I voted for the health care law after hundreds of meetings with doctors, nurses, business owners and ordinary citizens, because it was a necessary step forward and because of the successful experience with “Romneycare” in Massachusetts. Those who continue to waste time and taxpayer dollars by voting repeatedly to repeal the bill, including my opponent who voted 27 times for repeal, have yet to explain how they would cover the millions of people who were uninsured before this bill passed – including the 40,000 who die every year because of a lack of health insurance. Those who would repeal this bill would be giving back to big insurance companies the power to deny insurance to children with pre-existing conditions, to drop people’s coverage when they get sick, by weakening Medicare, and passing billions of dollars of prescription drug costs back onto the elderly.
What we must do is make sure that the ACA is well implemented so that provisions in the health care reform bill – such as electronic medical records and bundled care payments – that are already starting to reduce costs will benefit both the Medicare program and reduce health care costs for younger Americans.
First, we need to continue policies to strengthen U.S. manufacturing. In the years of Republican control we witnessed the decimation of American manufacturing, with one-third of U.S. manufacturing jobs lost, because of policies that encouraged companies to ship jobs overseas instead of instead rewarding companies who keep manufacturing here. My opponent voted for all these policies as well as the bad trade deals that allowed China and other countries to steal U.S technology and compete unfairly against U.S. manufacturers. As these policies are reversed, U.S. manufacturing is leading the recovery, but the damage will take years to undo.
Second, we need to help middle class homeowners who are bearing the brunt of the burden during these tough times. The Harp 2.0 program is an example of a successful program to help underwater homeowners refinance their homes at lower interest rates, while saving money for the taxpayer. This type of program should be extended.
Finally, we must avoid doing harm by preventing the “fiscal cliff” that my opponent voted for. While it is obvious that a compromise will be needed, my opponent has unfortunately taken a pledge never to compromise on this issue.
I believe in fiscal responsibility, and have often described myself as a Paul Simon Democrat. In that vein, I am a supporter of a balanced budget amendment like the one Senator Simon proposed. But the Republican proposal that would end Medicare as we know and raise taxes on middle class families in order to protect tax cuts for the wealthy is the wrong approach. It asks for sacrifice from only the middle class – the people who have already sacrificed the most.
While I would like to see this type of balanced budget amendment, I believe there are things that Congress can do now to start reducing our deficits. Returning tax rates on the top 1% to where they were during the Clinton years would be a step in the right direction. There are also significant opportunities for reducing government expenses, such as the $1.4T cost of the fleet of next-generation manned fighter planes when unmanned drones can do their job much more cheaply, cutting unneeded farm subsidies to millionaire farmers, and using emerging technologies to battle drug and alcohol addiction.
America has always been a beacon of freedom, democracy and opportunity for the rest of the world, and I think the last three years have gone a long way toward restoring that image. There is simply no other country in the world that can play the role that we play, and to that end, we must continue to assume our leadership role in the world.
On the other hand, the bellicosity and unilateral swagger of the last decade cost our country dearly, both in blood and treasure and in our reputation in the world. A much better model for the way forward was the approach taken in Libya, which (despite the recent tragedy) resulted in the termination of an unacceptable regime with an understanding that the word community – and not just the U.S. – bears the responsibility for the long-term stability and humanity of the emerging government.
I believe that the approach of the Obama administration of gradually ratcheting up multilateral pressure on Syria, including economic pressure that will soon make the Syrian army unable to pay its troops, is likely to yield results within a year.
I too am fed up with the gridlock in Washington, and I am willing to vote against my party leadership to cure it. This is in sharp contrast to my opponent, who has taken the Grover Norquist “zero-compromise” pledge and has been a straight party-line vote for all of the economic policies that turned a budget surplus into a $10 trillion deficit and wrecked our economy – and a straight party-line vote against efforts by the President to repair the damage.
There will be no compromise in Washington as long as the leadership of whatever party is in power can count on lockstep party-line voting from members like my opponent. It is only when members start showing some independence that party leadership will be forced to the negotiating table.
I believe the best solutions are driven by facts instead of partisan politics. So I was willing to vote against my own party when I thought it was best for the country – such as voting against Democratic budgets that did not contain a long-term plan to pay down our debt, or voting against the “Cap and Trade Bill” that relied on flawed technical and economic analysis.
Social Security is a successful program and Congress has a responsibility to protect it for future generations.
I believe the best thing we can do to protect Social Security is to increase economic growth, by continuing to reverse the policies that provided near-zero growth during the Bush years. With increased economic growth, Social Security can better withstand the retirement of the baby boomers, and provide a safety net for generations to come.
