Underwood vs. Oberweis: 10 questions for the candidates running for the 14th District of the U.S. House of Representatives
Illinois has 18 congressional districts, and each one features a contested race this year. Several include third-party candidates.
Congressional districts are determined by overall state population. Illinois, due to shrinking population, could lose a seat in the U.S. House, possibly two, following the completion of the U.S. Census.
To learn more about the candidates running for Congress, read their Tribune questionnaires here:
Why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.
I have lived in this district my entire life. Unlike my opponent, I pay real estate taxes here so I understand what a burden they have become in Illinois. I’m proud to call the 14th District my home. I am a parent and a grandparent. Also unlike my opponent, I have extensive experience in the private sector, and I have a proven track record of job creation. In addition, I have served 7 years in the Illinois Senate and currently serve as the Minority Whip. I know how to work across the aisle to get things done.
My opponent is one of the most partisan legislators in Congress. She does not seem interested in working with Republicans on much of anything and has voted with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time this year.
I will be a leader for the whole district - Democrats and Republicans. I will work with Democrats just as I did with the legislation to increase the speed limit on Interstate Highways from 65 mph to 70 mph.
Finally, residents of the 14th District know exactly who I am and where I stand. My opponent told the City Club of Chicago that it was probably in her best interest not to talk about presidential candidates in the Democrat party. She recognizes that the 14th Congressional District is not anywhere near as radical as so many in her party (Underwood included) seem to be. Underwood cannot be honest with her constituents about her positions on the issues because she knows they are not in line with the majority of people in the 14th. I can and will be honest with the people of this district because that kind of honesty and integrity is what voters need and deserve.
What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the nation?
The issues I hear about the most on the campaign trail are crime, taxes, healthcare, and jobs.
One of the reasons I am running for Congress is the fact that I do not want Illinois to become the example for the rest of the nation. Illinois is an example of the tremendous damage out-of-control spending and high taxes can do. We have thousands of people leaving Illinois each year because of the high taxes and outrageous spending. Illinois should serve as a reminder that sound fiscal policies and fair – not punitive – taxation is the best way to improve our economy.
People want access to affordable, quality healthcare. There are free market solutions that will enable us to achieve these goals. We can lower costs, increase access all while protecting pre-existing conditions. Allowing more competition, increasing price transparency, and allowing portability of healthcare coverage are just some of the ways we can improve healthcare.
When it comes to jobs, I have been a job creator for decades. I have built and run three successful businesses. I have an MBA from the University of Chicago. I understand economics and I have created thousands of jobs in the last 10 years.
Finally, while we have all witnessed some horrific mistakes by a few police officers, such mistakes do not mean we should “defund the police”. I believe we all have the right to protest wrongs that we see. I have done so myself. That should not be a political issue. But when we see people destroying businesses, rioting and looting to protest wrongs, that is absolutely unacceptable. I have asked Lauren Underwood to condemn the rioting and looting that has taken place in Chicago and numerous other cities. Her response has been shocking. In front of another Editorial Board she said, “With respect to rioting and looting, you know, I think we have seen many instances of beautiful protests this summer.” That attitude and disregard for other people and their property should disqualify her from serving in Congress.
Assuming your victory, choose a single issue you would prioritize in the coming term – name it and describe what you want to accomplish.
In light of the shutdown of our economy, one of the most important concerns for the country right now is to get our economy going again. We had a robust economy with record low unemployment going into the pandemic and now we are facing the harsh reality that many of our businesses may not be coming back.We need leaders in Congress who understand what it takes to create jobs and can help craft policies that will lead to job growth. I have extensive experience as a small business owner in creating jobs. I have received the NFIB endorsement because I have a 100 percent voting record on the issues small business owners care about. Democrats love to talk about spending money on one government program after another, but if more Americans had good paying jobs and more discretionary income – we could solve a lot of problems without creating yet another government program that takes money out of the economy.
Some specific economic proposals are:
Create a public/private partnership between manufacturers and community colleges (grants etc.) to teach pharmaceutical manufacturing and begin moving pharmaceutical production back to the United States
Reduce regulatory hurdles to encourage investment in start-up companies and more domestic manufacturing
Make the Trump tax cuts permanent
In 150 words or fewer, make a pitch for the presidential candidate you support.
