Candidates: U.S. House of Representatives District 1

Could you provide some background information about yourself that would help voters establish your connection to the area you are seeking to represent?

Bruce Braley: I was born in Grinnell in 1957, the son of Byard Braley, a Marine veteran who fought on Iwo Jima, and Marcia Braley, a schoolteacher. I grew up in Brooklyn in Poweshiek County and graduated from BGM High School. I applied for my first job when in the third grade and have been working ever since. I’ve delivered newspapers, baled hay, detassled corn, worked at a grain elevator, and driven dump trucks.
I attended Iowa State University in Ames and was awarded a bachelor’s degree in 1980. I then attended the University of Iowa’s College of Law, graduating in 1983. After law school, I worked in Waterloo as an attorney for 23 years, holding corporations accountable to their employees and consumers. It is important to give back to the community, and my wife and I have been active in Big Brothers/Big Sisters where I live in Waterloo since 1993. First elected to Congress in 2006, I am proud to represent northeast Iowa as a member of the House of Representatives.

Ben Lange: I grew up right here in northeast Iowa in Quasqueton (population 499). My mom is a registered nurse and my dad was a meat plant worker. I was the first in my family to go to college, first at Southwestern University in Texas, and then to law school at Hamline University in Minnesota. My wife, Kelly, and I moved back to Iowa with our three girls, Addison (5), Emelia (3), and Charlotte (1), and we now live in Independence, where we started a small business law firm.
I’m running because we need to restore trust in our government and find leaders willing to take a stand for what they believe in. Because of the repeated decisions of career politicians to kick the can down the road and their failure to solve the challenges facing our nation, my three daughters are now $150,000 in debt before they can even ride a bike. What we are doing to the next generation is simply immoral, and it is the greatest social injustice of my lifetime. I will not rest until we put our nation back on a track to economic security and prosperity.

Small, rural communities like those in northeast Iowa seem to be in a constant struggle to not just thrive, but even survive. What hope can you give to residents of these types of communities in your district to want to remain here and live their lives?

Ben Lange: After going away to college and law school, I came back to Iowa and started a business here, so I know exactly what challenges our local business owners and residents are facing, because my family and I are facing them, too. What’s happening is that the current economic policies supported by Congressman Braley are crushing rural Iowans.
The trillions of dollars of deficit spending haven’t created jobs or opportunity; they’ve just piled more debt onto the next generation, getting nothing but short-term political gains. I care more about the next generation than I do about the next election, and I will fight every day to ensure a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.
Unlike my opponent, who has been in office six years and still has no plan for how to get our nation back on track, I do have a plan. You can download a copy of my “Compact with Iowans” at www.langeforcongress.com. My plan outlines four key priorities and a range of ideas and solutions for putting America back on track, including: reducing the national debt, unleashing the U.S. economy, reforming health care the right way, and preserving the safety net. In addition, we need to restore trust in our elected officials, which is why my plan also includes this promise: If you elect me as your next Congressman: (1) I will tell you the truth; (2) I will not run from difficult problems; (3) I will do what I say I am going to do.

Bruce Braley: When I grew up in Brooklyn, nobody asked if you were a Republican or Democrat, they asked for your help and they got it. That’s the attitude I take when I work for rural Iowa in Congress. I am willing to put party labels aside to do what is in the best interest of Iowa. The solutions to our nation’s problems won’t be found in partisan bickering. When people in Congress do something as simple as talk to one another and are willing to work across the aisle, we can find common ground.
Growing up, my family did a lot through our church and school - these two places were where nearly all of our activities took place. It’s where my brothers, sister and I learned the importance of helping people in whatever way we could. Spending time as a family was the most important part of our lives, and through it I learned a lot. My dad taught me to take pride in America’s values, honor our veterans and fight for what I believe in. From my mother, I learned the importance of education, and they both taught me the importance of family.
What I learned from my parents has helped define my work in Congress. Working hard for Iowa families is my number-one priority. Fighting to make sure that veterans and their families have the care and support they need not only when they’re on the front lines, but also when they come home is an issue I work on nearly every day. I’ve been working to keep higher education in reach for Iowans as they pursue their education, and to ensure that we continue to fight for rural America. All of these things have been guided by my family values.

What would you do in Congress to help create good-paying jobs in America?

