Patch Candidate Q&A: Jan Schakowsky, 9th Congressional District
EVANSTON, IL — Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, of Evanston, will face Republican challenger Sargis Sangari, of Skokie, in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in their respective primaries.
Schakowsky has represented Illinois' 9th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1999. She is a chief deputy whip in the Democratic Party caucus. Sangari is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and was runner-up in the district's 2018 Republican primary.
The 9th District includes a portion of Chicago's North Side and all or part of Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Mount Prospect, Niles, Park Ridge, Rosemont, Skokie, Wilmette and Winnetka.
On Saturday, both candidates appeared at a candidates' forum hosted by League of Women Voters Arlington Heights-Mount Prospect-Buffalo Grove Area.
Patch sent a candidate questionnaire to each campaign. The answers below were submitted on behalf of Schakowsky's campaign and have not been abridged or otherwise edited.
Jan Schakowsky
Age (as of Election Day)
76
Town/City of Residence
Evanston
Office Sought
U.S. House
Party Affiliation
Democrat
Family
Jan lives in Evanston, Illinois, with her husband Robert Creamer. She has three wonderful children, Ian, Mary and step-daughter Lauren, and six extraordinary grandchildren – Izzy, Eve, Lucy, William, Aidan and Alice
Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
Robert Creamer, husband, works as a political consultant
Education
BA in Education, University of Illinois
Occupation
Member of Congress, 1998-2020
Campaign website
www.janschakowsky.org
Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office
Illinois State Representative
The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.
Right now, getting the COVID-19 crisis under control is the primary responsibly of the federal government. We currently have 50 states with 50 different plans to rid ourselves of this deadly virus. I am in constant touch with our Governor and all the elected officials in my district, and believe that they are all doing the best they can. There must be a national strategy to end this crisis, and there must be a Congress in place that will help President Biden implement the authorities and appropriations necessary to make American healthy again. Until COVID is under control, we will continue to suffer the devastating economic and personal consequences of this pandemic. Americans must be able to return safely to work. Our children need to be out of the house and safely back in school. Our healthcare system must be reformed to deal with future national disasters as well as the day-to-day health needs of our population.
Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?
I support Black Lives Matter. Systemic racism plays an enormous role in limiting equal opportunity in America. For decades, we’ve seen de facto segregation limit the quality of education, housing, and business opportunities people of color can access. We see employment policies that favor white people; and this is reflected by the fact that the Black unemployment rate has been twice that of whites over the past 60 years. We see drastic racial disparities in our healthcare system including in Illinois where Black women are six times more likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions. And we also see this in the distribution of wealth in America – white families hold 90 percent of the national wealth.
What are your thoughts on the campaign to "defund" the police?
Racism is lurking at every level of our society and it’s time we truly own up to this and work to fix it. We must ensure that we have Black, Brown, indigenous and other people of color occupying more positions of power. We need to rethink our current system of policing and shift it away from this militarized, unaccountable system to one that is based on public safety. We need to shift investments in criminalization and policing toward investments in education, health care, economic opportunity, and other public benefits. We see this reflected in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that passed the House in June. This bill would provide grants to communities for them to rethink and decide how they want to address policing and public safety. And I certainly favor reparations and am an original cosponsor of the bill in the House that would establish a commission to study and consider remedies for slavery in the U.S. It has always been difficult for our nation to come to grips with the impacts of American slavery. However, that does not mean that we can ignore this terrible chapter in U.S. history and, where possible, make amends.
What are your thoughts on the state and national response to the coronavirus pandemic? Do you favor such measures as limiting operation of non-essential businesses or restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a nationwide mask mandate?
Let’s face it, if everyone in this country had spent two weeks locked down when this started, and wore masks and washed hands uniformly, we could have ended this months ago, saving thousands of lives and millions of jobs. Everyone should still wear a mask – this disaster is far from over
What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
If this were a “normal” time in American history, I would tell voters to chose me and not my opponent because I’m the only one in this race that will defend a woman’s right to choose; stand up and fight climate change with urgency; work to keep dangerous weapons of war off our streets; and fight to make health care affordable and accessible to all. My opponent does not stand for any of these policies. But these are not normal times. The Republicans in the House of Representatives have become a rubber stamp for the corrupt, anti-immigrant and authoritarian brutality of the Trump Administration. Were my GOP opponent elected to Congress, he would either join this foul GOP chorus, or, at best, be an ineffective voice in a cowardly Republican minority party that will likely endorse an even more emboldened and authoritarian Trump, should he be reelected.
Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform
Climate change is real, it is an existential threat to our nation and planet, and it is happening at an alarming rate. When I served on the House Intelligence Committee, the committee listed Climate Change as a National Security Threat. The United States is responsible for more than a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions since 1850, so we have a significant responsibility to help address global climate change. According to the National Climate Assessment, the average global temperature could rise by 3 degrees Celsius by 2100 because of increased greenhouse gas emissions. In recent decades, this has been evident by extreme weather, devastating wildfires, and increased hurricanes and flooding.
Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has been moving in the opposite direction. President Trump has moved to pull the U.S. out of the landmark Paris Climate Agreement and undo the Clean Power Plan adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama. The Trump Administration is even refusing to acknowledge the proven and scientific effects of climate change in official documents.
As a member of the Environment subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I am fighting to maintain environmental protections and expand investments in clean energy. That is why I joined my colleagues in cosponsoring H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which passed the House on May 2. H.R. 9 takes the first steps in protecting our planet by keeping the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement, demands real action from the Trump Administration on climate change, and lays the foundation for further, effective action by Congress.