While I frequently don’t like his tone and his tweets, I support President Donald Trump because he cares deeply about this country and he strives to put the people of this great nation first. His policies have helped manufacturing in this country rebound and prior to the shutdown of our economy his policies created an unprecedented period of prosperity in our nation. President Trump has done more than just talk about border security. He has provided the leadership we need on immigration. He also has made significant strides in brokering peace in the Middle East. The peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel and now also between Israel and Bahrain is a huge step toward future world peace. Many past presidents have tried to accomplish what Donald Trump has done. There is no question Donald Trump deserves a second term.
Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms would you be willing to support?
There really are only three solutions to solve our social security deficit. One is to increase the retirement age. The second is to raise social security tax rates. The third is to increase the base that is taxed. We may need some combination of all three but the most realistic might be to consider an increase in the normal retirement age. When social security started, the life expectancy was about 63 so payments were not expected to be made for very long. A significant increase in life expectancy to about 80 (which is wonderful) is making those payments unsustainable without increasing revenue to the system. We must protect our social security system while also increasing incentives for individual retirement savings like 401k plans to supplement social security payments and to provide more flexibility for people considering retirement.
Some Medicare reforms Congress should consider are:
Reduce taxpayer subsidies for wealthy Medicare recipients to relieve cost pressure on taxpayers and slightly reduce the Part B and D premium costs for middle-income beneficiaries. Congress should apply reduced subsidies to the top 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, which would save an estimated $438.4 billion between 2020 and 2029.
Harmonize Medicare’s and Social Security’s ages of eligibility. Social Security’s age of eligibility is 67, and Medicare’s is 65. Congress should raise Medicare’s eligibility age by two months per year over 10 years to bring it in line with Social Security’s eligibility age. We could also allow people to join earlier on a voluntary basis by paying a market rate.
What do you view as the government’s obligation, if any, to help American workers secure health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program, such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it?
People want access to affordable, quality healthcare. There are free market solutions that will enable us to achieve these goals. We can lower costs, increase access all while protecting pre-existing conditions. Allowing more competition, increasing price transparency, and allowing portability of healthcare coverage are just some of the ways we can improve healthcare.
We need to increase price transparency of healthcare services. Consumers have no idea what the actual cost of their healthcare is. We also need to encourage more competition in the open market. Another way to lower costs would be to allow healthcare plans to follow the individual rather than tie these plans to employment. Portability of healthcare costs could help substantially lower costs.
I believe Medicaid for All eliminates choice, would be too expensive and is an unworkable, unrealistic solution. We need to focus on solutions that are realistic and solutions that would actually get results. The cost of Medicare for All would be about $32.6 trillion over 10 years. This is not realistic. Giving the government total control over our healthcare system (Medicare for All) is not a good idea. Whether we repeal and replace ObamaCare or just make necessary improvements is not the issue. The issue is how we make healthcare more available and affordable for all is the issue. That must come from more open, competitive markets and more transparency. There are elements such as providing care for pre-existing conditions that we must keep, but we need to look at ways to reduce the cost of healthcare rather than merely shifting the cost of healthcare to the taxpayers.
Identify 3 national security threats to the United States. Choose one and explain your approach to dealing with that threat.
Iran
China
North Korea
The Chinese government is the biggest threat to the security of our nation. The communist government in China is trying to rival the United States' status as the world’s only superpower. Additionally, China continues to engage in outrageous human rights violations.
China misled the world about what they knew about the coronavirus. We must hold them accountable. We need to investigate China’s handling of the coronavirus and the spread of the disease worldwide. We also need to bring manufacturing of drugs and medical equipment back to the United States. We need to continue to negotiate trade deals that help our workers and grow our economy but also prevent the human rights violations we are seeing in Hong Kong and in China itself. If we don’t take a stand against these human rights violations – no one else will.
COVID-19 has destroyed jobs. The economy needs to be rebuilt. What policy steps should Congress take (beyond stimulus money or bailouts) in the next year to create as many jobs and as much prosperity as possible?
