MARCH 20, 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide Prepared by INDIVISIBLE HUMBOLDT-LOGAN and INDIVISIBLE WEST TOWN based on candidate responses to a questionnaire sent to each campaign. Thank you to Sol Flores and Richard Gonzalez for the time and thought you put into your responses. We look forward to updating this document with responses from the García campaign should we receive them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS HEALTHCARE
2
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
3
NET NEUTRALITY
4
EDUCATION
5
IMMIGRATION
6
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
7
MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL CANNABIS
8
LABOR AND ECONOMY
9
ENVIRONMENT
10
GOVERNANCE
11
PERSONAL INSIGHT
12
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide HEALTHCARE Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
Do you support universal health care in Illinois?
YES
Yes, I support universal health care in the United States.
If yes, what type of plan would you favor, and how would you work to implement it?
I support Medicare for All. I will work with my colleagues to pass it at the federal level because a federal, universal health care plan is the best way to reduce health care costs and ensure that all Americans have accessible and affordable health care. However, I recognize that this will be no easy task. I will fight for it with the same tenacity I have in my work running La Casa Norte, where I have had to build programs from nothing and secure funding where there was none. I have done this by sharing stories of those most affected by homelessness and working with all different people with grace and dignity.
I endorse a single-payer government-sponsored system funded through tax revenue. The viability of such a system is contingent upon the kind of tax reform that mandates that the rich and the corporations the rich control shoulder their fair share of the tax burden.
I am a fighter, and I have experience on the ground creating health care programs where none existed. As founder and Executive Director of La Casa Norte, a nonprofit that has helped thousands of Latino youth and families exit homelessness in the Chicagoland area, I have seen firsthand how hard it is for families and young people who do not have equitable and accessible health care. Without quality, affordable health care, they struggle to support themselves and find and maintain stable housing. As a result of this experience, I understand what it means to live in a medically underserved area and I specifically worked to include a federally qualified health care center in the new $20 million, 50,000 square foot facility that we are building. The health center will provide culturally competent care for the Latino community, which means not just making sure translation services are available but takes into account immigration status, geography and family make-up. Howard Brown, a black and Latino LGBTQ servicing agency led by a Latino health expert, will run the center.
What would you do to address the opioid crisis?
Through my work, I have seen the effects that addiction and the inability to get treatment can have. It impacts not just the person’s health but their housing, job, children, their entire world and the world of others. We need to treat addiction, including opioids, like the disease that it is – no different than we would treat diabetes or a broken leg. We need to have affordable, accessible substance use treatment, and that treatment needs to be available anytime someone asks for help whether it’s the first time or the hundredth time. The opioid crisis is enormous, and it will take a multi-pronged approach to provide adequate treatment and implement effective prevention programs. Among my priorities are ensuring that health insurance covers treatment without limitations, that big pharma is held accountable for the misleading statements they have made about the likelihood of addiction, that there are programs for safe disposal of expired and unused prescriptions that otherwise can get into the hands of children and teens and start them down a path of addiction, and that adequate drug treatment is available in prison and as an alternative to prison.
Regarding the opiate crisis, it must be acknowledged that the problem is highly complex and does not admit of a quick and easy solution. There are valid medical conditions for which only an opiate-based painkiller provides effective relief. This is a legitimate use of opiates and the reduction of the epidemic of opiate addiction must not come at the expense of people who are in great pain and suffering with disease or major injury. One way, I would propose, to reduce this epidemic would be to make opiates available only through a dispensary clinic (rather than a conventional pharmacy). The drugs would be available only in limited quantity and patients would be registered by their doctors at such a dispensary. Registration would be time-limited and subject to renewal or removal from the registry by the patient's doctor. This system would reduce the supply of opiates "in circulation" and thereby reduce the number of overdoses and deaths in the community.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
What will you do to support access to and affordability of contraceptives?
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
I have been marching for women’s rights with my mom and aunts since a young age. As a sexual abuse survivor, I understand how personal and important it is for women to have agency with regard to their own bodies. This includes access to affordable contraceptives as well as preventive health care services including cancer screenings, STD testing and annual well woman exams. I fully support Planned Parenthood and will be an outspoken supporter for full access to affordable contraceptives. I will defend against efforts to eliminate federal funding for preventive care and efforts that target Planned Parenthood health care centers for cuts, including efforts to eliminate or reduce Title X family planning funding. I will support efforts to ensure that Planned Parenthood is available in health care delivery networks, and oppose efforts to weaken Medicaid or remove existing protection for family planning services under the program. I will oppose legislation that would eliminate or limit a woman’s ability to access the preventive benefit guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance coverage at no co-pay for the full range of FDA-approved prescription contraceptive methods. And, finally, I will support legislation to prevent employers and schools from denying their employees and students access to basic health care services, including birth control.
