Q&A with Schakowsky

1. Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what? What will be your main priority?

I am running for re-election because my desire to help people still burns as bright as it did when I first entered politics. My political career began, almost by accident, in 1969 when I led a small group of housewives in the fight to put freshness dates on products sold in supermarkets. As a 25 year old stay-at-home mom this was an exhilarating and empowering experience, transforming me from an ordinary housewife to an ordinary housewife who could make a difference in the world. That life-altering experience led me to other organizing and advocacy efforts and eventually to jobs such as Executive Director of the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens, fighting for affordable health care, and finally running for office myself. I realized that I could continue to stand up and fight for ordinary Americans as an elected public official. Fortunately, I have been able to continue my work as a lifelong consumer advocate as the Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. Most recently, the House passed the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, which included several of my initiatives to eliminate dangerous products from store shelves and to set mandatory testing and safety standards for children's products like cribs and high chairs. My top priority in Congress is to provide universal healthcare coverage for all Americans. I believe that it is absolutely critical that our government provide every American with guaranteed access to affordable, comprehensive and high-quality medical care. Almost every day, one of my constituent's calls or writes to talk about the problems they have getting medical treatment for their children or their parents or themselves. Many of them are insured but cannot afford cost-sharing requirements or have gaps in benefits - like the young woman fighting breast cancer whose insurer wouldn't cover anything related to that disease. The guarantee of healthcare, like fire protection and education, should be available to everyone. A government-financed health care system that serves all people would also have a significant impact on our economy by lowering the costs to businesses and families. The Democratic-led Congress is trying to address the health care crisis in this country by expanding programs like the State's Children's Health Insurance Program, over Presidential opposition. I strongly believe that we have a moral responsibility to provide healthcare to every American. I will die a happy woman if on my tombstone (or urn, whichever my survivors prefer), it says, "She helped bring health care to every American."

2. If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of important initiatives you've led. If you are not an incumbent, tell us what contributions you would make.

It has been an honor to represent the people of the 9th Congressional District of Illinois for nearly ten years. My top priority has always been to provide my constituents with the best service when they contact my district offices. I have a team of constituent advocates who are available in my district offices and travel throughout the district to help individuals get access to government services. We help thousands of constituents with problems that they are having with federal agencies, including immigration, Medicare, Social Security, Veterans Affairs, and the post office. We cut through red tape and solve problems for people, often in a life changing way. I have also worked hard to enact policies in Washington that address the needs and concerns of my constituents. Since coming to Congress in 1999, I have won legislative victories to increase federal assistance for abused women and children and to protect the rights of battered immigrant women; to reform election laws guaranteeing that no registered voters is turned away at the polls; to expand housing opportunities for low-income people; and to assist small business owners and farmers. One of the high points of my career as an advocate has been the passage of legislation to protect our children from dangerous toys and products. As Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, I played a leading role in passing the most sweeping reforms to consumer product safety laws in a generation. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, H.R. 4040, will make toys and children's products safer, significantly reduce the number of recalls and give the government authority to remove unsafe products from store shelves. During the 110th Congress, I have also been proud to pass legislation to strengthen vehicle safety, bring transparency to private security contractors, strengthen civil liberties, and improve drug safety. I have also introduced legislation to phase-out the use of private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, protect the Great Lakes from pollution, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and invest in renewable energy, expand cancer screening and prevention programs, provide a safety net for veterans facing bankruptcy, establish nurse staffing standards to promote patient safety, and provide accessibility in federally-funded new construction. As a Democratic Chief Deputy Whip, I have been able to assist Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer in securing major legislative accomplishments during the 110th Congress. The new Democratic-led Congress has passed legislation into law to lower the cost of college, increase the minimum wage, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, stabilize the housing market, improve national security, and expand veterans' benefits. It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of the House Democratic Leadership that helped make these initiatives a reality. I have also been able to shape the political debate in Congress through leadership positions on several influential Congressional caucuses. As Democratic Vice-Chair of the bipartisan Women's Caucus, I have been able to bring women's issues to the forefront of the debate in Congress. In the 110th Congress, my bill to commemorate International Women's Day was approved and signed into law by President Bush. I have also been an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq and co-founder of the Out-of-Iraq Caucus, which has played a key role in bringing redeployment legislation to the House floor.

