Rush Darwish, 3rd Congressional District Democratic candidate profile

Candidate profile

Rush Darwish

Running for: Congress, IL-03

Political/civic background: Served on the Lori Lightfoot transition committee for Transportation and Infrastructure, member of the executive board of AMVOTE PAC

Occupation: Small business owner of a multimedia company

Education: College of DuPage

The Illinois Center for Broadcasting

Campaign website:rush4congress.com

Facebook:facebook.com/Rush4Congress/

Twitter: @Rush4Congress

Instagram:@rush4congress/

The Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board sent candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives a list of questions to find out their views on a range of important issues facing the state of Illinois and their districts. Rush Darwish submitted the following responses:

Please tell us about your civic work in the last two years, whether it’s legislation you have sponsored or other paid or volunteer work to improve your community.

My civic work in the last two years consists of two primary components. Earlier this year, I served on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s transition committee for transportation and infrastructure. Throughout the last several years, I have been on the Executive Board of AMVOTE PAC, which helps Arab-Americans and Muslims get involved in the electoral process by registering people to vote, promoting turnout in the community, and raising awareness about issues that candidates discuss.

What are your views on the decision by the U.S. House to impeach President Donald Trump? Has the impeachment process been fair or not? How so? If, in your view, the president should not have been impeached, would you have supported censure? Please explain.

I fully support the impeachment of President Trump. His abuse of power and subsequent obstruction of Congress in the wake of the inquiry are heinous, wrong, and demean the office of the Presidency and the separation of powers. The process has been more than fair, with Speaker Pelosi and the committee chairs doing their jobs professionally, methodically, and solemnly. They have held their hearings publicly whenever possible and have followed important national security protocols throughout the process, which the Republicans have attempted to stymie at every turn.

How would you reduce the federal budget deficit, which now stands at about $1 trillion for 2020? What changes, if any, to the U.S. tax code do you support and why?

The first item to change as far as the US tax code is concerned is reversing the tax cut implemented by President Trump and Congressional Republicans in 2017. These tax cuts are going primarily to wealthy individuals who do not need the money; as a result the tax burden is disproportionately shouldered by middle and working-class Americans, who do not have the financial resources alone to lower the deficit. In addition, I would close tax loopholes that allow the wealthy and corporations to pay little to nothing in taxes like the carried interest loophole and ending the practice of corporate enterprising in offshore tax-havens for American companies. Further, I would support raising the cap further on SALT deductions, in tandem with other Illinois Reps. like Rep. Brad Schneider, who have taken the lead on making sure that taxpayers in blue states like Illinois get a fair shake when it comes to paying federal taxes under the new Trump tax plan.

What changes would you like to see made to our nation’s healthcare system? Would you shore up the Affordable Care Act or work to repeal it in full? What’s your view on Medicare for All? And what should be done, if anything, to bring down the cost of prescription drugs?

I support implementing the Medicare for America plan as proposed by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). This plan would ensure Medicare for all who want it, would cover every uninsured American through Medicare, and would create a public option. The reason I support this is because I believe that every American needs to be covered regardless of their income, but I also believe that Americans should have a choice when it comes to their healthcare. People who receive healthcare through their employers or their union receive good coverage, and we should not be in the business of taking that coverage away. Furthermore, I would repeal the burdensome excise tax or “Cadillac tax” that makes healthcare extremely expensive for middle-class people, particularly union members. To bring down the cost of prescription drugs, I believe that Medicare needs to negotiate and set the price of prescription drugs for all Americans, not just those covered under Medicare.

The Trump administration is awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court as to whether it can end the DACA program — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — which shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Do you support or oppose DACA and why? Should a path to citizenship be created for the so-called DREAMers? Please explain.

I support DACA because DREAMers are huge contributors to our society and are some of our most hardworking, civically minded young Americans. And let’s be clear – they are Americans, as this is the only country they have ever known and many identify solely as Americans. A path to citizenship should be created not only for the DREAMers but for all undocumented people.

What are the three most important issues in your district on which the federal government can and should act?

In no particular order:

Firstly, we need to address the issue of healthcare. As previously mentioned, I believe that Congress should pass, and the next President should sign the Medicare for America bill.

Second, we need a Representative who will commit to comprehensive immigration reform and providing a pathway to citizenship for every immigrant that comes to the United States. Immigrants not only contribute greatly to our country and society, but we need them now that our population is beginning to age more quickly.

Third, we need to greatly expand our public transit and improve transportation and infrastructure in the 3^rd District. Too many of our roads and bridges are falling apart, and we have a huge lack of public transit, which would provide an enormous economic opportunity for the people the District if expanded and improved upon.

