League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Alameda County, CA November 2, 2004 Election
	Fortney H. "Pete" Stark Answers Questions Candidate for United States Representative; District 13

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. What can be done to ensure that California gets its fair share of federal resources?

Every year when the budget gets written, I call on friendships I've developed during my years in Congress to find ways of funding local priorities, even in tough economic years. Institutional knowledge and working relationships with other Members of Congress is key to getting federal dollars for California. Last year, I secured over $2 million for local projects, and have secured $14 million of guaranteed local funding in the upcoming highway bill.

The vast majority of federal money ($400 billion) for health care, transportation and other local priorities is distributed by formulas that take into account factors such as population and poverty rates. Some of the formulas are unfair to California because they are devised to favor more rural states. I will continue to work with my colleagues and use my seat on the powerful Ways & Means Committee to revise these formulas to help California.

2. What are your foreign policy priorities for the United States?

The United States should use its unique leadership position to create a stable and more peaceful world. This begins by recognizing the value of international cooperation and working with our allies to solve global challenges, from violence and oppression to disease and environmental degradation. It requires the genuine pursuit of peaceful, diplomatic solution to conflicts, not the arbitrary use of preemptive force. The Bush Administration has led us down the wrong path in its foreign policy, threatening our security at home and undermining our leadership abroad. We need a foreign policy that promotes peace, human rights and democratic ideals, not one that emboldens our enemies and alienates our allies.

3. What are your priorities for the federal budget?

Investing in education, providing health care for the uninsured, enhancing Medicare and Medicaid and strengthening Social Security are my top priorities for the federal budget. We should be spending American dollars on policies and programs that make us stronger, not weaker. Cutting taxes for millionaires does not make us stronger. On the contrary, the Bush Administration's tax cuts have led to trillions of dollars in deficits, which our children and grandchildren will now have to pay. I am working to ensure that our federal dollars are spent where they're most needed: our children, our workers, our middle class families, and our seniors.