3. In which ways, if at all, would you alter U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan? How would you characterize the effect of the U.S. "surge" in Iraq? What objectives, if any, must the U.S. still meet before it begins to withdraw troops?

The United States must immediately begin the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. I opposed the war from the beginning and five years of bloodshed have only made it clearer that there is no military solution in Iraq. Instead of sending our troops and resources to referee a civil war, we should use them to fight terrorism where it really exists-in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq should be coupled with a serious diplomatic effort, involving as many states in the region as possible. The surge strategy has not achieved goal of political reconciliation as outlined by the Bush Administration. In fact, the recent decline in violence in Iraq is more likely due to ethnic cleansing in many neighborhoods and the rise of the Sunni "Awakening" militia movement. Sectarian divisions remain pronounced, and the government now must face the problem of incorporating the members of the Sunni Awakening movement into the Shi'ite political structure. In recent weeks, Iraqi leaders have reportedly reached a draft agreement with the United States that would fix a date, 2011, for the end of U.S. military involvement in Iraq. With the Iraqi army and police increasingly capable of operating on their own, the U.S. recently handed control of the crucial Anbar province over to the Iraqis. I strongly believe that the long-term stability and prosperity of Iraq will depend, not on U.S. military presence, but on the Iraqi people, and United States must continue to hand over control of Iraq to the Iraqi government. The war in Iraq has threatened our national security by diverting resources from the real threat coming from Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist organizations located in Afghanistan. In 2008, violence in Afghanistan has reached its highest level since 2001. Opium production, a key factor in both government corruption and Taliban might, has skyrocketed. We have not captured Osama bin Laden and other dangerous terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks, nor have we prevented the resurgence of the Taliban in the Southern border regions of the country. I believe we must bolster the American presence in Afghanistan. This means both increasing the numbers of American troops and escalating American commitment toward reconstructing and developing Afghanistan's physical, agricultural, and civic infrastructure. The United States must better coordinate with our NATO allies and other international organizations, such as the United Nations, to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy in Afghanistan that stresses economic development for the long-suffering people of Afghanistan.

4. What short-term steps, if any, would you advocate to keep gasoline prices in check?

America is more dependent on foreign oil than ever before and Americans are paying record prices at the pump. In order to provide real relief to consumers at the gas pump, the United States must enact both short and long-term policies that address the root causes of this crisis. In the short term, I believe the United States must pass energy legislation that deals with excessive speculation of the oil and gas futures market. While there are several contributing factors to this crisis, energy experts have testified before Congress that immediately implementing tighter regulations on excessive speculation would cause the cost of oil per barrel to fall to as low as $70. The government can also provide immediate relief to Americans by releasing gasoline from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Releasing gas from the reserve will help increase the supply of gasoline available thereby driving down the price of gasoline. At 98 percent capacity, the SPR is at its highest level ever. The SPR is more full today than it was when President Bush released oil in 2005 and when his father released oil in 1991. Every time oil has been released from the reserve the price of gasoline has decreased by as much as 33 percent. The Democratic-led Congress has already passed legislation twice that would have released gasoline from the reserve and in both cases those attempts were blocked by Republicans in the Senate or the President. In July, I introduced the Consumer Energy Relief Act, H.R. 6653, to hold oil companies and speculators accountable for manipulating the price of oil and to provide Americans with immediate and long-term relief from high energy prices. Specifically, H.R. 6653 would impose tighter regulation on excessive oil speculation, crackdown on price gouging and implement a windfall profits tax to be used to promote energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy.

5. Please list the key elements of your preferred long-term energy policy. Rank or rate the relative importance of domestic oil exploration, conservation and alternative-energy development. What part, if any, should ethanol play in U.S. energy policy?