First, we need to make the Trump tax cuts permanent. Under the President’s leadership, companies are expanding and creating jobs thanks to the President’s tax cuts. We need to make these tax cuts permanent. We also need to keep rolling back regulations on businesses to spur more economic growth. President’s Trump’s efforts in reducing business regulations has been a significant catalyst in encouraging investment into the US economy. Reversing these policies would be a bad idea. Biden wants to increase taxes on 80% of Americans. Presumably Underwood would agree. I think that is a very bad idea at this point in a recovery from the global pandemic. Finally, we need to invest in infrastructure. I think this should be a bipartisan effort. The Democrats, in their hatred for the President, have stood in the way of any meaningful progress on an infrastructure plan. It is time to put these partisan differences aside and work for the good of the country.
When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major import?
One of the areas I have shown independence is on the issue of mail in ballots. On the floor of the Illinois Senate, I argued for including mail-in ballot applications with the mailing of the Constitutional Amendment information. My proposal would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars in postage costs and made the applications available to all registered voters instead of just those who voted in the heavier Democrat turnout elections. I have been a strong advocate for mail in ballots. During the primary, my campaign had an aggressive mail-in ballot effort. We sent out numerous press releases encouraging voters to vote by mail. I firmly believe that vote by mail is a safe and effective way for people to vote in the 14th Congressional District. I might have a little more concern in Cook County.
If you are an incumbent, tell us the most significant accomplishment of your current term. If you are a newcomer, tell us how you as a rookie would keep from being a backbencher.
I plan to be a budget hawk as a member of Congress. We need to get government spending under control. The debt we are creating is generational theft and it is wrong. I believe we need to return to a true budget process. No more continuing resolutions that get rammed through at the last minute and are negotiated in secret. The recent CR was more than 2,300 pages. No one read it. No one truly knows what is in it. The current budget process needs to change. Specifically, we need to: Substantially reduce discretionary spending; Reduce entitlement spending through structural market-based reforms; Enact a federal Balanced Budget Amendment; Give the President the ability to use the line item to veto appropriations bills like most governors can do in the states. I have signed the balanced budget amendment pledge and I will be a strong advocate for getting our spending under control as a member of Congress. I will also propose term limits for members of Congress, though I know that will be a very tough challenge. But someone has to lead the way and I will.
Why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.
I’m a registered nurse and public health expert. I’ve found that my experience in health care has been vital to my work to lower health care costs and lead our community through the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe public policy should be driven by science and data, not political ideology.
More broadly, when I was elected to Congress in 2018, I promised to my community that I would be the most accessible, transparent, and accountable Congresswoman Illinois' 14th District has ever seen. I held 15 town halls with my constituents in 2019, and another dozen this year.
I see my job in Congress as bringing the voices and values of northern Illinois to Washington. My office set up nine constituent advisory councils, on issues from education to small business to veterans services, to ensure that I’m doing just that. Due to my collaborative approach, I’ve been able to make real progress for our community in Congress, amidst the partisanship in Washington. President Trump has signed three pieces of my legislation into law, including the Lower Insulin Costs Now Act, to make lower-cost, generic insulin available more quickly for families who have been forced to ration insulin due to recent price spikes. My opponent, however, is stuck on the politics of the past. We don’t need another out of touch, self-serving politician in Congress. We certainly don’t need another representative who will seek to take away our hard-fought health care protections and restrict women’s reproductive health care.
What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the nation?
My immediate priority is keeping our community safe. We must implement a national COVID-19 strategy to provide testing, tracing and treatment, limit community spread and support a robust economic recovery. I’ve been pleased to vote for several large scale COVID relief packages over the last several months, including the CARES Act, which established the Paycheck Protection Program that saved tens of thousands of jobs in our community. The House approved our most recent relief package, The Heroes Act, on May 15. I’m deeply disappointed that the Senate has failed to come to the negotiating table to get this much-needed relief out to our families and small businesses.
Second, COVID-19 has only underscored how desperately we need high-quality, affordable health care for our families. Insurance premiums and health care costs remain too high for many of our families. I passed the Health Care Affordability Act and the Lower Drug Costs Now Act through the House to lower health care premiums and prescription drug costs.
My third priority is cleaning up Washington. The overt corruption of the Trump Administration has degraded public trust in our government. One of the first pieces of legislation I supported as a member of Congress reduces the role of money in politics, strengthens ethics rules to make sure that politicians actually serve the public interest, and makes it easier, not harder to vote. I am committed to restoring voting rights and pursuing a strong anti-corruption agenda to ensure every federal official serves the public, not themselves.
