U.S. Representative, Arkansas 4th Congressional District
(Editor’s note: Republican incumbent Bruce Westerman did not respond by the publication deadline. Democratic nominee William Hanson did not respond to multiple invitations to participate.)
1. What do you see as the most difficult challenge(s) facing the district, and what solutions do you propose?
Deficit spending by the federal government is the single most dangerous issue facing residents of the 4th District and the entire nation. Our ability to defend the country and provide an economic framework that allows citizens to live freely and prosper is crippled by huge annual deficits and insane national debt. Reducing spending by dramatically reducing waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending is the only real solution. Once we end waste and prosecute fraud and abuse, we can begin to eliminate deficits and debt.
2. What are your legislative priorities for the next Congress?
A balanced budget and meaningful reduction of the national debt are the first priority for Congress. Everything else the national government does is harmed by our failure in this area. National defense, interstate commerce, law enforcement and every other legitimate federal function is threatened by our fiscal failures.
3. How do you propose to make affordable health care available to as many Americans as possible?
The only sensible way to move toward affordable health care is to eliminate government meddling that comes between health care providers and patients. Everything from crippling licensing processes to allowing providers to hide the cost of services leads to higher costs and less control for patients. Less government involvement, not more, will lead to cost benefits.
4. What, if anything, should Congress do to address the concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement?
The sentiment that “black lives matter” is not the same as the organization Black Lives Matter. Congress can prove that black lives matter by ending the legal immunity of politicians and their employees. Politicians and public employees should be held fully, legally accountable for their decisions and actions that damage individuals. In addition, laws that lead to prison sentences for nonviolent offenders should be eliminated or assigned misdemeanor status. Both legal liability and severe sentences for nonviolent offenders affect minorities disproportionately.
5. What, if anything, would you change about U.S. foreign policy?
As closely as possible in the modern world, we should follow Thomas Jefferson’s call for a doctrine of “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations—entangling alliances with none.” Our current course, followed by both old parties, seems to spend billions of dollars to alienate as much of the world as possible.