Jump down to interview with Murray

Democratic Congressman Jim Moran is seeking election to a twelfth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 8th District, which encompasses Alexandria, Falls Church, Arlington County, and portions of Fairfax County, including Lee District, Mason District, Providence District, Mt. Vernon District and Reston.

A senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Congressman Moran serves as the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment and also serves on the Defense and Military Construction Subcommittees.

He recently spoke with AF’s Jem Palo.

AF: Have you focused on the needs of the Asian American community during your terms in Congress?

JM: The results, I think, speak for themselves. I have the legislative energy and personal commitment and have worked to ensure that every Asian American who wants to work in Northern Virginia is respected, welcomed and embraced. And I think that attitude is reflected in the fact that the Asian American community has grown faster than any other community in the congressional district. I’m proud of that, and pleased.

AF: One of your issues is advocating what you call a ‘balanced, comprehensive and reform-minded immigration policy.’ What are the specifics of the policy, as you see it?

JM: First of all, no human being is illegal. Some have documentation and some don’t. But all are to be valued as human beings. I want to make it as easy as possible for people who embrace the American dream of freedom, to worship and to speak and get involved politically, and especially to be rewarded for their talents and efforts. That’s what it means to be an American, and anyone who wants to reflect those principles and values should be an American. I’m a sponsor of immigration reform which will provide a path to citizenship for everyone in this country. It would require that applicants for citizenship be able to speak English in addition to their native language. That must be able to pass the civics test, and they must not have a criminal record. Beyond that, there should be at a path to citizenship at whatever age they are.

AF: What is your stand on the Dream Act?

JM: I’m am original sponsor of the Dream Act. I care very deeply about the Dream Act. The Dream Act is my legislation, along with a handful of others, because I have a great many very successful students who were brought here as children. It was not their decision, it was their parent’s decision, and I want to make sure that they can afford to go to college and that they will be able to realize their full economic and social potential.

AF: Asian Americans are no different from other minority groups assimilating into American life when it comes to bias against them, perhaps unconscious bias, or discrimination in housing and other matters. What is the role of someone in government in dealing with that?

JM: I’ve been opposing any discrimination against Asian Americans for nearly twenty years. We have been doing it every day. I fight against it. The most prominent examples have been discrimination against Asian Muslims that come from Asian countries. I make sure that they know that I show my respect and appreciation for their religion. I do the same thing for Buddhists and Hindus. I’ll go to a Benghali festival this Saturday. I try to use my office to show that people in the highest levels of government welcome Asian Americans and respect differences in religion, culture and language. And I want those differences to be woven into this economic and social fabric in Northern Virginia.

AF: What is your view of the voter ID laws sweeping a number of states, including Virginia?

JM: The voter ID law is a solution in search of a problem. There is no problem with voter ID. We haven’t had any real cases of fraud. So this is an attempt to suppress the vote. I just spoke at a rally on Saturday against the Voter ID laws because their intent is to discourage people from voting. And in a democracy, we should be encouraging everyone to vote, so that the results will reflect all of the population. And voter IDs intend to discourage minorities, foreign born and the elderly and students. And it’s wrong. Those are the populations that are least likely to vote. One of the things that discourages me and that I’m upset about is that we have a lower rate of participation in politics than we should, particularly by the Asian American community. The results of elections should reflect the widespread view of the Asian American community, and we will have better results. The more Asians the better.

AF: Do you have any plans to deal with these laws on the federal level?

JM: I’m working at the federal level to prevent these state laws from being allowed to discourage people to vote. What we try to do at the federal level is to prevent the restriction of voters. I disagree with all of these voter ID laws, because their intent is wrong, their intent is just the opposite of what we should do, which is to encourage voting.

AF: Final thought?

JM: Bottom line is, the more Asian Americans, the better. Better for our economy, our businesses and our community.

Congressman Moran also enumerated efforts he has taken on Capitol Hill which are of interest to Asian Americans. This list includes the following:

-Support of legislation to grant Visa Waiver program to Korean families, to add Korea to the list of countries

-He was an original sponsor of U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement

-He has supported expanding and reforming visa programs so that foreign born students with advanced degrees can legally remain legal in the United States after college and become employed

-Congressman Moran also lists leadership of the Transpacific Trade Partnership as work he has performed.

READ MORE:

Official Website: http://moran.house.gov/

Campaign Website: www.jimmoran.org

Challenger Patrick Murray, Republican

Patrick Murray is a 24 year U.S. Army Veteran who is making his second run for Congress in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District. As an Army Officer he served in numerous tours around the world, first as an Armor officer and later as a Foreign Area Officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

He has worked in the U.S. State Department in the Bureau of Political Affairs and at the United Nations as the American military representative on the Security Council. In 2007, Patrick deployed to Baghdad, Iraq during the “surge,” where he served on the staff of General David Pretraeus.

