Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Elizabeth Holtzman for US Congress NY-10
Candidate Name: Elizabeth Holtzman
Office Seeking Election for: US Congress NY-10
Website: https://lizholtzman.com
1. Explain, based on life experiences and accomplishments, why you believe you are best qualified to represent your district. These are dangerous, crisis times that cry out for someone with the experience, the expertise and the creative know-how to take on the Supreme Court extremists, the right-wing Republicans in the House and the Trumpists who are attacking our democracy. My whole record shows I can do that. I have stood up to Nixon (voting for his impeachment and drafting the Cambodia bombing article of impeachment) and was the only Democrat to ask Ford the tough questions about the Nixon pardon. I wrote one of the first books calling for Trump's impeachment. I set up a special unit as DA to deal with police and corrections misuse of force - and was picketed by at least 5,000 police officers but never backed down. I cannot be intimidated or silenced. And I know how to get things done. I led the effort to end racial discrimination in jury selection; got NYS's highest court to declare exemption for marital rape unconstitutional; brought a landmark lawsuit against the unauthorized bombing of Cambodia; took on the Brooklyn machine to win my race for Congress and never compromised on that; and led the effort to bring Nazi war criminals in the US to justice--when no one else cared.
2. Do you now support or have you ever supported an openly LGBTQ candidate for public office? I have been a robust supporter of openly LGBTQ+ candidates. I supported Tom Duane when he first ran, and Tom and I have remained strong advocates in fighting against LGBTQ discrimination. I also have supported Chistine Quinn, Corey Johnson and Alan Fleishman, among others.
3. If applicable, what legislation directly affecting the LGBTQ community have you introduced or co-sponsored? (indicate accordingly) I was one of only six people in the House to sign onto the first bill ever to protect against sexual orientation discrimination in employment. Also, I supported and testified about Intro One in the NYC Council.
4. What LGBTQ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally? I have been involved as a speaker and was politically associated with the leadership of the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn.
5. If applicable, what LGBTQ organizations have you allocated funds to? N/A.
6. Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community? Of course, in the sense that I have long supported and still support an end to the homophobia and discrimination and hostility to the LGBTQ community.
7. Have you marched in Pride? Which marches and for approximately how many years? I have marched in Pride for years; the most recent march was this year’s NYC Pride March.
8. Have you employed openly LGBTQ individuals previously? Do you employ any currently? Do you employ any currently? As Brooklyn DA, I hired the first openly gay person in a DA office in New York, Evan Wolfson. As DA and as Comptroller, I have hired openly LGBTQ individuals across departments, including in law, public policy and citizen action and advocacy, among other areas.
9. If you receive the endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements? I would identify the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club in all literature and electronic materials where I list endorsements, and would be honored to do so.
10. What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBTQ issues, pro choice legislation, criminal justice issues and the Resist Trump Movement have you attended? Too numerous to list, including most recently rallies against the Alito decision, which threatens not only abortion and contraceptive rights, but also gay marriage. See, for example, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DqqlxX17M4_HIk_F1hAWPVWsr-vtN8og/view?usp=sharing
I have been asked to appear on TV many times to articulate my anti-Trump view, and wrote one of the first books calling for Trump's impeachment. I’ve written many articles on the subject that appeared in the Washington Post and Daily News, among other publications.
11. Will you advocate for legislation to mandate the review of sentences of incarcerated individuals aged 55 and older who have served in excess of 15 years to determine if they warrant release? I would advocate for this idea and would like to see research and recommendations on details such as the minimum age.
12. Will you advocate for legislation that would ensure those appearing before the New York State Parole Board are considered for release from prison based on who they are today and not exclusively based on the nature of their crime? This appears to be a state issue but I strongly support the idea.
13. Do you commit to visit constituents who are incarcerated in state prisons such as Bedford Correctional Facility? When was your last visit to visit incarcerated constituents? I would commit to visit incarcerated constituents and their families as circumstances call for this.
14. Have you participated in any demonstrations or protests in relation to the issues of clemency and parole? I have written many letters in support of clemency and parole, and won a pardon from President Clinton for a civil rights activist.
15. Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals? I will.
16. Do you believe in the decriminalization of sex work? I am not in favor of prosecuting prostitutes. When I was DA, I found they were the victims generally of pimps and others who forced them into prostitution and kept them there by use of drugs. I do believe that prosecution of those who exploit prostitutes is appropriate, depending on the circumstances.
17. Will you oppose any legislation that promotes the Nordic model? I need to pursue further research on this before making a thoughtful decision. In Congress, I would convene a group comprised of LGBTQ+ groups to consult on this and similar issues.
