The Catholic Virginian - House of Representatives Candidates Interviewed

News Article

By Steve Neill

Due to a great deal of local interest in the House of Representatives race in the 7th District, Steve Neill of The Catholic Virginian and Jeff Caruso, Executive Director, the Virginia Catholic Conference interviewed all three candidates for the 7th District seat. Articles based on those interviews appear here, in alphabetical order by the candidates' last names.

The Catholic Virginian neither supports nor opposes any candidate for public office.

-Brat emphasizes free market

David Brat, the Republican candidate for the Seventh Congressional District seat previously held by Eric Cantor, sees all people as children of God and this belief helps shape his policy views. Stating that he comes from a Christian faith background, he attended Princeton Theological Seminary which was established on the Presbyterian Reformed tradition, from which he has a Master's of Divinity degree. He and his wife Laura, who is Catholic, and their two children attend St. Mary's Catholic Church in Richmond's West End.

Brat, who has taught economics at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland for the past 18 years, has a system of thought which integrates ethics and economics. He often uses Papal encyclicals in his courses to show the relationship between economics and ethics. "We live in a rights-based society which emerged from the Judeo-Christian tradition," he said, adding that he believes rights come from God prior to the government.

Brat supports the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act as well as the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act. He asserted that taxpayers should not be paying for someone's abortion except in the cases of the life of the mother, rape or incest.

"This is a very huge and complex issue," Brat said of the thousands of children crossing the American border each year, adding that it was "a humanitarian tragedy." He said, "These children who come without their parents should be given food and medical attention in the short term, but in the long term they should be reunited with their parents in their home countries."

He encouraged development of the free market system in the impoverished countries from which the children are fleeing. "The most compassionate thing we can do is promote a free market economy in those countries," he said.

Concerning the Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, Brat agrees with the ruling and he opposes the HHS contraceptive mandate, saying the issue at stake is "religious freedom."

Asked about same-sex marriage and the possible Supreme Court ruling on state laws which prohibit such unions, Brat said "power should be with the states and these laws should not be subject to federal purview."

Brat also opposes raising the federal minimum wage. "You can't make up a wage rate out of thin air," he said.

Wages, he asserted, should be based on the productivity of the people. He encourages raising the education of "our children and therefore the productivity of the worker." He said, "The bottom 80 percent of wage earners have seen their wages remain flat for the last 30 years."

It is important to protect public health and safety because "we're responsible for the planet we live on," Brat said.

"Countries of the industrialized world have done a much better job of care for their environment, relatively speaking," he said.

He faulted the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for placing a burden on industry and not doing much to protect the environment. He feels there needs to be a balance between more regulation on the one hand with economic competitiveness with the rest of the world on the other hand.

He said his three top priorities if elected to Congress would be 1) balancing the budget; 2) securing the border, especially now with the threat of terrorism; and 3) repealing Obamacare and "curbing excessive regulations on job creators."

"The bottom line is that the United States is moving off track right now and we're not in right direction," Brat said. "The kids are not flourishing."

He said he would encourage corporate leaders to go into the classrooms of 6th, 7th and 8th graders "to get these kids skilled up to have a shot at the life that they need."

-Carr says government best at lowest possible level

James Carr, Libertarian candidate, says his desire for public service grew up in what he described as "a mixed denominational Christian household." But his desire to be a public servant is not based on his religious background.

"It is actually based on a desire to prevent government from taking any religious side, if you will," he said. "Everyone should be treated equally and we do have people who have a tendency to want to legislate on a specific set of beliefs. What that does is give preferential treatment to one versus another and it sets a dangerous precedent for a country founded on freedom."

"One of the reasons I am a libertarian is that you should put government at the lowest possible level," he said. "If at all possible, any government function should be at the local or state level, not at the federal level."

Mr. Carr would support the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act but not the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, which he called "duplicative."

Regarding the HHS mandate requiring almost all health care plans to cover sterilization, contraception and abortion-inducing drugs, Mr. Carr said, "We're forcing people to do something they don't agree with."

Carr, who now works in the health care field, said the narrow religious exemption to the Health and Human Services mandate was not broad enough. "I think they should have made exemptions across the board," he said.

Regarding children coming to the U.S. from Central America without their parents, Carr described the current situation as "a humanitarian crisis."

He agreed that there needs to be security at the U.S. border, but feels much of the crisis at the moment is due to violence in other countries because of the black market on illegal drugs in the United States. He said violence in Colorado diminished after the sale of pot or marijuana was made legal in that state.

