Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Jerrold Nadler for US Congress NY-12

Candidate Name: Jerrold Nadler

Office Seeking Election for: US Congress NY-12

Website: https://jerrynadler.com/

With the possibility of Donald J. Trump winning (stealing) the next Presidential election and ending democracy and civil rights in the United States, it is more important than ever that we elect progressive, dynamic leaders to the United States Congress.

1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments why should we believe you would be a dynamic, progressive leader who would stand up for Civil Rights and Democracy?

For nearly 40 years, I have worked tirelessly with and for the LGBT community, striving always for equality for all. I am a founding member of the LGBT Equality Caucus, and have personally authored a number of historic LGBT-related bills, including to the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA), which repealed the now-unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which gave same-sex partners equality in immigration, and the Father Mychal Judge Act, which was the first federal benefit to recognize same-sex partners, as well as numerous others.

Early in my career, I led the effort against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, as well as advancing efforts to stem anti-gay hate crimes, harassment, and bullying. I authored one of the earliest anti-bullying bills—one of the first to specifically mention bullying based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity—introducing the Antibullying Campaign Act in 2004 to protect children against physical and verbal threats.

I have also been the House leader for funding the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program, and a long-time champion for Ryan White reauthorization, and have consistently won significant increases in HOPWA and Ryan White funding.

I was the first member of the House of Representatives to speak in favor of transgender rights on the House floor, and championed non-discrimination protections based on both sexual orientation and gender identity, including championing a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that included such protections.

I have authored and led the Congressional amicus briefs in the most important marriage equality-related cases argued before the Federal Appellate Division and the U.S. Supreme Court. In the 2013 landmark Windsor v. United States, which went on to strike down Section 3 of DOMA, I led the bi-partisan and bicameral brief—signed by an historic 174 Members of the House and 40 Members of the Senate—which argued that DOMA imposes a sweeping and unjustifiable federal disability on married same-sex couples.

In 2015 and 2016, I led the effort to designate the Stonewall National Monument, the first ever LGBTQ National Parks site.

In 2022, as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I held the first ever hearings on a comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill, the Equality Act, and lead the floor debate that resulted in its historic passage.

2. What is your involvement in the LGBTQ Civil Rights movement? What candidates have you or are you supporting who are openly LGBTQ? What legislation have you/do you support to further LGBTQ rights? Do you /will you have an LGBTQ liaison in your office? What LGBTQ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer or professional basis?

Yes, I have supported many LGBTQ candidates, including as an Assemblymember helping to elect Ken Sherill in 1977 as a democratic district leader (69th AD) in my Assembly District. Ken was New York’s first openly gay elected official.

I have also had the pleasure of working with an incredible range of LGBTQ organizations – from Jim Owles, SDNYC, and LID, to GMHC, Housing Works, APICHA, Callen Lorde, TLDEF, NCLR, Immigration Equality, Family Equality, HRC, and the NYC LGBT Center, among many, many others.

3. What demonstrations, rallies, and protests have you participated in support of LGBTQ issues, African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American Civil Rights, pro-choice legislation, criminal justice issues, and Resist Trump?

As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I led two successful impeachments of former President Donald J. Trump, the only person ever impeached twice.

4. Do you support reparations to compensate African Americans for the history of slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic racism in this country?

I believe that our country must do more to undo the legacy of slavery and the ongoing harms of racial discrimination. I have authored the MORE Act, which would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, reassess marijuana convictions, and invest in the local communities most affected by the misguided war on drugs. Additionally, I co-sponsor H.R. 40, which would establish a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans.

5. What are your concrete proposals to address current systemic racism in terms of employment, housing, voting rights, and the criminal justice system in the U.S.?

See above.

6. Will you advocate for elder parole where incarcerated individuals aged 55 and older who have serviced in excess of 15 years obtain parole hearings?

Yes.

7. Will you advocate for legislation that ensures that individuals get considered for release from prison based upon who they are currently not exclusively based on the nature of their crime?

Yes. Parole boards should consider all factors, including sincere remorse and actions while incarcerated, when making determinations.