Assuming your victory, choose a single issue you would prioritize in the coming term – name it and describe what you want to accomplish.
The single issue I hear about most often from my constituents is the high cost of health care. In the 14th District, we have families who are spending 25 percent of their income on monthly health care premiums. That’s why I wrote the Health Care Affordability Act. That legislation would ensure no family spends more than 8.5 percent of their income in premium costs for health insurance plans purchased through the marketplace. That legislation passed the House on a bipartisan vote at the end of June.
It’s not just premiums that are too expensive, it’s prescription drug costs and co-pays. In addition to passing the Lower Insulin Costs Now Act into law, I’ve introduced a five-point plan to lower prescription drug costs -- each concept in my plan has bipartisan support. Additionally, I introduced legislation to require insurance plans to cover common medications, devices, and screenings used to treat common chronic illnesses without charging a co-pay, coinsurance, or deductible-related fee. To address the high cost of doctor visits, I introduced legislation that requires insurers to cover three primary care doctor visits and three mental health or substance use disorder treatment visits per year.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is in court trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and the protections the law provides -- during a global pandemic. If that lawsuit is successful, 20 million Americans could lose their health insurance. I passed legislation through the House to ensure that no taxpayer dollars will support that lawsuit.
In 150 words or fewer, make a pitch for the presidential candidate you support.
Vice President Joe Biden is the experienced, empathetic leader we need in the White House to right our course as a nation and restore American leadership in the world. Americans can trust Joe Biden to stand up for our interests at home and overseas, craft public policy based on science, and honor our veterans. He will bring Americans together, not divide us. I know that we can trust Joe Biden to protect our nation from the serious national security threats we face. Joe Biden is an honest, decent man who will have my friend, Sen. Kamala Harris, governing by his side. Their leadership will be rooted in the American values we all hold dear, and will provide a needed change from the chaos of the Trump Administration.
Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms would you be willing to support?
Social Security is the most important source of retirement income for four out of five seniors, and I will not allow us to go back to the days when our seniors faced poverty instead of the dignified retirement they earned.
One of my priorities in Congress is empowering families with the tools they need to save for a secure retirement. I helped pass the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) through the House to help protect military survivors and families from paying thousands in taxes on their survivor benefits. Additionally, while I continue fighting for paycheck fairness for women, I introduced the Women’s Retirement Protection Act to give women the tools they need to save for a dignified retirement. Not only do women face a profound pay gap throughout their lifetimes, they tend to live longer than men. It’s vital that we ensure women are prepared to retire with dignity.
To ensure the solvency of these vital earned benefits, we must reject President Trump’s proposal to do away with the payroll tax that funds our Social Security program. For the past two years, the Trump administration has consistently proposed deep cuts to Medicare and Social Security. The President’s 2020 budget, for example, included a $1.5 trillion cut to Medicare. I have aggressively fought back against these egregious budget proposals.
My opponent, meanwhile, supports raising the retirement age to 72 and has encouraged seniors to gamble their hard-earned savings on the stock market.
What do you view as the government’s obligation, if any, to help American workers secure health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program, such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it?
As a registered nurse and public health expert, I believe that health care is a human right. I helped implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a career civil servant at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- I know exactly what works and what needs to be improved. In Congress, I’ve focused on protecting coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, lowering the cost of prescription drugs and increasing access to quality, affordable health care -- including mental health, maternal health, and reproductive health care. My opponent, meanwhile, is on the record in support of banning a woman’s right to choose, outlawing abortion even in cases of rape, and making it more difficult for women to access contraception.
The truth about our health care system is that Americans spend more per capita on health care services than citizens of any other developed country, and we get less for our money due to prescription drug costs and sky-high corporate profits.
In order to ensure high-quality, affordable health care coverage for the American people, we need to protect the ACA from the Trump Administration’s attacks. The Administration is currently seeking to invalidate health care protections for people with pre-existing conditions -- that’s 300,000 members of our community. I support improving the ACA by adding a public option. Further, I believe we need to lower the Medicare eligibility age to ensure more Americans receive the care they deserve.
Identify 3 national security threats to the United States. Choose one and explain your approach to dealing with that threat.