"As a libertarian, I feel that what you put in your body is your own choice," he said. "I don't have to agree with it, I don't have to support it.

"By taking away the profit of the drug cartels, you're taking away their power."

To help solve the immigration crisis, he said "Democrats and Republicans have to look at a more flexible immigration policy."

He would like to see the parents of these young immigrant children come across the border because he feels "they're going to come across and work and be productive in our society."

He asserted that to deport all who are here illegally would harm many businesses which hire low wage earners who also become consumers by buying at local businesses.

"It would cripple these small towns," he said. "They wouldn't be able to function."

He believes the Supreme Court should say that states cannot define marriage. But if governments are going to continue to define marriage, then all people should be treated equally, he said. He pointed out that he has a younger brother who is married to a same-sex partner.

"Their relationship is just as valid as anyone else's," he said, "but what they had to go through to get the same protections any other loving couple has was extensive.

"My view is that the government should not be involved in marriage period--and never should have."

Carr is married and he and his wife have three children.

Asked if he supported an increase in the federal minimum wage, he said "the nice and easy answer is no. It should be eliminated."

By raising the minimum wage, Mr. Carr said "You're just inflating the economy so the actual dollars are worth less. We're at the same point in terms of actual buying power."

"In seeking a better quality of life, it is buying power that you should be looking at," he explained, adding that some businesses which are forced to pay a higher minimum wage "end up cutting some low-level jobs."

Carr believes many departments at the federal level "need to be reined in and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is one of them."

He believes in strong property and waterway rights.

He was asked about what would be his top priorities if elected.

He would promote term limits for elected officials in Congress and proposed that there be only three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate. Such term limits would perhaps "get rid of the horse trading that goes on."

"Laws should apply to everyone, including the people making the laws," Carr asserted.

He would also like to see an overhaul of the Internal Revenue Service and a balanced budget.

He compared what he thinks should be the overhaul of the way of doing business in Congress to that of the path of recovered addicts.

"If you never take that first step toward recovery, you're never going to be recovered," he said.

-Trammell promotes diversity, strong middle class

Describing his faith background as "fairly diverse," Jack Trammell, Democratic candidate for Virginia's Seventh Congressional District seat, said he grew up in a traditional Protestant household where he was taught a high degree of tolerance for all religions.

He and his wife, Audrie, attend Yanceyville Christian Church in Louisa County where they were married 10 years ago and where he now is an elder.

Dr. Trammell, a professor at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, cited "separation of church and state" in explaining why he would not support the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act or the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act which would require that plans operating on health care exchanges disclose to consumers whether the plan covers abortion on demand.

He said that any decision on abortion should remain between a woman and her doctor.

When asked a follow-up question about whether people who oppose abortion should have to pay for other people's abortions, he said "The system is for the good of all."

"Being blind to individual differences" is sometimes the fairest way to proceed, he said.

Asked about what Congress should do to protect unaccompanied minor children fleeing to the United States for refuge, Trammell stated that he supports comprehensive immigration reform.

"We are a wealthy country," he said, adding that the United States should work with our neighboring countries to create the type of "neighborhood" we should have.

While acknowledging that our country is partnering with some countries, he emphasized that we could be doing a lot more.

Trammell said he did not agree with the Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores that the Obama administration's HHS contraceptive mandate as applied to closely held for profit companies violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In commenting on the ruling, Dr. Trammell said he thinks defining corporations as persons is problematic in this situation and in many others.

Government should not be "in the business of telling people what is morally correct or incorrect," he said in affirming the Health and Human Services mandate.

Trammell said he felt the Supreme Court should strike down laws in states which ban same-sex marriage. He pointed out that 19 states have "taken a stand defending same-sex marriage."

Regarding the federal minimum wage which is now $7.25 an hour, Trammell said it should be raised significantly although he did not propose what it should be. However, he felt a number should be proposed "and then we need to challenge ourselves to go beyond that.

"We're a wealthy nation and we need a strong middle class," he said.

Regarding the environment and proposed new standards which would reduce carbon pollution from power plants, Trammell said he is committed to reducing our carbon footprint.

Calling the U.S. to be "good stewards" of the environment, he said it is important to balance various considerations.

The cost/benefit analysis on this issue is a complicated one, Trammell said, but the country must engage in it.

Again emphasizing that the United States must protect the middle class, he said, such protection is key to our continued success as a nation.

Trammell called for education reform. The education system is under stress with the "accountability movement," he said.

As a longtime special education teacher, if he were elected, he would be an advocate for fixing special education.

Between them, Trammell and his wife have seven children.

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