Bruce Braley: We need to strengthen small businesses because they make up 99 percent of all businesses, and they employ half of all private sector workers. I have introduced several pieces of legislation to work towards this goal:
• The Support Our Start-Ups Act provides tax cuts for small businesses that make up the engine of our economy.
• The Back to Work Act, which was signed into law, provided a tax credit for Iowa businesses. Over 100,000 Iowans were hired as businesses used this tax credit.
• The Main Street Stabilization Act provides real-world training for small business owners and employees.
• The Combat Veterans Back to Work Act, which recently became law, provides tax credits to businesses that hire returning veterans.
I also was proud to introduce and pass into law the Plain Language Act. This bill makes it easier for Americans to work with and understand their government. All government agencies are now required to write documents and forms that go to the public in easy to understand language, which will save individuals and small businesses time and money.

Ben Lange: To understand the solution, one must first understand the problem. As outlined in my plan entitled, “A Compact with Iowans,” the financial crisis of 2008, caused in large part by government regulations that led to the creation of 27 million high-risk loans, sent shockwaves through the economy. When our nation needed confidence, certainty, and proven economic principles, Washington politicians made things worse with reckless economic experiments. Their policies are based on the notion that government can spend our way to prosperity.
They passed the largest spending bill in history that they promised would reduce unemployment to 5.4 percent by September 2012. Instead, unemployment has been stuck above eight percent for 43 consecutive months. Politicians do not seem to understand that economic growth is driven not by government, but by the private sector.
First, Congress should instill confidence in the U.S. economy by immediately addressing the long-term debt crisis. Without changing the path we are currently on, we will slip closer and closer toward becoming the next Greece, which will choke out private investment and economic growth.
Second, Congress needs to provide greater certainty, simplicity, and competitiveness for the private sector through regulatory and tax reform. Congress has abdicated their regulatory authority to Federal agencies causing bureaucratic rulemaking to explode. This has created uncertainty and unpredictability for families and businesses. The piecemeal and temporary tax “fixes” also make it harder for businesses to plan for and invest in the future.
Third, we need to open new markets for American businesses. My opponent has voted repeatedly against trade agreements that would make it easier for American companies and American farmers to sell their products overseas.

How significant should the government’s role be in ensuring that Americans have access to affordable health care?

Ben Lange: We need health care reform, but not government-run health care reform. I would vote to immediately repeal Obamacare and replace it with true patient-centered health care reforms.
The private health care system in the United States is one of the finest in the world, but rising costs have made it more difficult in recent years for some Americans to access and afford services. Costs have risen because of inefficient overutilization of services. Under the current system, neither the doctors nor the patients are incentivized to actually reduce costs. In fact, it is the opposite.
Obamacare did nothing to address this fundamental problem. Instead, it masks it and forces Americans to spend more by taxing 2.5 percent of household income - 75 percent of which will fall on the middle class. Worse, Obamacare interjects unaccountable bureaucrats into our most intimate health care decisions, whose authority is to reduce expenditures, not to ensure access to cost-effective quality health care.
We need to empower the health care consumer and give patients more control over their own health care. When consumers have their own monetary stake in each health care decision they make, they will spend their health care dollars more wisely and efficiently than any government bureaucrat. We can also drive down costs by opening up the system and allowing companies to sell insurance nationwide and actually compete with each other for our health care dollars.

Bruce Braley: When I think of healthcare reform, I think of my nephew, Tucker. Tucker survived a fight with liver cancer at the age of two because his family had health insurance. But his parents lived in constant fear of losing their jobs because Tucker would be denied new insurance due to his pre-existing condition. The healthcare reform law ended those fears and makes many other positive changes to our healthcare system.
It allows 18,000 Iowans to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26. It also requires insurance companies to cover screenings for diseases like breast cancer. In addition, it saves Iowa seniors hundreds of dollars per year on their Medicare prescription drugs by helping to close the donut hole. Furthermore, it creates Medicare pay equity for Iowa which will help keep good doctors in the state, and it reduces waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system. There is no doubt this law will have a positive impact on Iowa.

What should the government do to reduce this country’s dependence on foreign oil and bring fuel prices down at the pump?

Bruce Braley: We’re making progress in our move towards a homegrown energy policy.  Right now, we’re producing more domestic petroleum than at any time since 2003, and we import 12% less petroleum from foreign sources than we did in 2008. This is progress, but there is still a long way to go to end our dependence on foreign oil.
We should increase responsible domestic drilling, so that we can drive down imports of foreign oil even further. Frankly, it’s naïve to think that petroleum cannot be part of a comprehensive energy solution, which should include the following:
1. We should support responsible domestic drilling.
2. We should continue to move towards homegrown energy like ethanol and biodiesel.
3. We should pursue policies for clean electricity like extending the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit and encouraging other forms of renewable energy.
4. We should increase transparency in the marketplace by enacting a bill I introduced called Country-Of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) for Fuels, so that consumers can see right at the pump what country their gasoline is coming from.
5. We should crack down on market manipulation by energy speculators.
6. We should continue to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as needed, to ensure low gas prices for American consumers.
I believe in a comprehensive energy solution that lowers gas prices, increases domestic energy supply, and moves our energy production from the Mideast to the Midwest.