As Vice Chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, I’m committed to keeping our communities safe. Major threats I see are the ongoing attacks on our elections, the rising threat of domestic terrorism, and climate change. Our Illinois State Board of Elections was targeted by Russian hackers in 2016. They stole the personal information of 76,000 Illinois voters, including Illinoisans' names, addresses, partial Social Security numbers, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers. Russia needs to face consequences for this action, and I’m appalled that President Trump has taken no action to secure our elections from further interference. This year, we are facing election interference not only from Russia, but China and Iran. Experts say we need $4 billion in investments to secure our elections across the 50 states -- Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has only agreed to provide 10% of that funding. I’m proud that our state and local leaders have taken action where the Trump Administration has failed. In Illinois, we’ve put in place the Cyber Navigator Program to improve our state’s cybersecurity ahead of the 2020 elections. One of the first pieces of legislation the House passed after I was sworn into Congress requires the Department of Homeland Security to maintain election systems as critical infrastructure and calls for regular testing of voting systems. I’m deeply disappointed that the Senate has refused to take action on this vital initiative to protect our elections. In a democracy, election security is national security.
COVID-19 has destroyed jobs. The economy needs to be rebuilt. What policy steps should Congress take (beyond stimulus money or bailouts) in the next year to create as many jobs and as much prosperity as possible?
In order to recover from this crisis, we need to support working families and invest in our communities. But, first, we must get control of this deadly virus with an aggressive national strategy that includes robust COVID testing, contact tracing, and free treatment for COVID patients as we work to develop a vaccine. The truth is that our economy won’t be able to recover from this crisis until we get control of the virus. Second, as we work to limit the spread of the virus, we must provide the resources our families, essential workers and small business owners need to weather this crisis. We cannot allow our small businesses to shutter -- and their employees to lose their paychecks -- during this crisis. Third, it’s time to put people back to work by investing in America. Even before COVID-19, both parties agreed that our communities are in desperate need of infrastructure upgrades and the good-paying jobs that come with those investments. Here in the 14th District, we need federal resources to upgrade our transit systems, repair and modernize our water and sewer systems, provide broadband internet access for all of our families, and put our country on a path toward a clean energy future by investing in our energy infrastructure.
When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major import?
Our farmers are facing an extremely difficult economic environment between the trade war, extraordinarily tough weather conditions, and the coronavirus pandemic.
After our farmers' ability to export their products was inhibited by the trade war, they were promised Market Facilitation Payments to ease their financial burden. I want to be clear: our farmers didn’t ask for this aid, they want to sell their crops on the free market. But after I learned that members of my party were considering blocking those payments, I stepped in to ensure our farmers received the aid they were promised.
Farmers throughout the 14th know they have a champion in me, and I was grateful to receive the endorsement of the Illinois Agricultural Association’s ACTIVATOR PAC. During this challenging economic time, our farmers know that I will deliver for them, whether it’s securing temporary emergency shipments of propane, ensuring the USDA is providing the accurate information farmers depend on, standing up for our biofuels producers, or making certain our farmers receive the federal support they were promised.
If you are an incumbent, tell us the most significant accomplishment of your current term. If you are a newcomer, tell us how you as a rookie would keep from being a backbencher.
Since I was sworn into office, President Trump has signed three pieces of my legislation into law. The first was the Lower Insulin Costs Now Act, which makes generic insulin available on the marketplace sooner. Next, I passed bipartisan legislation to fund an electronic health record system to prevent children from dying of preventable illnesses while in federal custody on the U.S. - Mexico border. This March, President Trump signed a piece of legislation I wrote to examine our reliance on a foreign-based medical supply chain, which threatens our national security during a pandemic. As the youngest Black woman ever elected to Congress, I’ve also been able to confront an issue that’s personal to me: maternal mortality. In Illinois, women who look like me are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women. I co-founded the Black Maternal Health Caucus with my colleague, Dr. Alma Adams of North Carolina, to end these health disparities and save mom’s lives. My focus, of course, is always on the 14th District. During my first term in Congress, I have voted to support federal programs that brought over $1 billion dollars to our communities to fund small business loans, cutting edge science at FermiLab, and other grants and federal contracts that support good jobs and services in our community. I’m really proud of the way my team has been able to deliver for our community, and I plan to continue identifying opportunities for bipartisan progress during my second term.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Get our latest editorials, commentaries and columns, delivered twice a week in our Fighting Words newsletter. Sign up here.
———
©2020 the Chicago Tribune
Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