The long term health of Social Security can also be significantly strengthened by proposals such as making the payroll tax applicable to incomes above $250,000 which are currently exempt.
There are many like my opponent who want to privatize Social Security. She supported President Bush’s efforts privatize Social Security and voted for legislation that would send hard-earned Social Security funds into the hands of Wall Street money managers who would then extract management fees from the retirement funds. If their efforts had been successful, it would have resulted in catastrophic losses during the economic collapse of 2008. I will continue to oppose privatization.
We need a comprehensive solution to immigration, and I believe that the McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform proposal is an appropriate starting point for a negotiated solution. First, we must secure our borders, using both agents and technology to insure that no one comes across the border illegally. This is both an immigration and a national security issue. Second, those who are here illegally must not be given more favorable treatment than those who are waiting in line to become citizens. I believe the most effective thing we can do is attack this problem at the source: employers. We should crack down on those employers who hire illegal immigrants, which will reduce the demand for this kind of labor.
I supported and voted for the DREAM Act when I was in Congress. I support the President’s implementation of portions of the DREAM act through executive action. It is a first step towards comprehensive immigration reform and it’s unfortunate that the Tea Party and Republican leadership, including my opponent, have stood in the way of moving this important legislation forward.
Education should always be a priority. In an increasingly competitive world, we need to be sure that our children receive the best education possible. I applaud President Obama’s efforts to reform and improve our schools. When you consider the number of engineers that are graduating in places like India and China, you realize how important these educational reforms are.
Second, I believe that investments in science and technology are critical. These are important for our nation to stay on the cutting edge of scientific discoveries. And it’s important locally. With Fermi Lab and Argonne, these are job creating machines as well as laboratories of discovery and we need to support them. I was deeply disturbed by the draconian cuts to federal research budgets contained “Ryan Budget” – a cut of over 30% as estimated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science – and disturbed by Congresswoman Biggert’s vote for these cuts, which will result in substantial layoffs at the National Labs.
Our nation’s health care system is badly in need of reform. The American people want lower costs, increased access, and better care. Unfortunately, the heavy-handed approach taken by the authors of the 2,700-page health law has produced unintended consequences that are driving up costs, leading to dropped coverage, and draining jobs from a fragile economy. For example, a McKinsey study that surveyed more than 1,300 employers of various sizes found that 30% of employers would “definitely” or “probably” stop offering coverage in 2014, when the law kicks in. We cannot fix what’s broken if people in Washington are unwilling to acknowledge their own mistakes.
I support repealing the law and replacing these policies that are raising costs. In their place, we can enact consensus-driven, bipartisan solutions that Democrat leaders have ignored in the past, including Association Health Plans and medical malpractice reform.
In fact, I recently cosponsored replacement legislation that would lower costs, increase competition, expand portability for those between jobs, and provide coverage for pre-existing conditions. These sorts of commonsense reforms would not only address the real issues in our health care system, I believe they’d be widely supported both in Congress and among the public.
My top priority is getting the economy back on track and putting people back to work. It’s clear that paralyzing economic uncertainty, driven by the policies coming out of Washington, has impeded recovery and suppressed growth rates well below those of other economic recoveries.
To reinvigorate private-sector job creation, we should start with commonsense tax reform and with extending the tax cuts for everyone. Simplifying the tax code will help to create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness. By closing loopholes, lowering tax rates, and giving taxpayers some certainty, we can create a pro-growth environment that rewards innovation and job creation.
Secondly, we need to end the regulatory nightmare. In 2011 alone, the Administration proposed over 400 new regulations with the potential to burden job creators with more than $70 billion in new compliance costs. That’s why we need to review and defund regulations that stifle the ability of businesses to create jobs and expand their operations.
Third, we should temporarily allow U.S. companies to repatriate, at a lower tax rate, profits earned abroad. This would encourage corporations to immediately bring home profits, with the potential to produce 1 million jobs alone in the first year.
Any serious reductions in the national debt can only be accomplished if policy makers on both sides agree to make spending cuts the primary focus. However, revenues can and should be part of the solution. Last year, I wrote to members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction encouraging them to seek revenue increases as the natural byproduct of effective broad-based tax reform and pro-growth financial policies. I supported the Republican proposals in the Supercommittee to raise $300 billion in new revenue while meeting the $1.2 trillion in statutory discretionary spending cuts over a decade.
