Jeremy Wynes: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: HIGHLAND PARKWebsite: www.jeremywynes.comTwitter: @JeremyWynesFacebook: @WynesforCongressOffice sought: 10th District U.S. Representative Age: 38Family: Married to Lesley Kagan Wynes Daughter Jaclyn, 8 sons Isaac, 6, and Noah, 2.Occupation: Currently a full-time candidateEducation: DePaul University College of Law, J.D. 2006 Illinois State University, B.S. 2002Civic involvement: American Israel Public Affairs Committee, 2008-2014 Republican Jewish Coalition, 2014-2017Elected offices held: First-time candidateQuestions Answers What do you think is the government's responsibility in assuring that citizens have health care? To what extent does the Affordable Care Act address this responsibility? What, if any, changes are needed in the act.Something as important and complex as health care should not simply be handed over to the federal government. The goal should be first and foremost to empower individual consumers and foster innovation (not Uncle Sam's forte), not to expand federal control over a system that has been government-dominated for decades. Outside of its historic, widely-accepted role in ensuring that some form of care is available to children, the elderly and poor, we should be constantly looking for ways to pursue market-oriented reforms instead of top-down governmental decision making. Recent reform proposals that would have substituted a system of tax-credits for the failed system of mandates is a good example of a reform that's consumer oriented and respectful of individual decision-making. The Affordable Care Act, through the ineffective, highly regressive individual mandate tax, gave the federal government an unprecedented new power: taxing Americans for refusing to purchase a privately-delivered service. Its inherently weak enforcement mechanism and ever-rising premiums have not caused sufficient numbers of healthy individuals to purchase plans they don't want, opting instead to pay the tax. Meanwhile, the middle-class have continued to get squeezed, unable to get subsidy relief to afford costly coverage. Moving forward in the wake of the individual mandate repeal, legislation should finally be passed to authorize the cost-sharing reduction payments and fund state reinsurance arrangements. I expect, and would encourage, congressional leadership to quickly move towards passage of these important, bipartisan measures.What immigration policies do you support? Where, if at all, do you see room for compromise to produce an effective policy on immigration? What, if any, responsibility does the government have toward immigrants referred to as Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children and are now adults? How will these policies affect your district?Our immigration system is broken, and partisan opposition in D.C. continues to impede what the majority of Americans would consider a good solution to a national problem. First, I would support what should be a simple bipartisan compromise that would have the support of the vast majority of Americans - allowing the Dreamers to remain here on a path to citizenship in legislation that includes enhanced border security measures. A functional Congress should have been able to pass a measure like this within days of the White House meeting between President Trump and Democratic leadership. Second, if we have demonstrated a serious and effective approach to border enforcement, we can move on to the difficult question of what to do with the non-Dreamer, undocumented adult population. If we have achieved operational control over our borders, we can then look at ways to allow law-abiding immigrants to earn legal status in exchange for stepped-up enforcement on individuals here who should be considered for deportation. The time has also come to reform our legal-immigration system to better reflect our country's economic needs. I would support a legislative effort that eases the legal immigration process while changing how we prioritize who comes here. Except in cases of refugees and asylum, we must deemphasize extended-family unification as an organizing principle of immigration policy, gear our system towards potential economic contribution, and favor higher-skilled over lower-skilled immigration, especially for those who have come here to study and wish to remain and apply their skills.What military or diplomatic roles should the United States play to promote peace and stability in the Mideast? Under what circumstances should we have military forces actively operating?Through my leadership in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Republican Jewish Coalition, I have spent the last 10 years of my professional life traveling across Illinois and other Midwestern states working with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers for bipartisan U.S. foreign policy outcomes -- like crippling sanctions against Iran -- while educating hard working Americans of all races, religions and political affiliations to engage in shaping U.S. foreign policy. The US government's primary responsibility is to protect its citizens. Radical Islamist terrorism threatens Americans at home and abroad, can have devastating economic effects, and impacts the delicate balance between our security and our civil liberties. Therefore, we should use every tool in our toolkit - economic, diplomatic, military, and intelligence-gathering - to reduce the threat from ISIS and other non-state actors and state sponsors of terrorism. I continue to believe that of those tools at our disposal, U.S. engagement and power projection abroad to reduce terrorist safe havens and their support networks is the safest, most effective, and most cost-efficient way to protect the homeland. We've seen what happens the last 8 years when we lead from behind - our allies question America's commitments and our adversaries sense weakness and lack of resolve. We must end our bipartisan flirtation with the notion that it's time for US disengagement, and