I believe that the United States must adopt a long-term energy policy that reduces our dependence on oil foreign and domestic while allowing Americans to transition to renewable energy sources in order to meet their energy needs. In order to accomplish this, I support repealing the estimated $18 billion in tax breaks the Bush Administration has given to oil and gas companies and using the money generated to invest in the research and development of renewable energy sources like wind, solar and biofuels that will allow the U.S. economy to grow in a responsible manner. Under my energy bill, I also included a provision that would distribute the proceeds of a windfall profits tax to states to be used for financial assistance to help people purchase energy efficient hybrid and electric plug-in vehicles as well as energy efficient appliances. Investing in renewable and clean energy will benefit the U.S. by spurring the creation of new "green" jobs, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and reversing the impacts of climate change. In addition to investing in renewable energy, the United States can do even more to address global warming by encouraging conservation efforts and spurring the development of more energy efficient cars and appliances. Investing in energy efficient technologies will reduce the amount of energy consumed by Americans and ultimately emitted into the atmosphere. Congress took an important step last December when it passed, H.R. 6 the Energy Security and Independence Act. This bill mandated the first increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in over thirty years and will save American families between $700 and $1000 per year, by making their cars run more efficiently. It will also reduce oil consumption by 1.1 million gallons per day in 2020, approximately half of what we import from the Persian Gulf every day. One measure I do not support is legislation that would allow oil companies to expand their drilling capability in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This summer, America has seen first hand the consequences of America's dangerous addiction to oil. But instead of proposing real solutions to meet our long term energy needs, Republicans offer more of the same-increase domestic drilling. As oil mogul T. Boone Pickens has said, "This is one emergency we cannot drill our way out of." We are not facing an energy crisis because there is a shortage of land to drill on; in fact oil companies already have access to 68 million acres of undeveloped land in the U.S. that are open to drilling. When the CEO and President of the American Petroleum Institute Red Caveney was asked about the 68 million acres of unused land on ABC's "This Week", he said that the oil companies didn't even have enough equipment to drill on the 68 million acres of land. It is also worth noting that the U.S. has only 1.6 percent of the world's known oil supply, but Americans use a quarter of the world's daily oil consumption. Therefore, it is impossible for us to drill our way to energy independence. Instead, we must focus on the fact that we have unlimited amounts of sunshine, wind, biofuels, biomass, and geothermal heat. We also possess the ingenuity to discover new ways to power the world, to grow these industries, to create hundreds of thousands of high-paying green jobs and to become energy independent.

6. What steps, if any, should Congress take to promote economic recovery? What steps by the federal government might make the nation's economy worse?

I strongly support a second economic stimulus package to address the continued problems with the economy and promote job creation. Millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet during these tough economic times. The budgets of American families are being squeezed as the price of gas, food, housing and healthcare continue to increase, while wages are down and unemployment is up. While I voted for the first economic stimulus package, I was disappointed that the bill did not provide enough assistance to low- and middle-income families. As a result, a number of studies have concluded that the stimulus package only had a negligible effect on our economy. I believe that extending President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and the war in Iraq would both make the economy worse. The failed policies of the Bush Administration have depleted our treasury and shortchanged important domestic programs. The Iraq War alone has cost American taxpayers more than $600 billion dollars. The Bush Administration inherited a record budget surplus and turned it into the largest deficits in U.S. history. The national debt has exploded, to an estimated $9 trillion by the end of this year - that amounts to a $29,000 debt per person. Most of this debt has been purchased by foreign investors, making the U.S. more vulnerable to economic and political pressure from abroad. And it has left the government starved of the resources it needs to pay for essential government services, including highways, veterans' health care, education and homeland security. I differ with the Republican philosophy of trickle down economics that have resulted in the tax breaks for large corporations and the wealthiest Americans. I believe that the economy is driven from the bottom up. I support targeted tax breaks, including making the child care tax credit refundable so that it helps low-income families and providing assistance to help stimulate essential R&D efforts. The Bush tax cuts have both endangered our ability to keep our nation economically strong and made our tax system more regressive. I support rolling back the President's tax cuts on the top two brackets, and believe that it is crucial that we raise revenues in a progressive fashion so that the tax burden is not shifted to those who earn lower wages. I support policies that would lower the tax burden on the middle class and small businesses. I also believe that we must close corporate tax loopholes and improve IRS enforcement. It is time that we prevent companies from avoiding taxation by stashing profits overseas and exploiting other tax loopholes, leaving working Americans to foot the bill. I also believe that the economic crisis we are in is the result of years of deregulation, lax enforcement of existing regulations, and a stubborn adherence to failed trickle down policies. The crisis needs to be addressed quickly and examined thoroughly. We need to investigate the Bush Administration's mismanagement of financial market regulation, how it led to this crisis, and what solutions Congress can act upon, ensuring that markets are transparent, accountable, and secure. The days of the shadow banking system transacting business operating outside of any government regulation and oversight are over. We have been told by Republicans for years that the free market, left alone, can regulate itself. As multibillion dollar institutions continue to fail and line up for government bailouts, it's evident that the "invisible hand" philosophy is a failure.