I believe in a woman's right to choose. I am pro-choice. Access to safe medical abortions is essential to a woman's well-being and her ability to control what happens to her own body and to her future life. Affordable contraception is equally important, especially in light of the fact that it prevents both pregnancy and the termination of pregnancy. In the form of universal health care that I've described above, I would support legislation that mandates the inclusion of all forms of medically-approved birth control as a covered expense. I would also advocate for a system wherein contraceptives (as well as other medicines) are bought in bulk from pharmaceutical companies and would then be available through a government storehouse at reduced (therefore affordable) cost.
Do you support universal paid family leave?
YES
What type of family leave plan would you support?
Through my work, I have seen how critical it can be for working parents to have paid family leave. Without it, they are forced to decide between taking care of themselves and their families or paying for housing; between taking the important time to bond with new babies or losing a job. These are not fair decisions. The Family and Medical Leave Act was important legislation that paved the way for change, but it does not go far enough. Every worker in the US should be guaranteed at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave—to take care of a baby, to help a family member diagnosed with a serious illness, or to take care of themselves if they become seriously ill.
I would advocate a plan, structured along the lines of social security, that parents could "tap" for a limited period of time, up to six months perhaps, so that they can bond with their child and reorganize their lives to accommodate a new life in their family.
What would you do to make daycare more affordable for working families?
Affordable daycare is critical to allowing working parents to support themselves and their families and maintain housing. It is also critical to parents who are in school, many of whom are women, and who are working towards a degree that will help them better support their families. What’s more, investment in evidence-based daycare and early childhood programs is proven to increase children’s likelihood of success in school as well as their health outcomes and other positive indicators. I will support increased investment in subsidized early care and education programs, such as expanding Head Start and Early Head Start programs, increasing the spending for the Child Care and Development Fund to guarantee child care subsidies for all eligible families, and raising the income eligibility level for subsidized programs to allow more near-poverty families to enroll. I will also support legislation to increase access to high-quality child care on college campuses, focusing on two-year colleges where almost half of student parents attend.
Daycare is also crucially important to a young family, especially families of modest or low incomes. I would support a voucher program (similar to what is used for housing) that would be accepted by daycare providers and reimbursed by the federal government. Both of the suggestions I've made above do require funding (at tax-payer expense) but I believe these costs would be off-set over time by a reduction of healthcare costs (healthy people make fewer medical claims), as well as reductions in other areas, such as crime and juvenile delinquency, which is much less common among strong, well-adjusted families, which both of my proposals promote.
Do you support the expansion of home visiting and community doula services?
YES
Yes, I support universal paid family leave (for both mothers and fathers). Research indicates that the first 6 months of an infant's life is crucially important for future health, both physical and psychological.
Yes, I support the expansion of home-visiting and community doula services. Again, research has shown that these services are particularly helpful in lower-income neighborhoods by providing convenient and safe access to certain levels of healthcare for pregnant women, young mothers, and new-born children at lower costs than hospitals or doctors' offices charge for similar services.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide NET NEUTRALITY
Do you support the current movement for a Congressional Review Act to overturn the FCC’s recent decision to repeal net neutrality?
If the current effort to pass a CRA to overturn the FCC’s decision fails, what actions will you take in the future to restore and ensure net neutrality at the federal level?
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
YES
Yes, I support the current movement (CRA) for overturning the FCC's repeal of net neutrality. The internet, for whatever faults if may have ( and it has some) is the digital equivalent of the town square where everyone has an equal voice. To sell premium and speedy bandwidth to the highest bidder removes equality from the system and allows those with ample means (largely, corporations) to effectively control the messages available on the internet. Many voices will be shut out. Net-Neutrality needs to be restored.
Should the current effort fail, I will continue to urge Congress to take up the issue again.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide EDUCATION Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
Do you support universal pre-K and an expansion of 0-3 home visiting and doula services?
YES
Yes, I support universal pre-K and an expansion of 0-3 home visiting and doula services. As I stated above, research has shown such services to be extremely helpful to young families of modest means.
What would do you stop private companies profiting off student loan interest?