Ben Lange: Economic growth is contingent upon an energy sector capable of powering such growth. But America is being held captive by extreme policies that have shackled even the most reasonable and responsible energy exploration. The most recent example was President Obama’s unilateral decision to block the Keystone Pipeline that would not only have brought oil from Canada into the United States, but also would have created thousands of jobs. Bruce Braley voted against the pipeline.
These extreme policies have caused gas prices to skyrocket and made America more dependent upon foreign countries for our energy needs. In essence, these extreme policies have outsourced the very engine for our own economic growth. Bruce Braley also voted against tripling America’s offshore oil production and against opening up a small area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas production.

What can the government do to decrease the nation’s deficit?

Ben Lange: America is at a crossroads and Iowans face an historic choice on election day about what kind of nation we will pass on to our children and grandchildren. Washington politicians from both political parties have put our nation on a path of massive debt and steep decline. For decades, they have made promises to us in order to get elected. Unfortunately, they have not been honest with us and have made promises they simply cannot keep.
America deserves better. The truth is the federal government has grown too big and is too expensive. We need to cut federal spending. We need to honor the promises made to our current seniors while reforming unsustainable entitlement programs for future generations in a balanced and responsible way. If we do not, our country faces financial collapse.
We can start to reduce the National Debt by passing a Balanced Budget Amendment to permanently end federal deficits. Unlike my opponent, who voted to raise the debt ceiling six times and nearly double the national debt, I will oppose all debt-ceiling increases until a debt-reduction strategy is established. I will also support capping total federal spending at the historical average of 19 percent of GDP.

Bruce Braley: We need to get our deficit under control before it damages our economy further. It is unconscionable to place the burden of this debt onto our children and grandchildren. Since I’ve been in Congress, I’ve voted for $3 trillion dollars in spending cuts. I’ve crossed party lines to sign on to Republican Rep. Justin Amash’s Balanced Budget Amendment, a responsible way to balance the federal budget over 10 years. And I broke with my party to demand a deficit-cutting plan from President Obama in advance of the debt ceiling debate. Reducing our deficit will require difficult decisions on how to prioritize a limited pool of money, but the economic health of our country depends upon it.

What role can the federal level of government play in helping small family farms remain operational?

Bruce Braley: The thing I have heard repeatedly from Iowans over the past couple of months is the importance of passing a Farm Bill, but unfortunately some in Congress just don’t seem to get it. I spent my childhood detasseling corn and working in Iowa fields and my father ran a grain elevator in my hometown of Brooklyn, and I know what it’s like when farmers face uncertainty.
The Farm Bill is the most important legislation affecting the economy and jobs in Iowa this year, and Iowa farmers can’t afford political games on critical programs like crop insurance. Both Democrats and Republicans support the Farm Bill, but partisan politics is preventing it from coming up for a vote. I’ve filed a bipartisan petition to force a vote on the Farm Bill and will continue this fight for Iowa farmers until a Farm Bill is passed into law.

Ben Lange: Agriculture continues to be a cornerstone of the Iowa economy and our farmers benefit from policies that reduce the cost of doing business, preserve our proud farming culture and work ethic, open markets and expand trade, and ensure we are competing on even playing fields with other countries to allow us to continue moving toward a market-based agricultural system. Unfortunately, there are members of Congress who continue to vote against the interests of Iowa farmers. For example, Bruce Braley chose to vote against Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama which, even according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would have made “it easier for American companies to sell their products” and “create jobs here at home.”
I will vote for the immediate and permanent repeal of the Death Tax. This confiscatory tax is a huge burden and constitutes double taxation on our family farms and small businesses, and is a leading cause of multi-generational family farms being shut down or sold off. My opponent, Congressman Bruce Braley, has been a long-time supporter of the Death Tax. The House took up and passed a measure on August 1 that would prevent this tax hike, but Congressman Braley voted against it. December 3, 2009, Braley voted to make the Death Tax permanent at 45 percent with a $3.5 million exemption, which "The Wall Street Journal" described March 31, 2009, as the “the largest increase in the death tax in U.S. history.”
I will also vote to statutorily prohibit any cap and trade energy tax that would devastate our agricultural sector, and I will restrict the ability of administration departments to pass job and farm-killing regulations without oversight by Congress.