What is the biggest difference between you and your opponent(s)?

I am the only candidate in this race who understands what it is like to grow up working class, and am the only candidate who understands what it means to grow up in an immigrant family. My parents had very little when they came to this country, and when I was growing up we were not well off. Further, as the son of Palestinian immigrants, I know what it’s like to come from a background where people in this country think of you differently because of what you look like and where you come from. My opponents – for all their rhetoric – will never understand those experiences and I firmly believe that experience is the mother of understanding when it comes to the issues affecting working families and immigrants, both in the district and across the country.

What action should Congress take, if any, to reduce gun violence?

Our gun control proposal has three central planks:

· Universal background checks for every gun purchase in the United States

· Banning all assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

· Creating harsher sentences for illegal gun sales, and charging straw purchasers with life in prison.

Is climate change real? Is it significantly man-made? Is it a threat to humankind? What if anything should Congress and the federal government do about it?

The fact that the question even needs to be asked is shameful. Of course it’s real, and of course it’s a threat to humankind. You don’t need to be a scientist to see climate change’s effects in action. Congress needs to end all fossil fuel subsidies and greatly expand them for renewables like wind and solar. We also need to greatly invest in sustainable infrastructure like bus and rail public transportation as well as biking and walking infrastructure here in the 3^rd District and in other urban areas so as to reduce car dependency, which is one the greatest contributing factors to greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

What should Congress do to ensure the solvency of Social Security and Medicare?

We need to eliminate the social security maximum taxable earnings limit, which currently stands at just over $132K. Upper-income and wealthy people need to pay their fair share into the system, especially considering that our population is aging rapidly.

What should Congress do to address the student loan crisis? Would you use the word “crisis”?

I would use the word crisis, because the economic consequences are critical. We need to have the federal government pay off loan debt for low-income students and graduates, and ensure that interest is eliminated for all middle-income students and graduates. I also believe we need to eliminate 100% of teachers’ loans and make all teachers’ education completely free.

What should our nation’s relationship be with Russia?

Russia is not our friend. We should not treat it like it is, and we should not hold up Vladimir Putin – who is a ruthless, region destabilizing dictator – as an example for anything having to do with our country. In fact, we need to counter Putin on every front. He is the promoter of strife, war, and conflict, and we need to stop him by bolstering our own alliances and tasking our intelligence agencies to work with their partners from around the world to stop unilateral Russian expansionism and destabilization tactics, be they through cyber warfare or arms support to dictators and despots across Russia’s sphere of influence.

What’s your view on the use of tariffs in international commerce? Has President Trump imposed tariffs properly and effectively? Please explain.

I do not believe in tariffs unless absolutely necessary to protect the American economy. Trump’s tariffs have been imposed both improperly and ineffectively, and they have weakened the American economy. We need to make sure we don’t enter in bad trade deals, but that doesn’t mean that we should cut ourselves off from international trade. Tariffs do have a specific role to play in international trade. They should be safe, legal, and applied only as last resort.

Does the United States have a responsibility to promote democracy in other countries? Please explain.

Absolutely. The United States – despite its many flaws – is a country that people around the world look to as a beacon of hope and freedom. However, this does not mean we should be in the business of regime change or arming groups engaged in civil war abroad. We need to pressure anti-democratic governments to increase freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to peacefully assemble through diplomatic and financial measures.

What should Congress do to limit the proliferation of nuclear arms?

Congress needs to stop authorizing building new nuclear weapons. Nuclear modernization programs and proliferation beget the same from both our allies and our enemies. We need to stop investing in our nuclear arsenal – we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world over and over again. We should be reducing our number of nuclear weapons as that will incentivize other countries to do the same.

Please list all relatives on public or campaign payrolls and their jobs on those payrolls.

My wife works at Olive Harvey college.

There are no relatives on any payroll I maintain.

What historical figure from Illinois, other than Abraham Lincoln (because everybody’s big on Abe), do you most admire or draw inspiration from? Please explain.

Even as a young kid, I remember looking up to Harold Washington as a hero. To me, he was a larger than life figure and had a kind of folk hero vibe. While I wasn’t familiar with his policies specifically, I knew that he was somebody who was trying to help people like me, and for that I was inspired by him.

What’s your favorite TV, streaming or web-based show of all time. Why?

The Sopranos. I found the story of a modern-day mob boss trying to live a normal life fascinating in that he was a person steeped in the past wrestling with the challenges of modern life as personified by his children and the younger mobsters he worked with.