First, we need to stand up to Betsy DeVos and the damage she is doing by rolling back protections put in place under President Obama, such as allowing borrowers to enter into repayment agreements if they respond to an initial notice of default within 60 days and allowing cooperation between the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in order to help borrowers resolve complaints. We also need to change the law to allow student debt to be discharged in bankruptcy. Finally, we need to make refinancing options available to borrowers who took out student loans with private companies.
Regarding private companies profiting off student loan interest, unfortunately, this is not a problem easy to solve. Banking and financial regulations allow the repackaging and selling of myriad aspects of a financial transaction ( commercial debt, mortgage debt, interest, and so forth). Banking and finance need to be examined and reformed to address student loan interest.
Do you support some form of student debt forgiveness? Which form?
YES. I support the current loan forgiveness programs, such as the public service loan forgiveness and teacher loan forgiveness programs, which are now under attack by President Trump. I will work to defend those programs. I also support proposals to shorten the debt forgiveness timeframe, collapse all income-based plans into a broader and more generous plan that would be streamlined, and providing forgiveness options for private loans.
Yes, I support some form of forgiveness for student loan debt ( especially for loans that were originated many years ago, or where the age or income level of the borrower shows little hope of full repayment). Along with this, and with an eye to the future, I would recommend looking at ways to reduce the cost of college, which has swelled to enormous proportions over the last decade or two.
Do you support free college tuition?
YES. I support free community colleges and making sure that every student has the option to attend a public college or university in their state without taking on student debt.
Free college tuition, and support for higher education, needs to be explored in greater depth. Again, I point to the ballooning costs associated with obtaining a college degree. That is the place to start. Then we should look at the free tuition systems in place throughout much of Europe. Let's see what they have done, how it has worked, and what it has cost the tax-payer to achieve.
Do you support renewing support for higher education?
YES. I support reauthorizing the Higher Education Act in order to address affordability, access for working families, accountability and safety.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide IMMIGRATION
Do you support the passage of a clean DREAM Act?
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
YES
As an Hispanic candidate, seeking to represent a heavily Hispanic constituency, immigration is especially close to the bone for me. The Hispanic population came here seeking a better life- and they have largely found it, but are often still relegated to second-class status. This is a gross injustice to a hardworking, enterprising, and diverse ethnic group. I very strongly support establishing a clear, safe, non-punitive path to citizenship for all undocumented persons, for all ethnic groups. I support DACA and advocate for the immediate suspension of deportations that threaten to separate families, or that force the exit of children in this country who have lived virtually their entire lives in the United States. I would urge that the United States adopt a completely neutral "immigrnt registration" system that makes no representations about legal or illegal status and that is not routinely shared with ICE. This would instill a sense of safety and confidence in the undocumented person and would be a step in the path to citizenship.
Do you support a similar pathway for other undocumented immigrants? If so, what plan would you support for achieving this?
YES. A plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for other undocumented immigrants should allow for these immigrants to come out of the shadows in a fair and equitable way.
How would you advocate for lifting the travel ban?
I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and constituents in the 4th district to speak out about the discriminatory and immoral travel ban and stand up to Trump. We cannot keep people out of the United States based solely on their country of origin or religion. Doing so only empowers ISIS and other terrorist groups and helps them recruit more followers. It also alienates our allies.
The travel ban is misguided and counter-productive. I support the legal challenges to the ban that have been initiated. The ban is discriminatory and while it has been cloaked in the language of "national safety" it remains a Muslim ban in fact and intention. That, on its face, is un-American.
YES
In a global world, the United States needs to accept the fact that policies of the United States will play out in other countries affected by those policies. And sometimes those policies will, perhaps unintentionally, destabilize those countries. People from those locations will seek the U.S. as a haven and a new home. We need to do our part to "own" the results of our policies and help the people who need to come here. Will this change life in America? It will, but largely in ways that enhance life. And I also believe we should do all that we can to make American life understandable to immigrants newly arrive and to help them adjust and assimilate to American values, which may well be radically different from those of their homeland. I would most definitely support renewed efforts to accept refugees.
Would you support renewed efforts to accept refugees?
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
What programs or changes in procedure in criminal justice reform do you support? Which would you like to expand?
