International Family Planning & Reproductive Health: Statutory Requirements and Policies|language=en-US|access-date=August 8, 2016}}</ref> It states that, "no foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/family-planning/usaids-family-planning-guiding-principles-and-us|title=USAID's Family Planning Guiding Principles and U.S. Legislative and Policy Requirements|website=[[USAID]]|access-date=August 8, 2016|archive-date=August 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812191547/https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/family-planning/usaids-family-planning-guiding-principles-and-us|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 1973, along with Democrats [[James Abourezk]] and [[Floyd Haskell]], Helms was one of three senators to vote against the confirmation of [[Peter J. Brennan]] as [[United States Secretary of Labor]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/01/archives/senate-confirms-brennan-and-lynn-for-cabinet-posts.html|title=Senate Confirms Brennan and Lynn For Cabinet Posts|date=February 1, 1973|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In May 1974, when the Senate approved the establishment of no‐fault automobile insurance plans in every state, it rejected an amendment by Helms exempting states that were opposed to no‐fault insurance.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/02/archives/senate-53-to-42-supports-nofault-auto-insurance-advantages-cited.html|title=Senate, 53 to 42, Supports No-Fault Auto Insurance|date=May 2, 1974|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>