Delia Ramirez: 2022 candidate for U.S. House 3rd District

Bio

Party: Democrat

Office sought: U.S. House 3rd District

City: Chicago

Age: 39

Occupation: State Representative, IL 4th House District

Previous offices held: State Representative, IL 4th House District

Q&A

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?

I believe a lot of the issues we are trying to solve have strong bipartisan support. We all want great local schools, affordable healthcare, and good-paying jobs. I believe we can find much common ground if members of Congress can prioritize the needs of constituents before corporations.

My campaign is not taking money from corporate PACs, a commitment that none of my opponents have made. I support regulations at the federal level to get big money out of politics like passing legislation to overturn Citizens United. As a state legislator, I have advocated for stronger ethics laws and restrictions on lobbying by elected officials.

As long as corporations like the fossil fuel industry and pharmaceutical companies can buy the favor of Congress with campaign contributions, the issues that matter to working people will remain unaddressed and tensions between both chambers, the administration and parties will remain.

What is your position on changing voter access?

Our voting rights are under attack across the country, and I will fight to protect our voting rights in Congress. I will champion the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to ensure that we have strong federal protections against Republican efforts to pass restrictive voting laws at the state level. I will support the Freedom to Vote Act to end partisan gerrymandering, expand voting rights through automatic voter registration and vote-by-mail, and create a public donor matching fund to help curb the influence of big money in politics.

I have a strong record of being on the front lines of pro-democracy reforms and advancing voting rights. As a community leader, I supported efforts to expand automatic voter registration in Illinois. I also advocated for campaign finance reform to get big money out of politics when I worked for Common Cause. A strong democracy requires an engaged and informed electorate and policies that protect and expand voting rights rather than restrict them.

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

I absolutely recognize the results of the 2020 election and the legitimate victory of President Biden. The last four years of President Trump and the Jan 6 insurrection have shown us that our democracy is under attack, and we must do more to protect it. Anyone who is still denying the results of the election should be held accountable for spreading misinformation and be disqualified from holding public office.

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

Those who helped perpetrate and instigate the attack on Jan 6 should be held accountable to the highest extent of the law. That includes former President Trump, his allies in Congress who refused to condemn the attack, and his supporters who breached the Capitol to prevent the certifying of the election. Ultimately, we also must look to address the root causes that led to the Jan 6 attack. The rioters who stormed the capitol were operating with an understanding that was made possible by years of misinformation through social media and cable television. We need to set higher standards to guard against the misinformation that spreads through these mediums. The companies responsible for spreading misinformation regarding the election need to be held accountable when their negligence or abuse of power results in actions like Jan 6.

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?

Our foreign policy goals should always be guided by a deep respect for human rights, centered on diplomatic solutions to conflict, and make every effort to avoid war. As a Congresswoman, I will advocate for a responsible, tempered, and informed approach to foreign policy. I believe war should only ever be undertaken in self-defense or when all diplomatic options have failed. Congress should reassert its constitutional right to declare war and prevent the never-ending wars we have seen waged over the past 20 years.

I stand firmly in support of President Biden's sanctions on Russia over the unprovoked war in Ukraine. As a state legislator, I co-sponsored legislation to amplify the President's actions by divesting IL public funds from Russian interests and creating an emergency program to help resettle Ukrainian refugees. We must continue to stand with the international community in condemning the attack with forceful sanctions and supporting the Ukrainian people.

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

We know that human beings are directly responsible for climate change, and we are at a crisis point that requires swift decisive action to prevent a climate catastrophe. Future generations are depending on our leaders today to take bold and principled stances to end our reliance on fossil fuels, make a full transition to clean energy, and transform our economy to be greener and cleaner.

I am ready to lead on climate change in Congress as I have in Springfield where I was an early co-sponsor of Illinois' landmark Clean Energy and Equitable Jobs Act, which will transition our state to 100% renewable energy by 2045 and create good family-supporting jobs in clean energy. As Congresswoman I will be a committed and unwavering champion for the Green New Deal to invest in clean energy jobs and infrastructure, end our reliance on fossil fuels, and fight the effects of climate change in a proactive and equitable manner.

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

No one should have to choose between a life-saving medicine or keeping a roof over their heads. Our healthcare system should exist to save lives and address people's needs, and not to deliver massive profits to investors and pharmaceutical companies. As a State Representative, I have been a leader in the fight to make sure every Illinoisan has access to healthcare including championing historic expansions of Medicaid and co-sponsoring laws to reduce racial disparities in our healthcare system.

I will be a champion and firm supporter of Medicare for All. While we work towards this goal, we must bring the costs of healthcare down. I will take on the pharmaceutical and for-profit medical industries and champion legislation to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. I will work to increase healthcare access until we ultimately have a universal healthcare system where no one is denied the care they need.

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?

As the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, I believe we must stop tearing families apart through deportation. Families belong together and our immigration laws must be transformed to welcome people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families rather than deporting them. I will be a champion for immigrant families in Congress as I have been in my role as a state legislator where I supported legislation to stop cooperation with ICE, invest into immigrant services, and close all private immigrant detention centers.

I will advocate for a pathway to citizenship for the more than 10 million undocumented people in the U.S. I will fight to make sure DACA recipients can permanently adjust their legal status, eliminate the case backlog in immigration court, push to reduce fees so that more people can file for citizenship, and will fight deportations to keep families together.