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
I am disheartened by Jeff Sessions’ leadership at the Department of Justice, in particular his decision to rollback aggressive investigation of local police departments and enforcement of consent decrees. The DOJ should work to safeguard our rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures, which means curbing unconstitutional stop-and-frisks and selective enforcement policing that disproportionately affect minority communities. The DOJ should also be working to decrease use of excessive force by police. I will work to increase funding and opportunities for law enforcement training, including how to de-escalate situations with mentally ill people, and to collect and share data.
In the Fourth Congressional District, which I am seeking to represent, much of the crime is driven by gangs, and gang members are almost always young males with substandard education and little hope of responsible employment. I would work to create programs that aim to create local businesses and local jobs, which in turn would be available to young, at-risk people who need them to resist the lure of gang participation. And approaching this problem from the law-enforcement side, I would promote in Congress the creation of a local "RICO-type" act for police to invoke when tackling gangs, much as the Federal RICO Act did to successfully dismantle organized crime. And I would also promote stiffer penalties for certain specifically gang-related crimes. Punishment, in this instance, if meted out to the right individual, for the right crimes, at the right time in the offender's life, can indeed have a deterrent effect.
I am also concerned with the lack of access to quality counsel for poor defendants. The right to an attorney means nothing if your attorney lacks time, resources, or skills to be effective. I will fight for increased funding for public defenders and indigent defense systems.
Do you support the decriminalization of narcotic and psychedelic drugs as a means of addressing mass incarceration and promoting a trauma- informed, harm-reduction approach to substance use and abuse?
Do you support gun dealer licensing, an assault weapons ban, and similar gun control initiatives?
Mass incarceration is devastating poor communities and communities of color. Families are torn apart, as children grow up without parents and the cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity continues. The collateral consequences of having a criminal record also devastates people’s lives, including ability to get a job, housing and even a driver’s license. I support a review of federal criminal laws in general, including drug offenses, to determine which offenses should be decriminalized and which should have lower or alternative sentences. We should reduce mandatory minimums and provide judges with more discretion at sentencing. We also need to invest in drug treatment programs and drug courts so that offenders can get the treatment they need, rather than cycling through prison and succumbing to recidivism. And we need to remove barriers to re-entry so that those who do have a record can support themselves.
Yes, I very much support the decriminalization of narcotic and psychedelic drugs. This is a health issue. Not a criminal one. Yet is has become the pathway to prison and to the prisons unfortunate and unintentional indoctrination program into the criminal life. This cycle needs desperately to be interrupted. It has indeed resulted in the unjust mass-incarceration of minority boys and men, and has decimated families and communities in the process. It must stop.
YES
In regard to guns, while I believe the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution will very likely remain in place, unaltered, for the foreseeable future, I also believe that there is adequate room in the amendment to allow much reform and additional controls. A ban on assault weapons, and most especially "bump stocks" is reasonable and necessary. Those are weapons of war and a private citizen has no grounds to claim them as a means of self-protection. Gun dealers should absolutely be licensed and all licenses (and purchaser background information) should be part of a national database, readily accessible to law enforcement. And finally, children and teenagers should not be allowed to own guns in their own right. That is ludicrous. Twenty-one should be the minimum age for owning any gun other than a hunting rifle.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL CANNABIS Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
Do you support states’ rights to set their own laws regarding medical and/or recreational cannabis legalization?
YES
Yes, I support a state's right to legalize (or not) medical and/or recreational cannabis. But what I really support is the legalization of cannabis across the board, federally. History should teach us something. Prohibition is history. We should have learned by now how poorly Prohibition worked and go in another direction.
Do you support the legalization of recreational cannabis at the federal level?
YES
[See previous question.]
If cannabis were legalized at the federal level, would you support dismissing and sealing convictions of non-violent, cannabis-related offenses, including those dating back prior to legalization?
YES
Yes, if cannabis were legalized at the federal level, I would support dismissing and sealing conviction of non-violent, cannabis-related offences, including those pre-dating legalization.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide LABOR AND ECONOMY Sol Flores YES. The increased minimum wage should Do you support a $15/hour minimum wage? If so, what is be phased in over time and should include incentives for small businesses. your proposal for implementation?
Do you support a progressive income tax? If so, what actions will you take to advance a progressive income tax at the federal level?
YES. The Trump-Republican tax plan is rigged for millionaires and corporations to get away with even greater tax breaks while the working class and middle class struggle. We need to make our tax code more fair for middle class families. We should close corporate loopholes for multimillion dollar corporations who use these breaks to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes, like shifting profits to offshore subsidiaries. We must ensure that those who can afford it pay their fair share.
