U.S. Senate (West Virginia)
Jay Rockefeller
Contact:
Website: www.jay08.com/
| Name: | Jay Rockefeller |
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| Party: | Democrat |
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| Home City: | Charleston, W.Va. |
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| Home County: | Kanawha |
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Biography:
West Virginia House of Delegates, 1967-69; West Virginia Secretary of State, 1969-73; President, West Virginia Wesleyan College, 1973-76; Governor of West Virginia, 1977-85 (two terms); U.S. Senate, 1985-present (four terms)
Personal Statement:
- What should be done, if anything, to help young Americans, especially young West Virginians achieve greater financial security?
- For young West Virginians, we need to continually bring in new jobs and make college and other training more affordable. We need better health care and child care and we must get back to holding Wall Street accountable to Main Street.
- What action must the federal government take to assure that high quality health care is available to all Americans?
- I support comprehensive reforms that would provide every American with quality, affordable health care. We can achieve this through private markets and investing in programs that work such as Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP. We also must leverage the buying power of large populations to negotiate deep discounts on services.
- What programs would you cut or what additional revenue sources would you tap to bring the federal budget into balance?
- We must impose greater fiscal discipline, set funding priorities, and concentrate tax relief on businesses and working families. I've also supported the pay as you go rule, which requires new spending proposals be budget neutral by using only the funds we already have, and not adding to the federal deficit.
- What if anything should the federal government do to address our nation's energy issues?
- We need a full court press to use every domestic resource – drilling, alternative fuels, and cleaner coal. Everyone is struggling with gas and food prices. We must act to control energy costs. To achieve energy independence, we must make a major national investment in burning coal cleaner and reducing carbon.
- How will you balance the continuing costs of military action with the costs of domestic needs?
- We must set shared priorities and protect taxpayer dollars. For our military, we have to focus on our biggest threat – Al Qaeda. At home, we must address our ailing economy, health care, energy independence, education, and building roads and bridges.