I am also happy to be one of the members of Congress that is helping develop the “CLEAN Future Act”. This bill which builds upon the Green New Deal declares a national goal for the U.S. to achieve a 100% clean economy by no later than 2050. It addresses issues of accountability, transportation, power, and other aspects that are crucial to combatting the climate crisis. While the bill is currently a draft, I am excited to move it forward and pass it into law under a Democratic administration.
This Congress, I have introduced or supported several other bills to address climate change and fight against efforts to reduce environmental protections. These include the Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development (SHARED) Act which would better protect water sources against pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing. Such steps are essential if we want to protect our communities, promote public health, and reduce the safety risks of climate change. I am also a proud cosponsor of H.R. 5221, the “100% Clean Economy Act,” which sets the goal of having zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050, and H.Res. 109, the “Green New Deal.”
America must take meaningful action before it’s too late. Recent scientific reports have outlined the urgency of mitigating the damage of climate change. Congress must act to preserve and protect the planet for our children and grandchildren, and for their children and grandchildren. We cannot afford to be on the wrong side of history. I will continue to support meaningful actions to address climate change and fight against efforts to reduce environmental protections.
What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
My civic responsibility is what drove me to run for Congress in the first place and motivates me each and every day. I started my career as a consumer advocate, fighting to put freshness labels onto food at the grocery store. Today, I chair the prestigious Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, which allows me to fight for my constituents’ safety and welling every day. Over the last year I have worked to take dangerous products off shelves, provide oversight of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, and I am writing the first national legislation to protect Americans’ data privacy.
Numerous important bills have already passed out of my subcommittee during this Congress. They include: The STURDY Act to address furniture tip overs; The Safe Sleep for Babies Act to address dangerous inclined sleepers and crib bumpers; The Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act to address the flammability standard for upholstered furniture; the “SafeWeb” Act to protect Americans from fraud, spam, and deception online; BrandUSA Reauthorization to promote American tourism; The Nicholas and Zachary Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act to provide grants to states to provide carbon monoxide detectors to low income families; and the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act to create a safety standard for portable fuel containers.
In my district offices I oversee a team of dedicated staff who help constituents navigate the complicated and nerve-wracking federal bureaucracy. We fight for veterans’ benefits and make certain Medicare and Social Security benefits are properly administered. We help immigrants with their visa and immigration processes and help families stay together and reunify.
I am regularly working with the Army Corps of Engineers to utilize the skill and capacity of the Federal Government to make infrastructure improvements in the district. We have fought to implement flood remediation of the Des Plaines River, deal with our eroding lakefront shoreline, and tackle environmental cleanup.
I fight in the halls of Congress to bring federal funding to the district; combat climate change; deliver community security grants; end attacks on the SNAP program; and to lower the cost of prescription drugs. And as the representative of a district of immigrants, I fight for comprehensive immigration reform that results in a pathway to citizenship and does not tear family apart or depart children who only know America as home.
Recently I introduced the “Mentoring to Succeed Act”, legislation that increased support for school-based mentoring programs in order to help at-risk youth thrive in their schools, careers, and life. My bill would invest in mentoring programs that help students overcome adversity and trauma and develop the workforce skills employers are seeing. I believe that as students face increased social and psychological strain from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mentoring to Succeed Act is more important than ever.
If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?
Both well before and during the pandemic, I have focused on the cost of prescription drugs. 58 million adults in 2019 reported having difficulty paying for their medications. During the virus crisis, I have repeatedly pressed our health care officials from the CDC, NIH, HHS and up to the President to assure Americans that therapeutics and vaccines would be affordable to all. I have failed because the Trump Administration has no desire to fight the pharmaceutical companies on behalf of struggling Americans – they care more about profits than people. Over and over I have been told that, since we must rely heavily on the pharmaceutical corporations to invest, that we can’t require “affordable pricing”.
But we are heading into a transformational election, and if I win another term, and Joe Biden is in the White House, I know we can make progress in lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Doing so would not only “make my term in office a success”, but it would also improve the lives of millions of Americans.
To achieve this goal I have introduced bipartisan legislation, the Metric Act (HR2296), which would require drug companies to justify an increase an cost of over 10% and require them to publicly disclose their actual costs, including all their expenditures on Research and Development, (not including any taxpayer funding), all marketing and advertising expenditures, net profits on the drugs, executive compensation and more. HR7296, another bi-partisan bill I have introduced, protects patients from being price gouged on COVID 19 drugs that are developed with any taxpayer dollars by prohibiting pharmaceutical monopolies on these drugs. This bill requires the government to mandate reasonable and affordable pricing, ensures transparency and prevents excessive pricing for already existing Covid drugs. 9 in 10 adults are concerned that Pharma will use the pandemic as an excuse to raise prices. We cannot let them!
Finally, I support requiring drug corporations to negotiate drug prices, a proposal supported by Joe Biden and passed by the House last year in the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.
Lowing the cost of Rx drugs isn’t only possible (via the legislation I have introduced to achieve this goal, but it’s something that is demanded by the majority of Americans. I will continue to fight to make it a reality – we’re almost there.
Why should voters trust you?
From the very beginning of my 22 years in Congress, I have devoted myself and my team to constituent service and to being available, accessible, and present throughout my diverse district. Most constituents just call me “Jan” when I run into them at the grocery store or out in the community.
What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?
As a proud Member of the House Budget Committee, I know full well the fiscal challenges this country faces. And can say, without any hesitation, that the poorest Americans should not be expected to shoulder the load for debt and deficit reduction. I would oppose any efforts to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, school lunch or any other nutrition programs.
On the other hand, the wealthiest Americans continue to profit, even as the country finds itself in the current crisis. The taxes they pay are obscenely low, which is why I have been re-drafting the Fairness in Taxation Act, which would make sure Americans who have succeeded pay their fair share in taxes.
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:
John Lewis once said: “Get in trouble. Good trouble. Necessary trouble.”
This article originally appeared on the Evanston Patch