18. What proposals will you advocate for the protection of immigrants and further New York as a Sanctuary City? My parents were immigrants and my mother and her family fled persecution to come to the US. I know the immense contribution that immigrants and refugees make to the US. As Chair of the House Immigration Subcommittee, I wrote with Senator Ted Kennedy the Refugee Act of 1980, the country’s only comprehensive refugee law. I was responsible for and worked hard to ensure the admission of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese boat people into the United States, and also worked to parole Iranians fleeing Khomeini and Soviet Jews to the US. More recently, as member of the Advisory Committee to the US Department of Homeland Security, I opposed private immigrant prisons. When President Trump imposed the policy of separating children from parents at the southwest border, I resigned from the Advisory Committee in protest. In Congress, I will fight for increased admission and protection of immigrants and refugees.
19. Will you advocate, including introducing legislation, to remove public funding from religious schools? I have never supported public funding of religious schools and will actively work on this issue.
20. Do you support the establishment of safe consumption spaces? Yes, I do support this idea so long as the spaces are operated and staffed appropriately to ensure safety.
21. Have you ever endorsed any member of the IDC or any candidates who challenged IDC members? Please identify all candidates. I believe I have not, to the best of my recollection.
22. Will you commit to hiring a member of the LGBT community to serve as a liaison to the community? I have hired LGBTQ+ employees in the past to do so, and I will continue this practice.
23. Will you commit to ensuring diverse LGBT representation among your staff? I ensured my staffs included LGBTQ+ representation from diverse backgrounds in the past and will continue this practice.
24. Who did or do you support for office in the Democratic primary in the following races A) mayor and comptroller in 2021 B) President in 2016 and 2020 C) Governor and Lt. Governor 2022. I made no endorsement in 2021, and supported Gov. Hochul and Anthony Delgado.
25. Describe any federal legislation and policy changes that you support in order to address the ongoing effects of slavery, racism, colonialism, and discrimination. I have a strong record of standing up against discrimination, prejudice and bigotry of every kind. As a law student I worked in the South during the civil rights movement and saw the workings of Jim Crow up close, and while in law school co-founded a national civil rights organization to bring law students to the South to fight Jim Crow. What I saw impelled me to fight against racism, discrimination and bigotry at every opportunity. I was the only DA in America to call for ending racial discrimination in jury selection using peremptory challenges, and my position was upheld by the Supreme Court. I was proud that the Supreme Court acknowledged the work of my office. In Congress, I wrote legislation stopping insurance companies from redlining urban areas, blocking the repair or development of affordable housing in communities of color. I appointed African Americans to top positions for the first time in a DA’s office, and under my watch, for the first time the Comptroller’s Office African American- and other minority-owned firms, and women-owned firms, were awarded contracts to manage City pension funds and the sale of City bonds. I am a fierce opponent of any efforts to tolerate racial discrimination, prejudice or bigotry of any kind, and will support initiatives to fight the ongoing effects of slavery and oppression rooted in race. The actions I have summarized are the kinds of actions I have taken and will continue to take in Congress.
26. What legislation or other policy changes do you support in order to make college and graduate school affordable for poor, working-class, and middle-class Americans and to alleviate the crushing loan debt that many students and alumni are facing? Making higher education affordable for all Americans and alleviating the burden of student loan debt are critical. In the past I strongly supported the restoration of free tuition at CUNY and I continue to support free CUNY tuition and tuition-free community college education. I will fight for additional funding to deal with crushing student loans and issues surrounding poverty and economic predation on students and alumni alike.
27. Do you support a single-payer universal health care system? Please elaborate. I believe that decent health care is a basic human right and, as I always have, I will work to ensure that outcome, including working to give the HHS the power to negotiate drug prices. The pandemic exposed the grave racial inequities in the health system and that must be addressed as well. In the past, I introduced the first Orphan Drug Act, which provided incentives for the development of drugs for rare diseases. Hundreds of thousands have been helped by this law. I got NYC to provide screening mammograms in municipal hospitals and worked with a member of Congress to cover mammograms under Medicare. I will continue to make the provision of a fair and equitable health care system a priority.
28. Discuss your stance on reproductive rights, including access to contraceptives and abortion services. I have been fighting for abortion rights and women's rights since well before Roe was decided. I got into this race because of the need to protect women against the Supreme Court's extremist judges, who can be expected to target LGBTQ+ as well as contraceptives and IVF in the future. We need an experienced, tough Congressperson to take them on and fight for the rights of women, LGBTQ+ and minorities. That's me.
29. Will you refuse money from individuals or Political Action Committees representing the real estate? This question is unclear to me.
30. Will you refuse money from police and corrections unions? None has offered and none is likely to do so. Please see my reference to having set up a unit in my DA office to deal with police and corrections misuse of force. This was the first or one of the first such units in the State, and I was picketed by at least 5,000 police officers but never backed down. This represents well the kind of actions that I have taken in the past and that I will continue to take in Congress.
31. Will you refuse and refund any contributions from executives at corporations complicit in the Trump agenda? None has offered and, given my opposition to Trump and those complicit in his actions, and everything for which he stands, I can't imagine their doing so.
