Congressional candidates talk abortion, immigration, and much more

The Biden Administration has espoused a goal to have the United States achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050. Do you support this goal, and if so, what specific steps do you think Congress should take to accomplish it?

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner said the goal is “not serious” and political posturing. He supports “all of the above” energy production, including both fossil fuels and clean renewables.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy called it an ambitious goal, saying that climate change threatens the nation’s agriculture and the health of vulnerable populations. She supports investments to help people adapt to climate change and incentives to slow emissions.

Congress recently relaxed regulations and the approvals for developing new nuclear power plants. Would you have voted for this, and what role should nuclear power have in the country’s future energy production?

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner said that nuclear power should play an important role in the country’s future energy production, noting that France meets most of its energy needs through nuclear reactors. He added that small-scale nuclear reactors could be a promising technology in the near- to mid-term.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy said she wasn’t familiar enough with the exact deregulation to have a position. She supports nuclear energy so long as it has a “safety-at-all-costs” approach.

Would you, under any circumstances, vote to breach the Snake River Dams?

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner believes the dams are critical infrastructure for the region and that removal would have devastating consequences, particularly to agriculture. He supports further buildout of the Columbia Basin Project, which was originally supposed to irrigate a significantly larger area than it has.
Carmela Conroy

Not really. Conroy said that it would be great to have alternatives to all of the benefits of the Snake River dams so they could be breached without consequence but does not believe that is feasible. She added that the negative impacts on salmon and regional tribes need to be mitigated, but believes that is possible.

Should Congress pass a law that bans the sale of bump stocks?

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner noted that he voted against a bump stock ban when he was in the state Legislature and said he would do the same in Congress.
Carmela Conroy

Yes.

Do you support extending mandatory registration for the draft to women?

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner said that he wants to see healthier high schoolers with “less drug use and better physical fitness and less mental health challenges” in order to ensure the nation has a healthy fighting force. He speculated that the proposal to include women in the draft was part of efforts to use the military as a “political football to advance any number of agendas…”
Carmela Conroy

Yes.

Is there an issue where you realistically believe you would be able to work across the aisle to produce meaningful solutions? Please provide specifics.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said he had a track record of building coalitions to advance legislation despite having a narrow majority during some of his time in the state Senate, and believes he could work with Democrats on international security and to improve higher education, protect the Snake River Dams and develop nuclear power.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy believes she could work with Republicans on bills supporting agriculture and farmers and providing food to people facing poverty.

What steps should Congress take to address the fentanyl crisis? Please provide specifics.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports improved security at the border and cracking down on supply chains from China, including with possible sanctions.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy supports investments for Customs and Border Protection to intercept fentanyl as it enters the country, as well as improved addiction and behavioral health treatment.

Portions of the Trump-era tax cuts are set to begin expiring in 2025. Do you support allowing them to expire, renewing them, or something else?

Michael Baumgartner

Supports renewal. Baumgartner said that the tax relief to businesses was needed so they could compete globally.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy supported renewing the tax cuts that affect lower- and middle-class people and letting them expire for corporations and the wealthy. She was the only Democrat to note that slashed corporate tax rates would not expire naturally and supports undoing that cut.

The expanded child tax credit expired in 2021. Do you believe it should be renewed, and what other specific steps, if any, do you believe Congress should take to address childhood poverty?

Michael Baumgartner

Supports renewal. Baumgartner added that renewing the expanded tax credit would likely have to come with other tax and spending reforms.
Carmela Conroy

Supports renewal. Conroy supports expanding free and reduced lunch programs and wants to see Congress work to extend the food stamp program.

Do you support the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which is supposed to invest in American research and development of semiconductors, and would you support any other major spending to boost a particular domestic manufacturing sector?

Michael Baumgartner

Yes, though Baumgartner is reluctant to have the government support particular industries, worried that it would “pick winners and losers” and interject itself in market forces. He supports some government investments in microchip production and domestic mining of rare earth minerals.
Carmela Conroy

Yes. She broadly supports the federal government providing “seed money” to get domestic industries to a point that they can compete globally. Specifically, she pointed to the aerospace industry as an example.