There are no easy solutions. But, with a national debt that now is larger than our entire economy, and unemployment hovering above eight percent for more than forty-three straight months, attempting to simply tax our way to a balanced budget would require tax rates to more than double. Raising taxes on our nation’s job creators would make it even more difficult for them to hire new workers, much less keep their doors open. Seniors and families working to make ends meet don’t deserve tax increases; they deserve tax relief.
The United States must pursue an international role that promotes the security of our citizens and safety of our allies. The Assad regime has long posed a serious threat to our interests in the Middle East and those of our allies. It has welcomed extremist organizations like Hezbollah into its midst and willingly received support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. With the assistance of these terrorist organizations, the regime has slaughtered more than 20,000 of its own citizens over the last 17 months.
To stabilize Syria, we must first thwart this dangerous and hostile regime. I was proud to support the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, which cracks down on Iran – the Assad regime’s principal supporter – to an extent never seen before. The law achieves this primarily by imposing new, biting, sanctions against Iran’s energy, financial, and transportation sectors, but it also imposes new requirements on the Administration to identify and sanction anyone who is carrying out human rights violations in Syria or those who are providing the resources and technologies that the Syrian government needs to restrict the free flow of information and cover up those abuses.
I do not believe that compromise is a bad word. After all, the alternative is “my way or the highway,” and that’s why too little is being accomplished in Washington.
As a former school board president and long-time community volunteer, I have a proven track record of listening to constituents and bringing people together to find solutions that work. I approach my work in Congress with the same spirit, which is why I was honored when my peers on the other side of the aisle elected me one of the “Ten Most Bipartisan” members of the House.
For example, for over a decade I have led annual bipartisan efforts to ensure that the Office of Science (the primary source of funding for Fermilab and Argonne) has the resources they need to continue to push the boundaries of human knowledge. My work on their behalf has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Science Coalition’s “Champion of Science.”
I’ve seen some people in Washington who claim that a “centrist voting record” means they are bipartisan. But I learned long ago that choosing how to vote is the easy part. It’s choosing when to lead that is difficult.
Millions of individuals have paid into Social Security with the understanding that they will receive a retirement benefit in exchange, and I have no intention of allowing the federal government to break that promise.
This April, the Social Security Trustees announced that the Social Security Trust Fund would run dry in 2033, three years earlier than previously anticipated. It’s clear that we must act now, which is why I supported a plan requiring the Social Security Trustees, the President, and Congress to enact bipartisan reforms that will keep the Trust Fund solvent for future generations.
The way to save Social Security is to reform it, not to fall back on the failed policies of the past. So-called reforms like raising payroll taxes, cutting benefits, raising the retirement age or means testing have been enacted in the past and have failed to produce a long-term solution.
I believe the only way Congress will ever make the reforms needed to ensure Social Security’s long-term viability is through a comprehensive, bipartisan approach that makes tough decisions on the whole range of issues and ideas – not by simply raising taxes and calling it a success.
With between 12 and 13 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States, our immigration system is clearly broken. Unfortunately, the partisan divide on this issue has grown so wide that some in Washington have written off hope of advancing a solution. That is because no proposal for immigration reform -- ranging from amnesty to incarceration -- can achieve this goal while our borders remain unsecured.
Washington made that mistake in the 1980’s, when Congress accepted amnesty without first securing the borders. The result was even more illegal immigration, not less.
There is much we can do to reform our legal immigration system of hard numerical caps to make it more efficient, effective, and responsive to U.S. labor needs. Labor conditions in the U.S. should dictate where the cap is set for our visa categories.
But before we can address these issues effectively, we must first secure the borders. That means more boots on the ground and better use of electronic surveillance technology along points of entry. We also need to expand the use of tools like E-Verify to ensure that American employers are hiring legal workers.
The danger posed by heroin in the western suburbs is growing, leading to ruined lives and tragic deaths. Some parents may not realize the easy availability of the drug – Interstate 88 and Roosevelt Road/State Street are referred to as “heroin highways” – nor its addictive properties, but too many are seeing the toll it takes. Tragically, heroin was the cause of seven deaths in Kane County last year, and seven more in Naperville.
As a former school board president, and as a mother of four and a grandmother of nine, I’m deeply concerned about the threat heroin poses to our schools, our communities, and our families. I believe that knowledge is one of our most effective weapons, so I have worked to educate students and their parents about the dangers of heroin. In July, I partnered with community groups and government agencies to increase awareness through an education and prevention forum. Parents learned about warning signs of heroin use and students heard from those affected by the drug, including from a father who lost his son to an overdose.
More must be done, and I remain committed to working side by side with others in the fight against this scourge.
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