Sierra Vista Herald

Candidates for House of Reps, CD 8, were asked to address the following:

1. Please tell why do you believe you are the best qualified among candidates for your position.
2. What do you believe currently is the most important issue facing the winner of the office you seek?
3. Please provide your opinion for or against bipartisanship action in the House of Representatives.
4. If Congress has overstepped its constitutional bounds in making laws and if it did, why?

Gabrielle Giffords
Political affiliation: Democrat
Current employer: The People of Arizona’s 8th District
Occupation: U.S. Representative, CD-8
Age: 40
Home: Tucson
Family: Spouse, Mark Kelly, U.S. Navy Captain and NASA astronaut; step-daughters, Claudia and Claire Kelly

1. I’ve lived up to my promise to fight for the people I represent by cleaning up Washington, including ending the influence of lobbyists and corrupt earmarking. Running my family’s tire company, I know the meaning of hard work and the importance of small business. Since 2007, I’ve successfully pushed for doubling Border Patrol agents and deploying National Guard along the border, passing the new GI Bill and modernizing the VA. To better understand my priorities in Congress and work on key committees, please visit www.giffords.house.gov.

2. Ending Washington’s partisan gridlock. Americans need more leaders who will do their jobs — not simply obstruct progress for short-term personal or political gain. All elected Republicans and Democrats need to start by working together to secure our border.

Border security is national security. I have called for tough border security measures, including more Border Patrol agents and mobile surveillance systems on the border and tough penalties for employers who hire illegal workers. Action by our federal government to secure our border is long overdue, and it’s time for both parties to do their jobs and to do it together.

3. Every year our country gets more divided and bipartisanship feels more like a thing of the past. This isn’t good for the future of our nation and isn’t a productive way for elected officials to work. America’s problems are bipartisan, so our solutions must be bipartisan.

I’m a strong believer in bipartisanship — and not just during election years. The lion’s share of the bills I’ve introduced, like the New Employee Verification Act, a bill to toughen laws governing how employers must verify the citizenship of prospective employees that I introduced with Texas Republican Sam Johnson, have a Republican co-sponsor.

4. Even the smallest government is excessive if it doesn’t work for the people it’s supposed to serve. I fight every day to make government work for Southern Arizonans. That’s why I voted to stop abuses by Wall Street and cut middle class taxes. That’s why I believe we should fix Social Security, not privatize it; BP should be held accountable for devastating the Gulf and the federal government must secure our border. Voters have a choice on Nov. 2. No matter how big the ax we take to government, it won’t matter without leaders who put the people over politics.