8. Have you participated, and will you participate in demonstrations and protests in relation to the issues of clemency and parole?

Yes. I will.

For far too long, our country’s criminal justice policies have been focused solely on punishment, especially with the rise of the failed War on Drugs, which led to the era of mass incarceration. Today, the United States leads the world in incarceration, with two million people in the nation’s prisons and jails—a 500 percent increase over the last 40 years.

The policies that led to mass incarceration have not made us safer. What they have done is devastate communities of color and severely undermine public confidence in our criminal justice system.

As many of you know, I served as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee for four years, and today I serve as the Ranking Democrat. In this role, I have worked hard to reform our criminal justice laws, and we have made some progress, but there is a long way to go.

One of the issues that I have focused on is ensuring that formerly incarcerated citizens are able to reintegrate into society once they’re released.

For example, under the First Step Act, which I helped pass in 2018, people in federal prisons can earn good-time credits toward early release if they participate in certain programs that can help prepare them for the transition back to their communities.

These are helpful programs, but much more needs to be done to increase supportive services for people reentering society from incarceration. Over a decade ago, I joined my colleagues in passing the Second Chance Act, a bipartisan effort that provided federal investment in strategies to reduce recidivism and increase public safety.

Since then, the Second Chance Act has invested almost $700 million in grants to state and local government agencies, as well as to community non-profit organizations, to fund reentry initiatives. This includes transportation to and from appointments, temporary housing, assistance applying for benefits, and job training. Many of these programs have been enormously successful, but they are dramatically underfunded, and I’m committed to making sure that they have the resources they need.

Unfortunately, merely the existence of a criminal record can present lifetime barriers to obtaining jobs, stable housing, and education, and it can put other opportunities out of reach. That’s why I have supported efforts to expunge or seal the criminal records of non-violent offenders.

These clean slate policies allow non-violent offenders who have fully repaid their debt to society to compete more successfully for jobs, housing, student loans, and other economic and social opportunities that are necessary to rebuild their lives.

We should do all we can to help those who want to turn the page and live a better life.

9. Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?

Yes.

10. Have you and will you visit incarcerated constituents to learn of their conditions?

Yes.

11. What are your proposals to have prisons focus more on rehabilitation and less on punishment?

See above.

12. Do you support ending the cruel punishment of solitary confinement?

Yes.

13. What are your proposals to facilitate individuals who have recently entered the U.S. to be able to live decently with employment and housing?

See my answer to question 8.

14. What proposals do you advocate to combat the cruel and inhumane immigration policies that the Trump Administration commenced and which, to some degree, are still in effect?

As Judiciary Chair, I worked to create a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and led the charge and introduced legislation to overturn Trump’s hateful, racist Muslim Ban, and secured key funding in President Biden’s Build Back Better framework for priorities crucial to immigrants, including resources that would unclog the green card backlog.

Like most Americans, I am a descendant of immigrants: this issue is personal to me. When the news broke about Trump’s abhorrent family separation policy, I put my body in harm’s way while visiting an ICE facility–I literally placed my own foot in a door so that ICE officers could not hide their actions from the world–in an effort to reunite separated families.

I am committed to fighting for comprehensive immigration reform and equally committed to protecting immigrants from Republicans and their hateful, divisive rhetoric.

15. Do you believe in the decriminalization of sex work?

Yes.

16. Do you oppose legislation that promotes the Nordic model?

No.

17. What concrete proposals do you support to lift up women after four years of Trump being President?

I have always been a strong ally and true champion of reproductive rights during my career, and I am proud to have earned a lifetime 100% voting record with NARAL. During my time on the Judiciary Committee, I have led the fight against many of the anti-choice bills that came before the committee, particularly standing up against restrictions on access to abortion, and bans on abortion throughout pregnancy. I have always opposed restrictions on federal funding of abortion, such as the Hyde Amendment, and I have also been a leader in promoting legislation to protect reproductive freedom, including authoring the Freedom of Choice Act, as well as being active on efforts to eliminate clinic violence, and protect patients’ privacy. I am also co-sponsoring the Global HER Act and the EACH Woman Act to protect access to abortion and reproductive healthcare regardless of a person’s background.

