Dallas Morning News Candidate Questionnaire

News Article

Grier Raggio, Democratic Nominee, 32nd Congressional District

Length of residency in the district:

I was born in Central Texas and moved to the Park Cities after my dad returned from combat service in the Pacific during World War II. I spent my childhood in the Dallas area and graduated from Highland Park High School where I was president of the student council my senior year. I have lived at my current residence in Highland Park for 16 years.

Occupation/main source of income:

I am an attorney at my family law practice, Raggio and Raggio, PLLC, and I own a small business, Preservation Assessment Services, LLC. Preservation's business depends on commercial real estate transactions, and I had to lay off employees after the 2008 collapse of the financial system. Business has picked up in the past year, and I have had the pleasure of rehiring the employees Preservation had laid off. I would like everyone in the 32nd to have opportunities for work, and achieving that will be my goal in Congress.

Current civic involvement/accomplishment highlights:

UT Southwestern Medical Center President's Research Council; American Bar Foundation; Texas Bar Foundation; Dallas Bar Foundation; Serving Brother of the Order of St. John (eye hospital in Jerusalem); contributor to SMU's Louise Raggio Lecture Series. I have written two books and numerous professional articles on family law and environmental topics.

I am now campaigning to represent the community where I was brought up because I care passionately about a variety of causes connected to helping others, and Congress is a good place for making a difference.

Previous civic involvement/accomplishment highlights:

Chairman, Daytop Village (nation's largest therapeutic community for treatment of drug addiction); Board Member, Ackerman Institute (furnishes counseling and therapy for families in crisis); President, Harvard Club of Dallas; Endowment Committee, First Unitarian Church of Dallas; fundraiser for wife Lorraine A. Raggio's two successful races for Civil District Judge in Dallas County; worked in the South with various equal opportunity organizations during 1960s' civil rights movement; volunteer in rural Guanajuato, Mexico, with American Friend Service; exchange student with American Field Service in Indonesia; Eagle scout. I'm also a father, grandfather and former sub-3 hour marathon runner, which has helped me develop endurance and persistence useful in politics.

Previous public offices sought/held:

This is the first time I have sought public office. Certainly I am not a career politician. I am running now because our country is in critical condition, and I believe I can be useful. Our Congress needs practical, problem-solving people like me, not more power-driven career politicians dominated by special interest groups. I will bring to Congress my core values emphasizing freedom, opportunity and security, and my family's tradition of public service.

How much funding have you raised for your campaign?

My campaign has raised over $450,000, which is more than any other Democratic House challenger in Texas this cycle.

Who are your top three contributors?

I encourage voters to go to FEC.gov where you can see all of my contributors, as well as those of my opponents. Almost all of my contributors are individuals, several of whom have made the maximum contribution allowed under federal law, including Cecilia Boone, Garrett Boone, and Kay Watson. I have received only one PAC contribution, which is from Teamsters Union Local 745.

Have you ever been arrested? If so, explain:

No.

What changes, if any, would you recommend in the Obama administration's strategy in Afghanistan?

I believe the current timeline for exiting Afghanistan is appropriate.

What strategies should the U.S. employ in Iraq after the withdrawal date?

First we must take good care of our soldiers as they return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. I am pleased that we have ended major combat operations in the country, and believe that we should continue our investment in the infrastructure, government and security of the country. The Iraqi people need to be able to imagine a bright and better future for themselves, which is the path to stability. We should recognize that a stable, democratic Iraq means a safer America.

What should the U.S. do to combat Mexico's drug cartels?

We must acknowledge that as long as there is a strong demand for illegal narcotics, there will be dangerous people willing to use any and all means to supply and profit from the drug trade. History has shown that our providing money and guns to the Mexican military has not solved the problem but has increased the violence in the areas close to our own Texas border. The solution is (1) to diminish the cartels' financial base by fighting the demand side in America and (2) to cripple the cartels by restricting the flow of guns and drug sales money from the United States into Mexico.

How should the U.S. respond to the emerging threats in Iran and North Korea?

First and foremost we must be resolute in defending our nation against attack and in protecting our allies, including Israel and South Korea. One great fear is that Iran or North Korea will transfer nuclear weapons to terrorist groups. This may be a greater risk than a direct attack on us or our allies by either country. We must leave all options on the table, but should seek to avoid additional military confrontations.

If you served in Congress this year, how did you vote on the health-care overhaul, and why? If you weren't a House member, how would you have voted?

Basic health care is not just a privilege for those who can afford it, but is a right for all Americans. I went on record during the debate in Congress that I would have voted against the bill because the plan needed a public option along with stronger cost control measures. That said, I will resist any attempts to repeal the existing law and will work to improve it.

Does the economy need another stimulus package? If not why not, and if so, what should Congress include in it?

