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| Jay Inslee, Democrat (Incumbent) |
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| Candidate: U.S. Representative, District 1 |
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| Jay Inslee |
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| Age: 49 |
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| Residence: Bainbridge Island |
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| Occupation: |
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U.S. representative |
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| Education: |
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B.A. in economics, University of Washington; J.D., Willamette University |
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| Political history: |
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Former state representative; candidate for governor, 1996 |
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| Endorsements: |
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Sierra Club, Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, National Council of Senior Citizens |
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| Campaign Web site: www.inslee4congress.com |
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| 1. |
Should Congress act to lower the cost of prescription drugs? If so, should Congress create a Medicare drug benefit? |
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Yes. The only way to guarantee affordable prescription-drug coverage is to make prescription-drug coverage a part of the Medicare program. I co-sponsored the Medicare Guaranteed Benefit Act, which will guarantee affordable, reliable prescription-drug coverage, unlike the Republican scheme to subsidize the insurance industry. |
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| 2. |
Should the Snake River dams be torn down and timber harvests limited to protect endangered species? |
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We must aggressively pursue every avenue to restore runs, including preventing timber harvest in roadless areas, protecting stream-side habitat, changing hatchery operations and restricting harvest levels, rather than breaching Snake River dams. The federal government should financially assist local communities in their efforts to comply with the Endangered Species Act. |
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| 3. |
Should new laws be enacted to prevent businesses from sharing consumers' personal information? |
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Yes. I fought to protect consumers' privacy in Congress this year, and passed a bill giving Americans the right to stop their banks from giving away their bank-account records to telemarketers. We must now plug loopholes that the lobbyists preserved. We must also stop government from monitoring our Internet activities. |
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| 4. |
Are the nation's gun laws too restrictive, too lenient or appropriate as they are? |
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Too lenient. We should have sensible measures to keep guns away from criminals and untrained children. Law-abiding citizens should have use of guns for hunting, recreational purposes and self-protection, but convicted rapists should not be able to purchase guns, and 9-year-olds should not be able to play with guns. |
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| 5. |
Should America be trading with China and/or Cuba? Why? |
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Yes. China is a significant market in the world -- the fifth-largest purchaser of personal computers, and a growing market for our Boeing aircraft. We will grow Boeing jobs here by insisting on tariff reductions in China. Our Cuba embargo is a failed policy, and we should sell products in Cuba. |
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| 6. |
Do you favor or oppose access to abortion? Should the president appoint justices who oppose abortion rights? |
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Like the people of Washington state, I am pro-choice and support a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices. The next president should not appoint justices who would take away the constitutional right that women have had for the past 25 years. |
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| 7. |
Should the government pay to give school vouchers to parents who choose to send their children to private schools? |
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No, the government should not take money out of our public schools, and give it to private schools without any accountability to the taxpayer. I do support many types of education reform, including reduced class sizes, charter schools under local school-board supervision, and high standards for teachers and students. |
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| 8. |
Is there any project in Washington that deserves more federal support? How would you secure that funding? |
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Local school districts need help reducing class sizes. We should pass my class-size bill. Our transportation infrastructure needs more federal funding. We should increase appropriations for buses, Sound Transit, roads and fast passenger ferries. Local governments need help with salmon-habitat issues. We should pass my Puget Sound Initiative. |
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| 9. |
What should Congress do to shore up Social Security? |
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The Social Security Trust Fund must be used exclusively for Social Security. I co-sponsored the Honesty in Budgeting Act, which assures a lockbox for the Social Security Trust Fund. Part of our projected federal surplus should be used to guarantee the solvency of Social Security by paying into the Trust Fund. |
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| 10. |
How would you extend healthcare coverage to more Americans? |
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I co-sponsored a bill to include a prescription-drug benefit through Medicare, so that seniors do not have to make a choice between eating and taking their medication. I support long-term-care relief, by extending tax credits for those caring for the elderly. I support expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. |
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