What specific steps, if any, do you believe Congress should take to lower healthcare costs?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports better price transparency so people can understand the costs hospitals are charging for procedures and expanding or creating new health savings account plans. He opposes a move toward single-payer healthcare systems.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy supports allowing the federal government to negotiate prices for drugs and medical services paid through Medicare and Medicaid, which she argues has a spillover effect lowering prices for the general public. She also supports investing in rural healthcare clinics, including VA clinics, to reduce the distance many have to travel to access care.

What specific steps, if any, do you believe Congress should take to lower housing costs?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports reducing regulations, particularly “onerous environmental and labor regulations,” which he argues slow the rate of development and raise housing costs. He argues broadly that Congress has given too much authority to executive branch agencies to create regulations.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy supports subsidizing first-time homebuyers so they can better compete with private equity in the real estate market and providing more grants to local governments to address their particular housing markets.

There is broad consensus among mainstream economists that the U.S. cannot reduce its national debt without both cutting spending and increasing revenue. Do you believe the national debt is a major issue, and if so how would you propose addressing it?

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner supports eliminating “unnessecary” government agencies, pointing to the Transportation Security Administration as an example, reforming entitlement programs and examining possible wasteful spending by the Department of Defense.
Carmela Conroy

Yes. Conroy said she supported undoing tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, increasing taxes on “highly profitable” corporations, conducting an audit of U.S. military spending and considering cuts to the Department of Defense.

Would you support a resolution to the Russian invasion of Ukraine if it included Ukraine ceding territory?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner opposes pressuring Ukraine to cede territory and said it is necessary that Russia’s invasion is unsuccessful in order to deter future Russian aggression.
Carmela Conroy

No. Conroy supports preserving Ukraine’s territorial integrity and would not pressure that country to cede territory as part of possible peace negotiations.

If China invaded Taiwan, would you support direct military intervention to defend Taiwan’s independence?

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner said the U.S. should move away from its stance of “strategic ambiguity,” the longstanding policy to not clearly state whether the U.S. would use its military to oppose a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, though he maintained that the U.S. should not support full Taiwanese independence. That issue should be settled diplomatically between Taiwan and China, he argued.
Carmela Conroy

Other than Baumgartner, Conroy was the only candidate to push back on the characterization that Taiwan is currently “independent,” noting the U.S.’s longstanding “One China” policy that considers Taiwan a part of China but opposes forceful reunification. She supports continued U.S. power projection in the region to dissuade an invasion by China, and said she would “probably” agree to send troops if an invasion occurred.

Would you, under any circumstances, support conditions on further military aid to Israel?

Michael Baumgartner

“Practically speaking,” no. Baumgartner emphasized the need for the U.S. to stand strongly with Israel to defeat Hamas.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy said she is troubled by possible war crimes being committed under the watch of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but worries that removing America’s security umbrella from Israel would destabilize the Middle East. She ultimately said she would support the diplomatic position of the presidential administration at the time, including sending or withholding aid.

What role, if any, should the U.S. have in responding to the crisis in Sudan?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports providing humanitarian relief to Sudan, and possible military action against specific terrorist groups, but emphasized that broader military intervention was “not advisable,” arguing America “can’t be the world’s policeman.”
Carmela Conroy

Conroy said the U.S. should focus on diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the region, particularly by providing support to United Nations agencies.

Would you support increased U.S. military intervention to disrupt cartels south of the border? If so, what specific steps should be taken, and is there a limit to what involvement should be acceptable?

Michael Baumgartner

Potentially, so long as it was in collaboration with the Mexican government. Baumgartner opposed unilateral military strikes into Mexico, but in some cases he would support using special forces operations against high value targets. However, he argued this would need to be part of a larger “whole-of-government approach.”
Carmela Conroy

Conroy was skeptical of using military intervention to disrupt cartels or using military forces for “policing functions” such as combating drug trafficking. She instead supports intelligence gathering and limited uses of force.

