Questions by Columbian staff writer Kathie Durbin
Q: Economic recovery: As a member of Congress, how would you work with other House members, the Obama administration and Washington state leaders to help small businesses and create jobs in Southwest Washington? Please be specific.
A: As a small businessman, I know that 70% of job growth in the past decade has come from small businesses, and they are the key to getting Southwest Washington’s economy moving again.
Let’s be clear – small businesses were slammed when Wall Street banks put our economy on the brink of collapse. And while corporate CEO’s were getting bailouts and bonuses, people were getting laid off here in the 3rd District. We must have strong and comprehensive Wall Street reform so they can never hurt our small businesses on Main Street again.
We can provide targeted tax incentives to spur small business growth, including an investment tax credit for equipment purchases to help restore our local manufacturing and maintain the new hire tax credit to spur job growth.
Congress must provide an understandable, reliable and level playing field to foster small business start-ups and growth. Too often the difficulty in dealing with government at all levels impedes a small business’s opportunity to expand and create more jobs.
A “jobless” economic recovery is no recovery at all, we must get people back to work. I look forward to working with anyone in Congress, the administration and our state willing to make getting people back to work in this country our very top priority.
Q: Columbia River Crossing: Our congressional delegation warns that the window for securing federal funding for a new I-5 bridge over the Columbia is rapidly closing, and that the region’s failure to reach consensus on a bridge design and the local funding match could kill the project. Do you believe a new crossing is essential to the growth of Southwest Washington? If so, what would you do to break the political gridlock? If not, what if anything should be done to improve the existing spans?
A: Anyone who has ever crossed the Columbia River on Interstate 5 can and will tell you – we need something new. The incredible congestion on the current crossing…
- takes a toll on families who wait for commuting parents to get home each night;
- increases the likelihood and occurrence of dangerous traffic accidents;
- and significantly impedes the movement of freight, raising the cost of doing business in southwest Washington.
This project will drive short-term job growth during the years of construction of this several billion dollar project. More importantly, it will enhance long term job creation and economic growth in Clark County and Southwest Washington by opening up this major choke point to more efficient mobility of goods and people.
I look forward to being a strong advocate for this project both in Congress, and right here in Southwest Washington working with local, regional and state leaders to get the job done.
Q: Energy: Describe briefly your vision for the nation’s energy future and the region’s. What new energy sources should the federal government promote/subsidize? Do you believe it’s possible for the U.S. to wean itself from fossil fuels? Regarding the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, what steps, if any, would you support to hold BP accountable, repair the environmental and economic damage in the region, and strengthen federal spill prevention rules?
A: It is imperative to reduce our reliance and dependence on fossil fuels, for improved environmental health and importantly, national security. We have to get from under the thumb of people who hate us.
There are incredible opportunities in Southwest Washington to grow our economy through clean energy projects and the creation of green jobs. We can make targeted investments that conserve energy, like commercial building retrofitting, and create good jobs. We can place a high priority on all forms of renewable energy, and train a skilled workforce to manage projects like the wind farms up and down the Columbia River Gorge.
With regards to BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we must hold British Petroleum responsible for the greatest environmental disaster in our country’s history. I support forcing BP to pay $20 billion into an escrow account to help the millions of people affected by the oil spill but do not think it should be capped as we don’t know the true extent of this disaster. Additionally, the Department of Interior completely dropped the ball on oversight of these deepwater drilling locations. Additional safety audits of all existing deep water drilling operations should also move forward immediately, while the recovery and clean-up efforts continue.
Q: Financial reform: What is your plan to protect American consumers from a recurrence of the abuses committed by Wall Street investment banks that led to the Great Recession? Do you favor reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act or something similar?
A: The reckless practices of Wall Street materially contributed to the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. Without comprehensively reigning in Wall Street banks and CEO’s, we will have the same system in place that caused the crisis and led to the loss of over seven million jobs and forced countless small businesses to close their doors forever. This must never happen again.
We need reform that will fix a broken system that allowed the big banks to game the system and take advantage of consumers, protect taxpayers from any future bailouts, hold Wall Street banks and reckless CEO’s accountable, and restore confidence in the markets to make it easier for small businesses to get the credit they need to grow and create jobs.
- I was the first candidate in this race to call for the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, which will get banks back to the business of being banks, lending safely and responsibly to small businesses in our communities.
- Wall Street’s risky derivative contracts must be forced out of the shadows and into public exchanges.
- Consumer protections must be enhanced to prevent Wall Street from engaging in deceptive practices and marketing.
Very importantly, we must ensure that every cent of taxpayer money used to bailout Wall Street banks is paid back with interest.
Wall Street reform is imperative for our economic growth going forward.
Q: Immigration reform: Assuming Congress does not act this year, what is your vision for strengthening our borders and dealing with the 12 million undocumented immigrants who are in the U.S. today? Do you favor amnesty? Deportation? A path to citizenship for illegals? What is your take on the Arizona law? Please be specific.
A: I believe we need comprehensive immigration reform that is tough, practical, and smart. The recent law passed in Arizona is an incredibly strong and revealing example of the failure by Congress to fulfill its responsibility to maintain an immigration system that meets our economic needs while keeping our country secure. A state-by-state process in dealing with immigration into our country is no solution.
We certainly need to improve our border security against terrorist threats and dangerous drug trafficking. We need an employment verification system that works, and employers are required to implement. And we must require that people earn the right to stay here, pay unpaid back taxes plus a penalty, complete community service and learn English.
This is a tough, practical and smart solution to address our broken immigration system, and it must be done.
Q: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: President Obama announced in March 2009 that he would withdraw most combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, deploy 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and train Afghan troops, and begin withdrawing military forces from Afghanistan in 2011. Do you agree in general with those goals? Briefly, what in your view should be the nation’s future military and political objectives in these two countries?
A: The war in Iraq was misguided and took our attention away from the true problem in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is now the longest war in American history, and there are still questions and challenges unanswered. I don’t believe we’ve determined how to deal with the corrupt Karzai government to ensure stability for the country. We have yet to find a solution for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the border of Afghanistan, in Pakistan, where extremists have escaped to and are operating.
I look forward to the President’s reassessment of the Afghanistan war due later this year, and I hope it answers several questions. Two very important questions that must be answered are:
What is our definition of success, and does that include an exit plan?
Do we have a reasonable chance of achieving that success?
Failure to answer these questions would strongly necessitate a change in direction and policy in Afghanistan.
