League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Alameda, Contra Costa County, CA June 3, 2014 Election
	Eric Swalwell Answers Questions Candidate for United States Representative; District 15

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. In this time of high unemployment and budget deficits, what are the most important steps that should be taken to improve our nation’s economy and sustain job creation?

Among my top priorities as a Member of Congress is helping our economy grow and create good, local jobs. Generally, over the long-term, for America to create jobs and succeed in the global economy of the 21st century, the federal government must have policies that support economic growth.

That means we must change our federal tax code to reward companies that create jobs in this country and not encourage the shipment of jobs overseas. We also must transform our education system so that our kids are prepared for the high technology jobs of the future and companies have a properly educated workforce. We must support research into new energy sources as a way to support domestic industry and protect our environment. And, we must raise the minimum wage + no one who works hard and plays by the rules should have to live in poverty.

I also want to highlight one immediate step to help our economy recover from the Great Recession we should take, which is to extend emergency federal unemployment insurance. Extending emergency federal unemployment benefits is the right thing to do and makes economic sense. Failure to extend this benefit will cost the economy about 240,000 jobs this year. In support of that goal:

• I organized Democratic Members of Congress on the House Floor to publicly urge Speaker of the House John Boehner to immediately restore emergency federal unemployment benefits.

• I am a cosponsor of H.R. 4415, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2014. This bill would extend emergency federal unemployment benefits and is identical to bipartisan legislation that passed the Senate.

• I sent multiple letters to House Republican Leadership urging that they allow the House to consider legislation extending emergency federal unemployment insurance.

2. What, if any, changes should be made to federal health care policies or programs?

I have spent my time in Congress working to ensure that all people have meaningful access to healthcare, regardless of their condition or job. I fully support the goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and I have consistently opposed delaying or repealing part or all of it.

At the same time, I believe that there are ways we can strengthen the ACA. For example, I sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services asking for improvements to healthcare.gov. I look forward to continuing to work with anyone interested in improving the ACA so everyone can access quality, affordable healthcare.

I have opposed and will continue to oppose cuts to Medicare benefits. I voted against H. Con. Res. 25 and Hon. Con. Res. 96, budgets offered by Rep. Paul Ryan that, among other cuts, would have reduced funding for Medicare and turned it into a voucher system. I also am a cosponsor of bills to improve Medicare for seniors. These include H.R. 1179, the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act, which would allow observation stays to be counted toward the three-day mandatory inpatient stay for Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility services and H.R. 2330, the Medicare Audiology Services Enhancement Act of 2013, which would expand the Medicare covered services that can be provided by an audiologist.

We also must make federal health policy more family-friendly. I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1957, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would ensure pregnant workers are not forced out of their jobs or denied reasonable accommodations that would allow them to keep working. I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 1286, the Healthy Families Act, which would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days per year to recover from short-term illness, care for a sick family member, seek routine medical care, or seek assistance related to domestic violence.

3. What are your priorities with respect to our nation’s energy policy?

As a Freshman Member of Congress, I was honored to be named Ranking Member (lead Democrat) on the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Energy. As the lead Democrat I have been able to call witnesses and participate in hearings that address issues such as energy research and climate change.

One of my highest priorities as a Member of Congress is supporting clean, renewable energy. I have taken a variety of steps in support of that goal:

• I led two letters, signed by dozens of other Members of Congress, to the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee expressing support for strong funding of the Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program.

• I sent a letter to Speaker Boehner calling for an extension of the Production Tax Credit for wind energy.

• I am a cosponsor of H.R. 924, the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act. This bill would allow a 30 percent tax credit for investment in a qualifying offshore wind facility.

• I sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp and Ranking Member Sander Levin urging the extension of the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Credit (30C credit).

4. What, if any, changes should be made with respect to our nation’s security, including our national defense or anti-terrorism measures?

With respect to fighting terrorism, I am privileged to serve on the House Committee on Homeland Security. In that position I am working to ensure we keep Americans safe. There are many people in the world who wish to do Americans harm; ideally we can stop them before they strike.

At the same time, we must always remember that the need for homeland security must be balanced against the need to protect our freedom. It is imperative that Congress protect our civil liberties. The Constitution and, in particular, the Bill of Rights are intended to ensure the privacy of individuals from the prying eyes of government. Unfortunately, too often throughout our history, in the name of security, the federal government has asserted expansive powers to invade the personal lives of innocent people.

Revelations about surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) are particularly disturbing. I have taken action to reign it in:

• I voted for an amendment sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash to defund the NSA's blanket information collection program.

• I am a cosponsor of H.R. 2399, the Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act or LIBERT-E Act and H.R. 3361, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act or USA FREEDOM Act. Both of these bills would limit data collection by the government in a terrorism or intelligence investigation and bring more transparency to how surveillance laws are used.

• I sent a letter to President Obama raising concerns about the broad use of authority by the government under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

With respect to our nation's military, I want to highlight two areas that need attention. First, sexual assault in the Armed Forces remains a serious problem that requires serious policy improvements. Unfortunately, a culture soft on prosecution has allowed criminals to slip through the cracks and victims to be left without justice. To combat these ongoing problems within the Department of Defense, I cosponsored H.R. 1593, the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act. This bill would take reporting, oversight, investigation, and victim care of sexual assaults out of the chain of command and place jurisdiction over a newly created Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office. This is just one important step that should be taken to improve justice for the victims of sexual assault in the military.

Second, currently the U.S. military plans to end all combat operations in Afghanistan by the end 2014, transferring military responsibility over to Afghan security forces. This war, which is the longest in American history, needs to come to a close as rapidly as possible. In support of that view, I voted for an amendment to H.R. 1960, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which would have accelerated the transition and more swiftly ended combat operations in Afghanistan.

5. What is your position on the issue of immigration reform? What, if any, changes to legislation or policy would you support?

Our immigration system is completely broken, and one of my top priorities is to pass comprehensive immigration reform (CIR).

As part of CIR we must provide a road map so that undocumented workers can earn legalized status and citizenship, reduce backlogs and allow families to be reunited, pass the DREAM Act so kids brought here years ago can have the same opportunities as everyone else, and allow businesses, like those in the high-technology sector, to attract and retain workers from abroad when domestic talent is not available. CIR also must include improvements to secure our borders and remove from this country undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes after they serve their sentences.

I have taken a number of steps to help pass CIR. For example:

• I am a cosponsor of CIR legislation, H.R. 15, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

• I sent a letter to Speaker Boehner urging him to allow the House to consider CIR.

• I have spoken on the House Floor calling attention to the need to pass CIR.

• I took part in the "Fast for Families" event, fasting to show my support for and calling attention to the need to pass CIR.

• I held a public Immigration Forum in Hayward to answer questions about and discuss the need for CIR.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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