Positions

Maine Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that abortion should be safe, available, and rare, and I do not believe that the government should interfere in decisions that are made between a woman and her health care provider.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Unknown Position

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Unknown Position

3. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that we need to pass comprehensive tax reform provides targeted tax relief, increases revenues, and simplifies the tax code. Unfortunately, the tax plan that passed Congress in late 2017 failed to accomplish most of these goals and heavily tilted the benefits of the tax cuts toward the wealthy and corporations. I strongly opposed sequestration, which resulted in across-the-board cuts to defense and non-defense spending. I support making targeted investments in programs that protect our national security while always looking for ways to increase efficiency and cut wasteful or duplicative spending.

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I strongly support reforming our campaign finance laws. I cosponsored the We the People Democracy Reform Act, which would significantly reform campaign finance laws by creating a small donor, public matching funds system for presidential and congressional races; closing disclosure loopholes for outside spending groups; requiring 48-hour disclosure for large contributions to candidates and parties; providing accountability for campaign ads run by outside groups; shutting down individual-candidate Super PACs and strengthens rules prohibiting coordination; establishing a new approach for enforcing campaign finance laws; and strengthening lobbying and revolving door laws.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Unknown Position

2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I have previously supported lowering the corporate tax rate to levels that would make the U.S. competitive with other highly-developed countries - however, I am not convinced that cutting the corporate tax rate to 21%, as the 2017 Republican tax bill did, was fiscally responsible or in line with what was necessary from a competitiveness standpoint.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- The federal government's investment in K-12 education is relatively limited in comparison to what state and local governments provide. Because of this, I believe that the appropriate role for the federal government is not to mandate specific curriculum standards, but to provide guardrails to ensure that all students - including students with disabilities, English language learners, and low-income students - have access to high-quality public education. I think the federal government can be a partner in education and is in the best position to fund and disseminate research on what works best in providing high-quality education to our students.

Energy & Environment

1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that while we cannot guarantee complete safety through legislation, we can take steps to curb gun violence while respecting the Second Amendment rights and the rights of law-abiding gun owners. I think that Congress should act to address the mass shootings and gun violence that have become all-too-common. To that end, I support measures to expand background checks, cut down on gun trafficking, ban bump stocks, and limit magazine capacity.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Immigration

1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No

2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support comprehensive reform to our nation's immigration system, and I voted in favor of the bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill before the Senate in 2013. I believe we need to take smart steps to secure our nation's borders while taking steps to provide long-term certainty for the millions of people - including many young people who were brought here as children. I support well-reasoned efforts to increase border security, but I don't think building a wall is the most effective way to get there.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Unknown Position

2. Other or expanded principles
- As Maine and other states have legalized marijuana use, I believe the federal government should give states the ability to make policy based on the wishes of their citizens. Attorney General Sessions has made concerning statements about increased enforcement of federal marijuana policy in states where marijuana is legal, a departure from the prior administration's policy. This ambiguity highlights the fact that a clearer solution is needed to bring certainty to businesses that are technically violating federal law. In the meantime, it would be improper for the federal government to interfere with state laws on this issue.

National Security

1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- Unknown Position

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Unknown Position

3. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that using a diplomatic approach, backed by a military deterrent, is preferable to preventive military conflict. While I don't support a preemptive military strike of hostile regimes seeking a nuclear weapon, containment of such regimes does require making them understand that attacks on their neighbors will result in the U.S. deploying military force to defeat such aggression. For too long, the U.S. has used the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs to engage in warfare beyond the extent those authorities intended. I believe that Congress should instead fulfill its constitutional duty to update war authorizations in response to current conflicts.

Administrative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- 1. Increasing prevention and treatment options for individuals struggling with opioid use.2. Protecting and expanding access to affordable healthcare.3. Working on rebuilding Maine?s rural economy through expanding broadband, workforce development, research and development, and avoiding the impacts of climate change.