Celeste Williams' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Celeste Williams has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Arkansas Congressional Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I support Roe v. Wade. The discussion around reproductive rights has been a politically divisive issue for decades; it's been turned into a political weapon used by politicians to demonize and dehumanize political opponents. Our debate on this topic has left us as a nation virtually paralyzed with inaction on addressing the root causes of unplanned pregnancies. I believe we must strip away the animus through which reproductive rights are discussed in order to move forward on achieving the outcome we all want - making sure that every baby born in our country is born into a loving, welcoming home. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare? | ||
| Social Security and Medicare must be protected. These programs are earned entitlements that seniors have paid into throughout their entire lives that offer a minimum safety net every senior deserves. I also support expanding Medicare as an option to all citizens regardless of age or income. We must move away from the inefficient and expensive for-profit, employer-based insurance model in order to offer universal healthcare access to all Americans. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| We must end the influence that unlimited, untraceable money has in our elections. | |||
| No | Do you support increasing defense spending? | ||
| We must have a strong national defense. That does not mean that we should spend recklessly. We already spend more money on defense than the next seven highest spending countries combined, and we have engaged in endless wars. The DoD in 2020 requested $53 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, "war spending," with more than half of that going toward "enduring requirements." These enduring operations sap our national resources in both the form of direct spending and on the toll they take on our military personnel and their families. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| Yes, we should have federal standards that ensure all children, regardless of what zip code they live in, receive an education that will help them become productive members of society. We must also change educational funding formulas which discriminate against marginalized communities by over-reliance on property taxes. At the same time we must be thoughtful about how we measure achievement to avoid over-testing. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I support regulating emissions by implementing a revenue neutral carbon tax and dividend, mitigating the damage already done by climate change through carbon capture and global reforestation projects, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, building solar and wind power generation that will help fuel economic development and jobs in rural communities, and stopping federal subsidies to corporations that benefit from the destruction of our natural resources like oil and gas companies. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| The term gun control lacks nuance. What I support are public safety measures that have been proven to reduce gun violence in our communities and are supported by a vast majority of Arkansans - gun owners included - like federal, comprehensive criminal background checks and extreme risk protection orders designed to keep guns out of dangerous hands. | |||
| No | Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Human migration is as old as humanity and is generally in response to a crisis or need. Prosperous nations must have compassionate, responsive, efficient, and humane policies that value the talents and hard work of immigrants seeking a better life. These policies can be achieved at no detriment to our country's national security. I favor comprehensive immigration reform that serves the needs of families fleeing violence and economic hardship; of employers who face shortages in labor markets from agriculture to computer programming; and, undocumented Dreamers who have grown up in this country and are as American as those born here. | |||
| No | Should the United States use military force to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a weapon of mass destruction (for example: nuclear, biological, chemical)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing military intervention in Middle East conflicts? | ||
| Military intervention should always be a last resort, though if all diplomatic efforts have failed, military intervention should be considered. All analysis of whether to intervene must include the enduring cost that armed conflict has on our military personnel and their families as well as the civilian causalities and impact on our diplomatic and moral standing within the global community. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)? | ||
| Global free trade helps American companies grow and provide consumers choices and lower prices. However, we must ensure fair trade deals that protect the dignity of work and the environment both here and around the world. | |||
| I have dedicated my life to serving others - as a family nurse practitioner, educator, mom, and foster parent. After 20 years a nurse, I realized not all problems I see can be fixed in the exam room. That's why I'm running for U.S. Congress. I am fighting for a world where we can all succeed, where getting sick doesn't mean you go broke, where our children have a world class education, and we restore dignity to workers in America. We can pay for these investments through a more equitable federal income tax system and cuts in unnecessary spending. |
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