Just like a family deep in debt we must we must be careful about incurring more debt and spend money only on essentials. The federal government needs to maintain its credit standing, and borrowing more from foreign country creditors leaves us vulnerable to pressures from those bankers. Despite that, a small stimulus program directed at investments such as education, job retraining, and infrastructure is appropriate to create jobs and to brighten our long term future.

What role should the federal government play in promoting alternative sources of energy?

Alternative energy development and energy conservation are essential to sustainability, job growth and national security, and we should invest responsibly in them. Doing so will mean long term success in all three areas. Energy Technology will be to the 21st century what Information Technology was to the 20th century, and the United States should be the world's leader. Our nation's security and its financial health will also benefit when we stop sending billions of dollars each year to foreign countries for oil.

Do you support a carbon cap to control emissions? If not, how would you combat emissions?

We need to use the free market to reduce carbon use by factoring into the price of carbon fuels all the costs of carbon, including our military expenditures to protect our foreign sources of oil and the health costs of burning carbon. If the true price of carbon fuels is visible, we will reduce emissions as we consume less carbon.

What's the best way(s) for Congress to keep Medicare's hospital trust fund from going bankrupt in 2017?

Congress should act to insure that our expenditures don't exceed our revenues. Efficiencies such as digital records available to all providers, emphasis on paying for results rather than for individual medical procedures, and for preventive medicine are all being implemented in experiments under the new health care reform law, and they should point the way to comprehensive savings in Medicare.

The federal deficit is now at its largest share of the gross domestic product since World War II. What should we do to curb its rise? Raise taxes? Cut benefits? Reduce spending? Please be specific.

We must control entitlement spending, as the country cannot afford to maintain the trends of the last decade. We must face the fact that combinations of measures to increase revenues and to decrease expenditures are absolutely essential to the health of our country. We need elected leaders to make choices, and the recommendations of the President's bipartisan commission on budget choices due this December should help. Winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined with implementing Secretary of Defense Gates' proposals for cost savings, will allow us to lessen military expenditures.

What should Congress do to reform immigration policies and on what timetable? What role should cities and states play in enforcing immigration laws?

Congress should create a better path for non-citizens, especially those with skills our economy needs, to get work permits. Federal law should also provide a road toward citizenship based on the immigrant's contributions to America. Controlling our borders should continue to be a federal government goal, but walls didn't work in the Cold War to contain desperate people, and they won't work completely on America's long borders. Diminishing the power and violence of the Mexican drug cartels will lessen the pressure many Mexican citizens feel to come north. I would have supported President George W. Bush's immigration reform legislation had I been a Congressman at that time.

What specific measures will you take to increase leadership and decrease polarization within Congress on important national issues?

I will not play the Washington blame game. Instead of shouting "NO" at everything the other political party brings to the negotiating table, I will work to find common areas of interest and agreement. Over time this approach will foster trust and allow more effective work on the issues that the American people elect lawmakers to resolve. We must bring an end to the current partisanship, which is debilitating our government.

How would you assess President Obama's performance so far?

I believe the President has done a respectable job considering the unusual crises on his watch, including the economy's losing 700,000 jobs a month when he first took office. No single policy or piece of legislation will quickly fix problems that have developed over years, but we have seen steady and incremental improvements. I would have done some things differently, but the President has done well, everything considered.

Name three legislators you have admired and why you have admired them.

Lyndon Johnson and Everett Dirksen were consummate Senators who could make deals with their opposition for the good of the country. Before he was President, Abraham Lincoln served in the House of Representatives for one term only, and always remained passionately interested in the political and moral issues of his time. I admire that he was dedicated to service and finding solutions to issues as opposed to just being a professional officeholder.

Why should voters choose you over your opponent?

Pete Sessions has failed in his responsibility to serve only the public interest. Over time he has become the consummate Washington careerist, concerned with pleasing the special interests, his campaign donors and lobbyists at the expense of the families of our district. Pete Sessions sometimes appears not to care if America fails, so long as he sees political benefit for himself and his political party in the next election. Pete Sessions voted for each of the budgets that took the federal government from record surpluses under President Clinton to record deficits under President Bush. Early in W's presidency, Pete Sessions voted both for tax cuts with borrowed money and wars waged with borrowed money; that was not fiscal responsibility.

I am different from Pete Sessions. He and some of his colleagues are good at managing perceptions, but they are not handy at solving problems - beyond getting reelected. I do not care for special interests and their Washington lobbyists; my gut concern is that America succeeds and that we leave a bright and prosperous future for our children and grandchildren. I am dedicated to finding and implementing solutions, and I have the mature judgment and experience to do that. At our best, our American culture is about innovation, optimism, overcoming challenges and making big achievements. I am committed to that America and to working together to make our nation prosperous, free and secure for the generations to come.

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