elect leaders committed to the reality that our leadership is just as crucial to the security, prosperity and freedom of the American people today as it's always been.What should the United States be doing to reduce the threat of potential nuclear conflict from North Korea?North Korea's nuclearization is not merely a problem for the Korean peninsula or our Pacific allies, but their strategic and economic ties to bad actors across the world, like Iran, Russia and Syria, mean that what they have today could be sold tomorrow. The only way to effectively reduce the threat is by rolling back their nuclear program. We need to squeeze North Korea in numerous ways. First, we need to make clear that our long-term strategic goal is the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula and act accordingly. As our last diplomatic option, the Chinese need to be seriously tested on whether they would like to see reunification occur by the inevitable, catastrophic collapse of North Korea, or a managed, international process taking their strategic concerns into account. Second, we must put a total economic squeeze on North Korea similar to our pre-2016 sanctions policy on Iran. Their international enablers need to know that they can either do business with the U.S., or they can do business with the regime, but not both. Third, we must begin to challenge North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile tests using both covert means and overt acts using enhanced missile-defense options. We have the capability to demonstrate to them that the peninsula is to be considered a Ãâ#128;™no testÃâ#128;œ and Ãâ#128;™no flyÃâ#128;œ zone. Finally, the Kim regime must believe there exists a credible U.S. military threat as a last resort to a North Korea with deliverable nuclear weapons.How would you describe the effectiveness of Congress today? If you think Congress needs to be more effective, what would you do to promote that?Congress is broken, and there is no better example of this than the current government shutdown irresponsibly voted for by Congressman Schneider. Thankfully, the American people now recognize that Congress will not look any different with the same people running for the same office saying the same things. We need the next generation of leadership on both sides of the aisle to step up, get involved, and replace the status-quo career politicians who are responsible for the mess in Washington. For seven years, I worked here in the Chicagoland area for a bipartisan policy organization. It was not easy, but we believed the best solutions came when both sides of the aisle were willing to compromise and put people over politics. I have a demonstrated record of being able to effectively build bipartisan consensus around complicated policy matters. In addition, members of Congress need to reclaim their legislative responsibilities and mutually agree to fight back against executive overreach no matter which party is in the White House. The American people will restore confidence in Congress if they see them taking their legislative responsibilities seriously instead of farming them out to the executive branch and unelected bureaucrats. We also need to reform our budgetary process. Alongside zero-based budgeting, Congress should consider adjusting our federal budgeting from an annual to a biannual process. This could help reduce gridlock in Washington by removing budgeting from election years to ensure that taxpayer dollars don't become political footballs every other year.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The primary cause I intend to champion in Congress is economic growth. I will support policies that can create the explosive economic growth that we need to grow our way out of our fiscal problems. I have outlined a number of my highest priorities to enhance American prosperity. First and foremost has been the need to overhaul the tax code, including tax cuts for middle-class taxpayers and pro-growth business reforms that will help create thousands of new jobs. Not only are the vast majority of taxpayers in the Tenth District going to see lower taxes, but businesses throughout the district are going to be far better off than had the tax code status quo been maintained by status-quo politicians like Brad Schneider. Second, we must also continue to reduce the regulatory burden suffocating job creation and business investment. Third, now that tax reform is accomplished, the time is also ripe for a 21st century Infrastructure upgrade. Illinois and the Tenth congressional district could see a huge boom from fixing our crumbling roads, bridges, rail and waterways. Lastly, we need to accept the reality that because 95% of the world's consumers live outside of the U.S., international trade is a net benefit for our country, state and congressional district. Brad Schneider put his finger in the air when the political winds shifted in 2016 on international trade, and he shares blame with Democrats and Republicans in Congress who set the table for the President's unfortunate withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Our U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has become a world leader and a long overdue truth-teller for U.S. values where it's badly needed.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I grew up in rural Illinois. My parents worked hard in multiple jobs to provide opportunities they didn't have. I'll never forget that life lesson.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I have very few regrets in life, but I will always wish I had the opportunity to spend a year in college studying abroad.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My favorite subjects were always Government/History focused, and still are. Especially today, understanding history helps ground us in an era of political and policy upheaval.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?My kids are 8, 6 and 2, so the advice my wife and I most often give is to be kind and compassionate to others.