Raja Krishnamoorthi, 8th Congressional District Questionnaire

ILLINOIS — U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, faces Libertarian Preston Nelson, from Elgin, in the Nov. 3 General Election. Back in March, incumbent Raja Krishnamoorthi defeated two challengers to earn his party's nod in the 8th Congressional District primary race.

Krishnamoorthi, who emigrated with his family to the U.S. from India, supports policy platforms focused on growing and strengthening the middle class by supporting small businesses, rebuilding infrastructure, and protecting Social Security and Medicare. He has also fought to make college more affordable, expand access to paid sick and parental leave, and guarantee equal pay for equal work.

He serves on the Oversight Committee where he is also the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. He is also an assistant Whip and serves on the Steering and Policy Committee.

Krishnamoorthi has also been focused on addressing issues surrounding vaping among teens. He led the first congressional hearing investigating JUUL, which uncovered information that the company had targeted teens with its product design and advertising.

Here are the answers to a questionnaire that Krishnamoorthi submitted to Patch earlier this year (age has since been updated as of Oct. 2020):

Age (as of Election Day)

47

Town/City of Residence

Schaumburg, IL

Office Sought

U.S. House

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Priya (wife) and three children

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Princeton University, B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering, Certificate from the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs, 1995.
J.D. Harvard Law School, 2000

Occupation

Member of Congress (January 2017 to present)

Campaign website

www.rajaforcongress.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

U.S. House of Representative (Illinois-8th)

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The cost and availability of healthcare remains a huge concern for families throughout my district and across the country. I have fought to protect the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, from repeated efforts in Congress to repeal it without any realistic replacement. I support expanding health coverage to more Americans by adding a public option to the insurance exchanges, which might also serve to push costs down for competing, private plans. I am also working hard to reduce the high cost of prescription drugs by facing down efforts by certain drug companies to restrict less-costly generics and by finally allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies on behalf of recipients of Medicare and Medicaid, as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs currently does.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am running for re-election based on my record in Congress and my history of advocacy for the people and families of Illinois. As someone who lives, works and is raising a family in the 8th District, I am proud of my record of public service. For the past three years, I have had the privilege to represent my neighbors in the U.S. Congress, and I have worked on bipartisan legislation to improve the lives of Illinois residents and our community. I am particularly proud that, even in a hyper-partisan environment, I have been able to work closely and cooperatively with some of my Republican colleagues on matters of mutual concern.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

Jobs: There are millions of good-paying jobs that are going unfilled because employers can’t find workers with the skills and training to fill them. There are also many excellent community colleges and other training centers in our district that can be better utilized to provide those employable skills. My bipartisan Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which went into effect last July, will better enable businesses and educational institutions to work together to provide the education and training that will result in available, good-paying local jobs. In addition, I am continuing to work on behalf of the long-sought western access road to O’Hare International Airport that could bring hundreds of new businesses and thousands of new jobs to the west and northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Vaping: I am also concerned about the explosive recent growth in the use of e-cigarettes by teens and even younger children. I led the first congressional hearing investigating JUUL, in which we found that it had targeted teens with its product design and advertising. This led to the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to force JUUL and other vaping companies to end the use of most flavored vapes that are particularly attractive to teens. I have also sponsored legislation with Senator Durbin and Republican Congressman Peter King that would tax vaping companies to provide $200 million annually for a school-based education program to stop kids from vaping.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Co-authoring with a Republican colleague from Pennsylvania the first rewrite of our nation’s career and technical education programs in a decade. This legislation, which passed both Houses and was signed into law by President Trump, is providing millions of dollars to upgrade vocational training and education programs in high schools and community colleges across our nation.

Co-founding the Congressional Solar Caucus through which I have been working on various initiatives to address climate change by investing in renewable energy development. For example, I helped craft and pass a Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations bill that invests approximately $3 billion in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, including a requirement I co-authored with Republicans that at least $35 million be allocated toward programs that lower costs to implement solar technology.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

Too many students are facing crushing debt when they come out of college, only to find no work in their desired field of study. We need to reform our education system to provide students and their families with the information they need in making this critical investment. That is why I have sponsored the College Transparency Act, which would overturn a prohibition on the federal government collecting and publishing national student outcome data by academic major and college. The data would be broken down to display the current job market, the average debt associated with a specific college degree and what the potential salary range could be.

Why should voters trust you?

I believe that public officials must be accountable to the voters who elected them. Since my election three years ago, I have held dozens of town meetings, providing my constituents with the opportunity to share their concerns and ask me questions directly. I also believe that public officials should be accountable for keeping their promises. I ran for Congress pledging to fight as hard as I could to help middle-class families obtain good jobs, pay for healthcare for their families, afford a higher education for their children and retire with dignity and security. In my three years in Congress, I have followed through on that promise by, among other things, expanding federal support for career and technical education, voting against repeated attempts to repeal or undermine Obamacare, fighting to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and always protecting Social Security and Medicare.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

As the former-president of small businesses in the Chicago area, I believe that government should respect taxpayers by fighting waste, fraud and abuse and always acting in a fiscally responsible manner. That was one of the reasons I voted against the Trump tax bill, which overwhelmingly benefited corporations and special interests while driving up the federal deficit to over $1 TRILLION annually. The Trump tax bill also capped the amount of state and local (property) taxes that can be deducted from federal income taxes, which is hurting thousands of families across the Chicago suburbs. I voted for a bill to remove that cap, which passed the House of Representatives. I hope the Senate will follow suit and provide needed tax relief to many local homeowners.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No

The best advice ever shared with me was …

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Like many of the residents of our district, my parents came to this country in search of a better life for our family. We eventually settled in Peoria, Illinois where I received an excellent education in the public school system. Through loans and scholarships, I was able to attend college and law school. I began public service when I was appointed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan as a Special Assistant Attorney General to help start the state’s Public Integrity Unit created to root out corruption in Illinois government.

Before my election to Congress, I served as president of research-oriented high-tech small businesses developing technology in the national security and renewable energy industries. My wife and I are proud residents of Schaumburg where we are raising our two sons and daughter, all of whom are or will be attending area public schools.