Murray holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics, and two Master’s Degrees in History and Russian Studies. He lives and works in Alexandria.

He shared his thoughts recently with AF’s Jem Palo:

AF: What steps would you expect to take In Congress which might be of special interest to the Asian American community?

PM: Overall, my focus is, if we can improve the economy, get fiscal government regulations off, if government starts to spend money wisely, in other words, not to spend any money we don’t have, that’s going to create more jobs for everybody, and that is my big focus. And also this is my second time to run and I had great success with some Asian community outreach back in 2010 and hope we have the same this time. I also happen to have two Asian Americans on my staff. I am completely open to outreach and to also sharing and listening to specific concerns of the community. But my overall focus is that old adage: in a high tide, all folks ride.

AF: Many minorities, including some in the Asian American community, sometimes feel the sting of bias against them. How would you deal with issues of discrimination?

PM: No one should have any discrimination whatsoever. What we need is transparency, to the extent that I can interact within those communities and find out where, if there’s discrimination with housing, etc. Because what’s amazing is that we are a country of immigrants. That’s what we are. And we’re not a country based on an ethnicity or a certain race or anything. I’ve spent over 24 years in the army, and over the decades I’ve dealt with a lot of ethnicities, I’ve dealt with a whole lot of people in different host countries, many of whom were standing out in line every morning waiting for that consul office to open up and perhaps get any opportunity they could to get a VISA and come over here.

So I think sometimes the Americans who work here, we don’t have the perspective of someone who’s spent so much time and effort and risk with themselves and their family just to get here. And that needs to be something that I think I can bring to the table that certainly my incumbent doesn’t have, and certainly what many other people don’t have either.

AF: What is your stand on the DREAM Act?

PM: Well you know what I know, that a lot of people in my party don’t support the DREAM Act, per se. What I do not agree with, with President Obama, you can’t just selectively enforce laws. You have to stick to the laws we have. And if we don’t like the laws, we should change it. I believe, in particular, for people or kids, if you’re brought here, if you’re under the age of 16, through no fault of your own, we should have some way to have some kind of a condition of permanent residency or something like that. Especially if you’re willing to work hard, serve your country, stay out of trouble, get an education. Especially for me, I love the idea of military service as a fast track to citizenship. So when you put your life on the line, then I think you should be compensated for that.

AF: What is your view of the voter ID laws being enacted in a number of states, including Virginia?

PM: Jem, I gotta say, I believe that we should be able to, I mean, voting is a privilege. We should have voter IDs. I mean, there’s been a lot of documented cases of voter fraud. I don’t think it’s too much of a hurdle to have an ID. You have to have a photo ID to do just about anything nowadays.

AF: One of the things you say you plan on working on in Congress is fostering a stronger relationship between the U.S. and Israel. Given the present tension between Israel and Iran, how do you think this will affect your relationship to the approximate 2,500 Iranians in the 8^th district of Northern Virginia?

PM: That’s a really good question and I appreciate you asking that because I think that it’s important that we delineate between a very oppressive, totalitarian Iran regime, separate that from the Iranian population. And you know, many Iranians who live here now, live here because they escaped that regime. When the Shah was overthrown and Khomeini came in. So I think it’s very easy. There’s a big difference in the Iranian population, many of them from the Green movement two years ago as they strived in an uprising against that oppressive regime. I have no problems, no concerns, with one of the great civilizations of our history. It’s that regime that is threatening, and that is the problem.

AF: What is your view of the American Labor movement and right-to-work laws?

PM: Well Virginia is a right-to-work state. Nobody should be forced to be in the union or forced not to be in the union. They should have that option. But when you look at the states around the country right now, the demographics are such that where the populations are growing, their economies are good, their employment rates are low, those are typically right-to-work states. I think anyone who has a job should have that choice if they want to be in the union or not, and not have forced union dues, whether they’re in it or not.

AF: Why should Asian Americans vote for you?

PM: All of the interactions that I have with Asian Americans, since I started running the first time, the Asian Americans that are here, want a better life. I mentioned it a little bit earlier, briefly, that when I was overseas, that I understand what it takes to get here. And I think that’s what Asian Americans want more than anything else, an opportunity for a good education, opportunity to put your kids in school, get ahead and have a better life without an oppressive government and with a level playing field. That’s what our country is all about, and that’s why we have a great immigrant population. That’s what I wanted to ensure that we continue to have. Whereas the other side has a lot of government intrusion into our lives that many immigrants have spent much great effort and risk to avoid. And I’ve had so many immigrants say to me, ‘What are you all doing? This is what we ran away from. This is not why we’re here.’ You know, people don’t risk life and limb to get on Obamacare. They don’t come from halfway around the world to get on welfare, they come here to work. I just wanted to give you that opportunity, I want to give immigrants and Asian Americans that opportunity.

AF: Thank you, sir.

Read More:

Campaign Website: http://patrickmurrayforcongress.com/