Richard Gonzalez I support both the $15/hour minimum wage and a progressive income tax. A viable, living wage is essential to both individual and community stability. It is unconscionable that people should work hours and hours each day and still be mired in poverty. A progressive income tax is the only way to move the nation and our democracy forward. The largescale tax breaks long-given to the wealthy — and more recently augmented in lavish degree by the current administration — cannot be justified because much of the infrastructure (both physical and in terms of employable brainpower) derive directly from tax-supported programs that have benefitted wealthy corporations and the people who own them. These corporations were not created in a vacuum. If elected, I would advocate strenuously for both the $15/hour minimum wage and a progressive income tax structure.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide ENVIRONMENT
What measures do you support for reducing our carbon footprint?
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
I understand the importance of reducing our carbon footprint in order curb climate change and protect our planet. In fact, the new $20 million, 50,000-foot facility that La Casa Norte is building will be Silver LEED certified because we understand how critical it is to use renewable energy when possible. We need to increase the goals in the Clean Power Plan so that we reduce carbon emissions more quickly. We need to end fossil fuel subsidies, and we should explore taxing carbon emissions. We also need to invest in renewable energy, like wind and solar power.
Regarding the environment, the first order of business is to restore the EPA to full strength. Yes, the EPA has made some missteps from time to time in the way it has implemented its policies. But the policies themselves are based in science and are sound. There is no greater long-term danger to the world than the harmful effects of climate change spurred by greenhouse gas emissions. The measures I would support to reduce our carbon footprint include harnessing solar and wind energy, promoting the development of non-fossil fuel automobiles, and reforming some of the farming and cattle-ranching practices to reduce the expulsion of methane gas (from cows) into the atmosphere, and carefully reconsider oil-drilling and pipeline construction so as to minimize their damaging consequences to the environment. In regard to coal, as a source of energy this must be completely phased-out. But it must also be understood that coal miners are not an abstraction but very real people. Accommodations must be made to retrain them in other industries, provide them with relocation opportunities to areas that have such industries, and/or subsidize them for their economic loss.
What measures do you support for eliminating lead contamination in the public drinking water?
The federal government needs to be a partner with states and municipalities in eliminating lead contamination from public drinking water. We should strengthen the existing Clean Water Revolving loan program that allows states to access critical federal funds to upgrade water infrastructure and focus in particular on eliminating lead contamination.
Regarding lead contamination in drinking water and heavy metal exposure through air pollution, this is almost always the result of industry negligence or malfeasance and should be dealt with by prosecution, the levying of fines, and the insistence that the offending industry clean up the mess.
What measures do you support for the elimination of heavy metal exposure, particularly through air pollution?
Heavy metal exposure through air pollution affects poor communities and communities of color disproportionately. We need policies and legislation that incent the cleanup of air pollution while prioritizing identification of high impact areas, investments in adequate monitoring and enforcement of laws on the books, and analysis of cumulative impacts faced by overburdened communities.
[See previous question.]
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide GOVERNANCE Current elected officials, from Chicago aldermen to the Speaker of the House, wield immense power in Illinois. At the same time, many in our community feel that our outgoing State Representative in the 4th district has not been available or responsive enough to local voices.
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
How can we trust that you will remain responsive to and be a voice for grassroots citizens? What will you do to stay open, available, and involved in our local communities?
Over the last 15 years, as founding Executive Director of La Casa Norte, I have a track record of being responsive to my clients’ needs and to other community stakeholders. That’s how we’ve been able to bring resources and success for young people and families in the district. I will continue to serve with grace, dignity and respect, always having the voices of the people of the 4th Congressional district in front of me, not behind me.
This section poses many questions that require introspection and speculation. Both. In my reading of these questions, most of them seem to be asking about character. Possibly I'm not the best judge. But I'm the one you are asking, so I'll do my best.
What will you do to stay open, available, and involved in our local communities?
Again, this is what I have spent my working life doing. I understand how important it is to listen to the community, to understand the issues people are facing and the develop solutions together, and I intend to work in the same way when I’m in Congress.
It’s a harsh truth that candidates' chances of success are often measured in their fundraising skill. What role will you take in making campaign finance reform happen, and in using the current system to advance a progressive agenda?