Additionally, I am extremely proud that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that I authored became law last year. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ensure that pregnant women are not forced out of jobs unnecessarily or denied reasonable job modifications that would allow them to continue working. Before this legislation, pregnant working women around the country were being denied simple adjustments – permission to use a stool while working a cash register, or to carry a bottle of water to stay hydrated, or temporary reassignment to lighter duty tasks – that would keep them working and supporting their families while maintaining healthy pregnancies. The legislation closes legal loopholes and ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act accomplishes this by requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers and preventing employers from forcing women out on leave when another reasonable accommodation would allow them to continue working. The bill also bars employers from denying employment opportunities to women based on their need for reasonable accommodations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

18. Do you support a single-payer universal health care system? Please elaborate.

Yes, I believe Medicare for All is the best system to ensure everyone in our country have access to healthcare.

19. What have you done to facilitate reproductive rights, including access to contraceptives and abortion services?

As I stated in my answer to question 17. I have always been a strong ally and true champion of reproductive rights during my career, and I am proud to have earned a lifetime 100% voting record with NARAL. During my time on the Judiciary Committee, I have led the fight against many of the anti-choice bills that came before the committee, particularly standing up against restrictions on access to abortion, and bans on abortion throughout pregnancy. I have always opposed restrictions on federal funding of abortion, such as the Hyde Amendment, and I have also been a leader in promoting legislation to protect reproductive freedom, including authoring the Freedom of Choice Act, as well as being active on efforts to eliminate clinic violence, and protect patients’ privacy. I am also co-sponsoring the Global HER Act and the EACH Woman Act to protect access to abortion and reproductive healthcare regardless of a person’s background.

20. Will you refuse contributions from individuals or Political Action Committees representing the real estate industry, from police and correction communities?

I do not receive contributions from police or correction communities.

21. Will you refuse and refund any contributions from executives or corporations complicit in the Trump anti-American agenda?

22. How do you propose that we address the current surge of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism?

I have called for the implementation of the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. They call for bipartisan collaboration and a comprehensive, all-of-government response to combat antisemitism in the United States, including, for example, increasing funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Additionally, Congress must provide robust funding for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to help enforce Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and help protect Jewish students from antisemitism. As the resolution makes clear, combating antisemitism is essential to the broader fight against all forms of hatred and to the defense of our democracy.

"All across our country, we are seeing an alarming rise in antisemitic hate following Hamas' October 7 assault on Israel," said Congressman Jerrold Nadler. "We cannot allow this to become our new normal, as virulent hatred spreads through college and university campuses, on social media, and in our neighborhoods. With this resolution, Representatives Goldman, Raskin, and I are leading our colleagues in Congress to commit to implementing the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, an essential step to countering this dangerous trend."

23. Did you or would you have voted for the censure of U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib?

24. Do you support an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East?

25. Should we condition further aid to Israel? What conditions should we stress that Israel abides by?

26. Will you refuse funds from Trump-supporting AIPAC?

27. If you are in Congress, are you a member of the “Squad”? If not, why not? If you are running to be a new member of Congress, will you apply to join the “Squad”? If not, why not?

28. What are your concrete proposals to prevent Trump and his cult from taking over this country and ending democracy?

29. How can we combat the movement in this country to ban books, prevent colleges from discussing issues and demonizing intelligence as “woke”?

30. As Christopher Columbus caused the death/slavery of thousands, should we replace the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle, and if so, what should replace it? Do you authorize the use of your name for such a purpose?

31. As Edward I Koch caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with AIDS and was blatantly racist, do you support removing his name from the former Queensboro Bridge? Do you authorize the use of your name for such a purpose?

32. What is your opinion of Eric Adams as New York City Mayor? Are you involved in finding someone else to run for Mayor of New York City?

33. How can we mandate that every community do its share to have affordable housing and care for the recently arrived people?

34. Do you support allowing legal Immigrants to vote in local elections?