32. What additional information would you like Jim Owles to consider when we are making our endorsements decisions? I am the only candidate for the 10th Congressional district who has authored groundbreaking legislation: the nation’s first comprehensive refugee legislation, the Refugee Act of 1980, the extension of the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment, the Holtzman Amendment strengthening the laws on deporting Nazi war criminals from the US, and the Rape Privacy Act, a model for the country. I was one of only six people in the House to sign onto the first bill ever to protect against sexual orientation discrimination in employment. I am the only one who has created enduring structures to advance the cause of justice: I co-founded the Congresswoman's Caucus--still in existence as the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues -- and created the Office of Special Investigations in the Department of Justice to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. I am the only one to stand up for racial justice when I called on the US Supreme Court to ban racial discrimination in jury selection through the use of peremptory challenges. I am the only one who has worked so closely with environmental groups that we shut down a plan to build nine municipal incinerators--and led to the closing of all NYC municipal incinerators. I am the only one to create a unit in the DA's office dealing with misuse of force by police and corrections officers and get picketed by 5,000 police officers for doing so -- and kept the unit in place. I am the only one to bring a landmark lawsuit to end the illegal bombing of Cambodia. I am the only one who worked in the civil rights movement and helped found a national civil rights organization. I am the only one to help found an organization to fight the suppression of voters. I was the only Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee to ask President Ford the tough questions about the Nixon pardon. I am the only one who took on Nixon in Watergate. With respect to meeting with constituents, I would hold any and all outreach mechanisms to make sure constituents can share their issues and concerns with me. As a Congresswoman, I had Sunday office hours during which I could be visited without an appointment and also held meetings with constituents at libraries throughout the district. My constituent service operation was robust, leading to innovations with national implications such as the orphan drugs legislation previously mentioned, and I would continue this operation as well.
33. If you resign in the middle of your term, will you let the voters decide? Do you plan to serve your term and not send a vacancy to the county committee? I am not planning to resign.
34. Who are you supporting for Speaker/Democratic leader in 2023? If Nancy Pelosi runs, I expect to support her.
35. In view of the fact that Ed Koch has been documented to have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with AIDS, and was blatantly racist, would you support a city bill to rename the former Queensboro Bridge? Do you authorize the use of your name for such a purpose? I would support ensuring that a process for listening to concerned residents has been put into place and a bill to rename the bridge is proposed as a result of this process.
36. What is your position on removing the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle and if so, what should replace it? A process for listening to concerned residents has been put into place for dealing with statues and naming questions. As with all such questions, I would support the process, one that ensures that the voices of concerned residents are heard and taken into account, and the findings that result from this process.
37. What is your position on FOSTA/SESTA, passed in 2018? Do you or will you sponsor the Safe Workers Study Act which has been introduced by Elizabeth Warren and co- sponsored by Reps. Barbara Lee and Ron Wyden and a host of other sponsors including Bernie Sanders? I have not had the time to research this issue fully.
38. Do you support the class-wide scheduling of Fentanyl-related substances, which groups like Human Rights Watch have argued would worsen pretrial detention, mass incarceration, and racial disparities? I have not had the time to research this issue fully.
39. Do you support the Green New Deal? I support the vision of the Green New Deal. We need to move quickly from our carbon-based energy system to a renewable energy system, as this not only will help save the planet from environmental catastrophe, but also will create good jobs. We need to prioritize renewable energy seriously and vigorously, and block environmentally harmful projects as I did as Comptroller when the City had made plans to build a vast array of new incinerators to complement older ones, further degrading the environment. It is imperative to drastically limit fossil fuel projects and to robustly expand sources of renewable energy and the technology for efficiently transmitting it into our households, small businesses, office buildings, manufacturing plants, schools and centers of learning. These efforts will not only protect the environment and health, but also create good jobs. We need to study examples of successful efforts in the US and elsewhere, and invest not only in infrastructure, but also in basic science and research and development in the areas of efficient, low-cost energy storage and beyond. We need to robustly expand affordable housing, and I will fight for federal funding and for ensuring affordable housing is green. Our federal tax policy subsidizes greenhouse gas emissions instead of discouraging them. I will fight to reduce or eliminate these subsidies and use the savings to expand supply of alternative energy and create good green jobs. I have taken on the powerful polluter forces before and will fight climate change.
40. President Biden has not granted a single pardon or commutation. When have you publicly demanded that Biden do more on this issue? Will you pledge to publicly speak out about this in 2022? President Biden has granted pardons to Betty Jo Bogans, Abraham Bolden, Sr. and Dexter Jackson, and I will demand and expect him to issue more pardons in the coming months and years.
41. Do you commit to not supporting Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema? Will you consider supporting a primary opponent? I will be sure to consider this.
42. Some members of congress indicate they will only support incumbents regardless of their politics and regardless of who is presenting them a primary. Are you one of them? I will not commit to supporting only incumbents.