I have witnessed firsthand how hard it is to be a first-time candidate without an established base of fundraising support. I am grateful to those who have donated to my campaign and who believe in my message. I am proud that of the more than 1,000 contributions to my campaign more than three-quarters were donations under $200. I support the creation of small donor matching programs, which will be key to giving more diverse candidates a real chance at success – and we need more diverse candidates to have a seat at the table if we are going to advance a progressive agenda. I will also work to overturn Citizens United.
This section also asks about wealthy donors and entrenched political interests. I have not noticed an abundance of wealthy donors crossing my path urging me to advance their political interests, at least not so far in this campaign. But yes, fund-raising skills play an enormous part in the success of a campaign. And yes, fund-raising plays far too great a part and this needs to change. I would advocate for the elimination of the Super-PACs and the out-size advantage they give to a well-connected candidate. I would advocate strict campaign spending limits that would be facilitated by a government "campaign grant program" from which all candidates derive their total campaign financing. When the grant is exhausted, it is exhausted. No candidate would get more. Spend wisely.
What measures would you take to address the current administration’s corruption?
I support continuing to allow Robert Mueller to conduct his investigation. As the investigation continues to turn up illegal behavior, we must hold the President and his staff accountable to the law, up to and including impeachment. I will also take every opportunity I can to call out the corruption that we know is occurring — as I have been on the campaign trail..
The apparent corruption of the current administration is indeed alarming. Each day Mr. Mueller's investigation seems to unearth some new scandal, or an aspect of an old one. What measures would I take to address this? Exactly those that are happening right now in Washington. A full investigation. All facts gathered. Indictments for the indictable. Prosecution and a verdict. Due process. The current administration it entitled to that, if perhaps nothing else. The rule of law.
How do you propose increasing transparency and public confidence in the US Census, particularly in immigrant communities under threat from the current administration?
I will fight any efforts to change the census questionnaire to include whether someone is a US citizen. This type of effort undermines the process, undercounts individuals in our communities, and isolates people from truly being counted.
I have mentioned elsewhere in this questionnaire a proposal to register all undocumented immigrants in a neutral program without ICE involvement. If immigrants do not fear deportation ( as they currently do) they will be far more likely to respond to the U.S. Census and thus provide a much clearer picture of the American population - all of it, regardless of where people were born. Accurate information will help guide the kinds of programs we need and will support the use of our tax dollars to implement them.
Name a bill that is struggling to get out of committee but deserves a House vote—and how would you act to make that happen?
I would work to abolish the Dickey Amendment, which was first added to the FY1997 omnibus spending bill to prevent the Centers for Disease Control from studying guns and gun violence. Gun violence is a public health epidemic, and we absolutely need our chief public health research organization to be able to provide critical data to help stem the epidemic. The portion of the current omnibus budget that includes this amendment is stuck in the Labor-HHSEducation Appropriations subcommittee. I would work with constituents and advocacy groups to make our position known both at home and in Washington, DC. I would meet with every member of the subcommittee to stress the importance of abolishing this amendment and share the stories of so many young people and families who are scared and forever changed by the trauma of gun violence.
Everyone starts somewhere, and I started here, in Chicago, among members of an Hispanic family and an Hispanic community. The role models I've had were hardworking people of modest means and great determination. I believe I've inherited a lot of that. My family urged me to work hard, envision a better life, and get my education. In doing so, I've broadened my horizons considerably without ever leaving my community. I understand the people of the 4th District because I have always been one of them. I am one of them still, after all these years, and I will remain one. I believe they will trust me because I trust them. My hopes and dreams and work ethic are the same as theirs. I know them. They know me.
Jesús "Chuy" García
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IL-4th Congressional District Voter Guide PERSONAL INSIGHT
Name one person who has changed your life, and tell us what you learned from this person’s example.
Sol Flores
Richard Gonzalez
My mother has changed and influenced my life the most because of her own courage, resiliency and determination to seek and create opportunities for her family. She demonstrated for me what it meant to be of service to others, how to give generously from your heart and how to love. My mother, Rosa, has been consistently encouraging throughout my life. When I was young, I was very shy and afraid to speak to adults. My mother would push me to be vocal, speak up for what I wanted, needed and believed in. This was a driving force in helping me to become independent and resolute in identifying my path forward in life.
This section asks me to name a person who has changed my life. I must name two. My wife Betsy and my friend Nelson. Both have faced obstacles and set-backs in life with courage and grit and resilience and humor. Anyone would do well to emulate their example. And that includes me. There is a line from a movie — I forget which one — where one character says of another "you make me want to be a better person." I would say that of them.
Jesús "Chuy" García
