Name: Sherry Alu Campagna
Age: 47
Current occupation: Environmental Scientist
Political experience: Advocate and Community Leader

What should the government’s role be in providing access to health care? What should or should not be covered in a basic policy?

We need to decouple employment from health insurance. Healthcare is a human right and we all deserve the same healthcare that is afforded to members of Congress. Socioeconomists around the world have proven that high quality, single payer healthcare is possible in the United States so it is up to our members of Congress to deliver it. Having a universal healthcare system in the US would also remove the market competition that exists between the companies that own our hospitals, resulting in better, accessible, and equitable care for patients.

Access to quality health care choices remains top priority. In Congress, I will ensure to appropriate more money for federally qualified health care centers in rural Hawaii. I will also work toward attracting and attaining more qualified health care professionals in these districts.

Deadly mass shootings have fueled arguments for increased gun control. Do you agree? What should or should not be changed about America’s current gun laws?

Yes, I would like to see the nation follow Hawaii’s lead with gun control, which are some of the strongest in the country. Hawaii has a longstanding hunting culture and many in CD2 own guns responsibly. Yet, we do not see significant complaints coming from Hawaii gun owners who live with some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. I strongly support an Assault Rifle ban and would work to remove the tax-exempt status of the NRA.

In light of recent nuclear threat concerns, should the United States play a more or less prominent role in international relations? What actions should be taken?

I feel that, with Trump in office, the U.S. would be taking a risk with a more prominent role in international relations. Just this July, the President made the news for getting the U.S. into a trade war with the rest of the world and responding to Iran via Twitter with “NEVER EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKE OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE”. His participation in international relations is counterproductive to the diplomatic work that would be considered appropriate for America. My recommendation is to stay the course for now. South Korea and Japan continue to stand with us against our most immediate nuclear threat, North Korea, and our homebase defenses remain strong and vigilant.

A White House proposal aims to slash the Department of Interior’s budget by $1.6 billion, and shift funds from new land acquisition to the development of oil, gas, and coal. What elements of this plan would you keep, what would you change, and why?

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke proposes to cut $1.6 million dollars from the DOI budget and with it, 4000 jobs. Zinke treats the DOI like another arm of the military, aiming its assault on our National Parks and preservation areas. His focus is clearly to deplete our natural resources by raiding our National Parks and conservation areas, including native lands. This is not what President Teddy Roosevelt, the founder of our National Parks system, intended for our country. Roosevelt had the foresight to understand that the consumer growth could become a threat to the environment that gives us a strong sense of identity– an environment he worked to protect.

Zinke has failed at proving how his budget cuts would save taxpayer dollars, and even more so, if this move to drastically change the DOI’s purpose has public support.

As an environmental scientist, I disagree with Zinke’s plan to cut the budget, dissolve jobs, and end workforce redevelopment programs, for the purpose of transforming the DOI into a first-strike weapon on natural resources. His actions are not in the public interest and would put the health and safety of our families and future generations at the mercy of big oil companies, while we need to urgently move toward clean energy alternatives.

I do not support cutting funding for climate change research, I do not support oil drilling in the Arctic or Atlantic Ocean, and overall I do not support cutting the funding for the DOI while raising funding for the Defense budget. We need to fortify and feed our infrastructure at home, not erode it to feed the for-profit corporate war machine.

If you could introduce one piece of legislation, what would it be and why?

I would introduce legislation to appropriate funds to Hawaii for new and emerging businesses in clean energy technology and agricultural food production to diversify the state economy, especially in CD2. My aim is to create a viable and sustainable economic engine in CD2 that real families can depend upon to grow and keep their families at home and thrive.

Website: www.sherryforhawaii.com