7. Do you favor or oppose a larger federal role in health-care? Either way, why and what should the federal role be? What, if anything, should be done about rising health care costs and Americans who do not have health coverage?

I believe that the federal government has the responsibility to assure that every person has access to affordable, comprehensive and high-quality medical care. While we often focus on the most vulnerable - those without any coverage -- it is not just 47 million uninsured Americans who are unable to obtain the medical services they need. A recent Commonwealth Fund report found that 37% of Americans under 65 (42% of Americans living with a chronic condition) didn't see a doctor or skipped recommended treatments because they couldn't afford it. Nearly 1 in 5 who did get care had trouble paying their medical bills. Solving this problem is not just a moral issue but an economic one. U.S. businesses that bear the costs of providing health care to their workers find it harder and harder to compete in a global economy with foreign companies (and domestic companies) that do not. State and local governments are faced with rising health care costs for their active and retired workers, impeding their ability to meet other critical needs. With a government-financed but privately-delivered health care system, we can lower costs to businesses and families by getting more value for our health care dollars. Financing that system will required shared responsibility, with public and private employers and consumers contributing through either premiums or payroll taxes that are based on ability to pay. We can create an American health care approach that protects our nation's health care while saving money by eliminating fragmentation and excessive bureaucracy, ending cost-shifting, adopting bulk purchasing policies, and promoting prevention and effective treatments. I believe that the best way to achieve those goals is through a publicly-financed and accountable Medicare for All plan, the approach taken in H.R.1841, the AmeriCare Health Care Act. The bill finances care through individual and employer premiums (with subsidies for low-income families and limits on out-of-pocket spending). In addition to being the chief cosponsor of H.R. 1841, I am a supporter of other bills to achieve universal coverage through state initiatives and at the national level.

8. Would you maintain or scale back federal tax cuts made during the past eight years? Either way, why? How, as specifically as possible, would you try to reduce federal budget deficits and the national debt?

I believe that we need to make comprehensive changes to the federal tax system to generate adequate revenues to meet our national needs, create incentives for economic growth that will benefit all Americans, make the tax system simpler and more user-friendly, and end the pattern of cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and increasing the national debt. I support rolling back the President's tax cuts on the top two brackets, which overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest Americans. The tax breaks, coupled with waging a war in Iraq that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will cost $2.4 trillion through the next decade, have left the government starved of the resources it needs to pay for essential government services, including highways, veterans' health care, education and homeland security. When President Bush took office in 2001, we had a record $5.6 trillion ten-year projected surplus. That surplus has been squandered and the national debt has exploded, to an estimated $9 trillion by the end of this year - that amounts to $29,000 in debt per person. And most of this debt has been purchased by foreign investors, making the U.S. more vulnerable to economic and political pressure from abroad. I believe that we must raise sufficient revenues to ensure that government can again respond to people's needs and that America's hands aren't tied because we are indebted to nations who may not share our interests. It is crucial that we raise revenues in a progressive fashion so that the tax burden is not unfairly shifted to those who earn lower wages. I believe that we must close corporate tax loopholes and improve IRS enforcement. It is time that we prevent companies from avoiding taxation by stashing profits overseas and exploiting other tax loopholes, leaving working Americans to foot the bill. I voted for H.R. 3970, the Temporary Tax Relief Act, because it incorporates many of those principles. By repealing the AMT, expanding the standard deduction, and closing corporate loopholes in exchange for a lower corporate tax rate, the tax system is made simpler and fairer. In addition, I believe that we need to ensure that federal spending is effective - I have worked to eliminate fraud and abuse in government procurement and contracting programs.

9. The current Congress could not agree on immigration reform. What would you do to advance reform in a divided Congress, and, briefly, what should the key policy elements be?