Do you believe illegal immigration is a serious concern facing the country, and if so, what specific steps should be taken to address it?

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner argued that a wall should be completed along the southern border, that the E-Verify system checking the legal status of employees should be implemented more broadly across the country and that “remain in Mexico” policies should be reinstated. He added that he would consider withholding some federal funding from “sanctuary cities” that don’t cooperate fully with Border Patrol.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy said “immigration overall is in serious need of reform” and said the federal government has a duty to enforce immigration laws, but added that “with respect to people who sneak into the country,” she doe not believe it is feasible to track them down, nor is it necessary to “sweep up people who stay out of trouble.”

What steps, if any, should Congress take to improve the legal immigration system?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said reform is needed for some visa programs, including for guest workers, skilled workers, and “well-educated, highly capable and talented folks” like Elon Musk. He said these people are needed in the U.S., so long as they are thoroughly vetted.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy said the U.S. should emphasize family reunification and merit-based immigration, saying she thinks the diversity visa program, where people are able to enter a lottery for one of a limited number of visas, was fraught with fraud and should be ended.

What steps, if any, should Congress take to improve the refugee resettlement system?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner believes that refugee resettlement is a proud American tradition, but argued that there needs to be more vetting of refugees and raised concerns about increased numbers of Chinese and Syrian refugees.
Carmela Conroy

Conroy mostly praised the current refugee resettlement system but argued that the initial transition period for new refugees should come with better financial support.

Would you have voted in favor of the border security bill that was unveiled by Senate negotiators in February, which currently appears to be dead?

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner said the bill was overly focused on processing asylum claims and would fail to secure the border. Though the proposal was endorsed by the Border Patrol union, he said that border agents he spoke with were not supportive. He disagreed with a provision that would only close the border after a certain number of border encounters.
Carmela Conroy

Yes. Conroy said the bill didn’t have everything she would have wanted, but it would have been “better than nothing” and helped relieve the “security and humanitarian crisis at the border.”

Would you support a federal ban on abortions or federal codification of the right to access an abortion?

Michael Baumgartner

Believes issue should be left to the states and would not support a ban.
Carmela Conroy

Supports federal codification.

Do you believe steps should be taken in Congress to protect access to Mifepristone and its FDA approval?

Carmela Conroy

Possibly, if it came to that. Despite legal challenges to the drug’s FDA approval, Conroy said current authority granted to the Federal Drug Administration and Mifepristone’s longstanding approval are sufficient to prevent access from being restricted.

Would you support overturning the Hyde Amendment?

Carmela Conroy

Yes.

Do you think there should be a federal time limit for abortion, such as the point of viability?

Carmela Conroy

No time limit.

Do you support a federal maximum time limit when abortion would be legal, such as at six weeks, or mandatory exceptions such as for rape, a pregnant minor, incest or the health of the mother?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner repeated that this decision should be made at the state level.

Do you believe that there should be a federally protected right to emergency abortions in cases that pose a future but not imminent threat to the life of the mother, such as for a miscarriage that has not yet led to sepsis?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner emphasized that abortions should be allowed if the mother’s life is in danger, and that decision can be made alongside healthcare providers, but didn’t know what if any role the federal government has in getting involved.

Do you support federal protections for access to contraception, such as condoms, IUDs or ‘morning-after’ pills?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said he supports access to contraception, but what role if any the federal government had to intervene would depend on the specific restrictions being placed.

Would you support additional federal protections for traveling across state lines in order to access an abortion?

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said that it would be extremely difficult to enforce these laws, “and in many cases would probably do more harm to the pro-life cause than good.”
Carmela Conroy

Probably, if it came to that. Conroy said that every American has the freedom to cross the country and across state lines. “We are not the former Soviet Union – we do not impose interior checkpoints to control our citizens,” she added. However, she believes current constitutional protections should be sufficient to combat these laws.

Do you support access to in vitro fertilization?

Michael Baumgartner

Yes, though Baumgartner said he didn’t think access to IVF would likely be a high concern for Congress.