Positions

Delaware 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 support Roe v. Wade and the freedom for women to make their own health care decisions.

Budget

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

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- Congress should repeal the Trump Tax Cuts for the wealthy to improve our fiscal outlook. We also spend more on our defense budget than the next eight highest-spending countries combined. For years I have urged Congress to find savings in the Pentagon?s budget by auditing DOD?s books and eliminating billions in cost overruns.

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 a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore the power of Congress to regulate our broken campaign finance system. I also support the DISCLOSE Act to increase transparency and require corporations to disclose the identities of donors who are wielding outsize influence in our elections.

Economy

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

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support rebuilding our nation?s crumbling infrastructure and robust investments in public education. Instead of lowering corporate taxes, Congress should repeal the Trump Tax Cuts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations and invest in measures that actually promote economic growth and create jobs for American workers.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that states should set rigorous academic standards to raise student achievement. While it?s not the role of the federal government to set those standards, I believe the federal government should hold states accountable to ensure they are providing a high-quality education to all children, regardless of economic background or race.

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
- I?m a strong advocate for an innovative approach to our nation?s environmental and energy challenges. I believe we can move toward a clean energy future that creates green manufacturing jobs and strengthens our economy, while protecting the environment and public health.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support several commonsense policies to reduce gun violence, including expanding and strengthening background checks, banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and funding gun violence research.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I have fought President Trump and Congressional Republicans? cruel attempts to repeal the ACA, raise costs, and end protections for the nearly 400,000 Delawareans living with pre-existing conditions every step of the way. I continue to fight to make sure the ACA is here to stay, and to provide affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans.

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
- Spending billions of taxpayer dollars to build a wall along the Mexican border is an exorbitantly expensive and an ineffective substitute for a smart approach to border security. I continue to support comprehensive immigration reform to strengthen our border and national security, modernize our immigration system, and provide certainty and a path to legal status for many undocumented immigrants who contribute to their communities and our economy.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- As a former governor, I support states acting as laboratories of democracy. In this instance, I believe the legalization of recreational marijuana is a decision best left up to individual states.

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?
- No

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- The United States should seek diplomatic and comprehensive strategies, like the Iran Nuclear Deal, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to increase cooperation in the Middle East.

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.
- As soon as Democrats take back the U.S. Senate, my first priorities as Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee will include reversing the harmful effects of the Trump EPA by strengthening - not weakening - our country?s landmark environmental laws, and building on - not dismantling - the progress we made under the Obama Administration to invest in cleaner, sustainable energy. As I continue to fight to provide all Americans with high-quality, affordable health care, I will also push for legislation to stabilize the individual insurance exchanges and provide immediate cost-relief for Delaware families.