Fifty-two percent of my constituents are either immigrants or children of immigrants. Thirty-eight percent speak languages other than English and come from all over the world. I believe therefore, that comprehensive immigration reform must be a high priority for this Congress. Over the last 20 years, enforcement-only policies have failed. I believe we need to advance comprehensive reform that includes workable border enforcement, employer sanctions, and a requirement that currently undocumented immigrants come out of the shadows, go through a criminal background check, learn English, pay any taxes owed and become citizens. Earlier this year Congress was unable to reach an agreement on comprehensive immigration reform. While I am very disappointed by this outcome, I continue to work in Congress to improve the quality of life for all Americans and to pass comprehensive immigration reform. That is why I am an original sponsor of H.R. 1645, the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act (STRIVE Act). This bill strikes the right balance between securing our borders and providing a sensible response to the estimated 12 million undocumented persons living in our country, nearly all of whom simply want a better life for their families. This legislation is far from a blanket amnesty. To qualify for citizenship, an individual must pay a substantial fine of $500 per person, have no criminal background, learn English, have paid taxes, and go to the back of the line of those waiting to be naturalized. I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 1275, the American Dream Act. I strongly support this bill because it would give students who have good moral character and have lived in the U.S. for at least five years the opportunity to go on to college, regardless of their immigration status. I strongly believe that all youth residing in this country should have access to all educational opportunities available. In the vast majority of cases, immigrant students will continue to reside in this country for most, if not all, of their adult lives, and it is important that we provide them with all the tools necessary to become full participants in and contributors to our society. I also believe we have to understand the impact that past trade agreements have played in immigration issues. Since the North American Free Trade Agreement became law in 1994, the number of migrants into the United States has doubled. This influx has taken place because as our government has subsidized agricultural products grown in the U.S., Mexico's agricultural sector has been damaged. Wages paid to Mexican farmers to be cut by as much seventy percent. As a result, over one and half million Mexican farmers have lost their livelihoods. These displaced farmers and rural workers have been migrating to the United States to find work ever since. In order for Congress to get serious about immigration reform, America's trade policies must be reconsidered. Comprehensive reform will address national and economic security. Currently we don't know who's here. If comprehensive immigration reform passed, everyone would be brought out of the shadows, improving our security. Currently, we have a large exploitable workforce driving wages down. This would not be true if they were not worried about being deported.

10. In what ways is the U.S. government successfully defending citizens against terrorism, and in what ways is the U.S. failing in that regard?

The Democratic majority in Congress placed special emphasis on homeland security by making our first priority to pass H.R. 1 and implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act. H.R. 1 made it more difficult for terrorists to obtain nuclear materials, armed first responders with the tools they need to respond quickly and effectively to disasters, made airplanes more secure, gave our police and local law enforcement the ability to truly share information and increased security at ports. In June we provided another $400 million specifically to increase port security and to ensure that this vulnerable part of our infrastructure is protected. I also worked to increase screening of the food that enters the United States through our ports to make sure that the foods that end up on our kitchen tables are safe. The United States has greatly improved our ability to respond to terrorist attacks since the tragic events of 9/11, yet we still must do more. Many of our front-line responders still lack the resources they need to respond to potential threats and request support from my office. We still have not taken adequate action to protect chemical and nuclear facilities and we must build on the measures included in H.R. 1 to ensure that cargo and port security is improved to the highest standard. Although we have instituted a wide-ranging series of improvements to make the country more adept at responding to terrorism, we are failing in the critical area of the protection of civil liberties. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration's response to 9/11 was to infringe upon individual rights in the name of national security. The PATRIOT Act contains dangerous provisions, such as the obtaining of personal records without just cause and the lack of due process protections that unnecessarily intrude on important individual freedoms. As a longtime defender of the civil liberties provided by the Constitution, I have been working to ensure that no citizen's privacy is trampled on as we make the country safer from terrorism. I will continue to support measures that preserve our freedoms and civil rights. The U.S. has actually become less secure because our moral authority and the international community's respect for our country have been greatly diminished by the war in Iraq. The horrors at Abu Ghraib and the mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have further damaged our credibility and standing in the world. These incidents have diminished our capacity to be effective and they have also been used as a recruiting tool for terrorists. Along with working to protect ourselves from terrorist attacks, we must work to regain the respect of those in other nations by immediately withdrawing our troops from Iraq and demonstrating a real, lasting respect for international treaties and agreements including small arms, chemical weapons and human rights.