Catalina Lauf: 2022 candidate for 11th Congressional District

Bio

Party: Republican

Office sought: U.S. House, 11th District

City: Woodstock

Age: 29

Occupation: Consultant/adviser

Previous offices held: None

Q&A

Q. What needs to be done to get Congress to work constructively, whether that be senators and representatives of both parties working with each other or Congress itself working with the president?

Term-limits. And until then, the election of new people. Congress has proven over the last decade that it can't "work" at all until we have new faces and new perspectives to represent our districts. Our current Congress is riddled with career politicians and the money involved is sickening. As a result, of course it's not working constructively, you have the establishment on both sides of the aisle refusing to give up power at the expense of the American people. No one is working for the American people when elected officials are focused on self-preservation, and it clearly shows with statistics showing the overall approval rating of Congress sits at an all-time low since 9/11. We need to stop talking about radical ideas and come together on important topics like the economy, immigration reform and preserving our individual liberties.

What is your position on changing voter access?

If the Government forced you to show a "vaccine passport" to buy a cheeseburger than the least we can do to ensure our elections remain safe and secure is to require all Americans use an ID to vote. We need voter ID laws.

Do you recognize that the election of Joe Biden as president in 2020 was legitimate and fair? If not, why?

Congress certified Joe Biden as President of the United States in January - however - in order for our political system to even work, as a free people, Americans MUST have faith in our Republic and we must believe that our electoral system is being handled safe and securely. As a member of Congress you need to listen to your people. The American people have the right to ask questions, and there are a lot of questions surrounding the 2020 election that deserved to have been asked and answered, that have not been answered.

What, if anything, should Congress do to prevent another violent attack such as the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol?

Members of Congress and the media frankly, should look at violence with a principled approach instead of politicizing it to fit a narrative. Violence is violence. The BLM riots which took place caused millions of dollars worth of damage including in our own district. Across the Country people were injured or murdered. Not a single member of Congress in Illinois on both sides of the aisle vehemently condemned the violence, even when it impacted their own constituents. Why weren't those taken as seriously as Jan 6th has? As more and more facts about Jan. 6th come out, many were privy to intelligence reports about potential threats that day. Who was in charge? Furthermore, to compare Jan 6th to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the terrorist attacks on 9/11 as the Democrats and the Biden Admin. have is a disgrace to Americans. How can you prevent, or provide meaningful solutions when the precedent has been set that we can't even agree on what is violence, or who is in charge of prevention?

What do you consider America's role in world affairs? In particular, what should our role be regarding current points of tension involving Russia/Ukraine, the future of Taiwan or other threats of Chinese expansionism and the Middle East?

It's a tragedy that citizens suffer and men and women have to go to war due to decisions made by the elites. As it pertains to OUR role, how can we provide support when our own Country is in peril? We have economic problems - high inflation - all Americans are struggling to afford the ever increasing gas and food prices. We have 200,000 illegal immigrants crossing our border per month. Two major issues that Democrats and the Biden Admin. have failed to address at the expense of the American people. In fact, they've made it worse by implementing anti-economic-growth policies such as (lockdowns, unconstitutional mandates, and printing money) and failing to provide resources to our law enforcement at the border. We need to make sure WE have a strong foundation internally, and that OUR home and OUR people are secure prior to the involvement in foreign conflicts. Also, we have lost valuable men and women due to the involvement in a twenty-year War. We must never do that again.

Do you acknowledge humans' role in causing climate change? What steps should government be taking to address the issue?

Like many I believe it's important to make sure we leave the world a better place for our children and grandchildren and we should always explore new technologies to support that effort. That said, I'd like to see more evidence and data to see human's role in causing "Climate Change" before betting our entire economy on ridiculous policies like the Green New Deal pushed by far-left progressives. Policies like that aren't just ineffective, they're harmful to American families. In the hypothetical first year of implementation, the Green New Deal would cost an American household $75,000. That's insane. There has to be a way to address the complexity of the climate debate that doesn't put the burden on American families, or expand Government overreach.

Please define your position on health care reform, especially as it relates to the Affordable Care Act.

Obamacare was a government-based solution to human problems. It increased premium costs on millions of Americans, forced even more to lose their doctor or preferred health insurance, and I think we've seen a resounding rejection of it by the American people. That said, we do need reforms. We need to protect people with preexisting conditions, we need to make sure there is more transparency in prescription drug pricing, we do need to make sure Americans aren't hit with surprise catastrophic doctor bills. But the left's remedy for those issues is a Medicare-for-all type government based health care system. That is not the answer. It would put the government in charge of people's health care and stick the middle class with the bill. Right now no one is seriously working on finding solutions and that's what I intend to fix when I get to Congress.

What immigration policies do you support? Where, if at all, do you see room for compromise to produce an effective policy on immigration? Does the government have any responsibility toward Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children and are now adults? How will these policies affect your district?

My mother fled from war-torn Guatemala to find a better life in this country. But she didn't assume that life would be handed to her and she came here the right way. We must first, prioritize the safety and security of Americans by enforcing LEGAL immigration and knowing exactly who is coming into our Country. We have thousands of illegals crossing our border monthly and labor, sex and drug trafficking is at an all time high.

The numbers do not lie. It is the Government's constitutional duty to protect Americans. We must provide law enforcement with the resources to do their job and secure our border, first and foremost. Until our borders are safe and secure, and criminals held accountable, can we address other policies passed previously. All Americans want their communities, districts and Country safe, and in order to ensure that, immigration reform and the current border crisis must remain a priority in Congress with the right messengers to address and provide meaningful solutions.