NY-19 candidates weigh in on issues

June 27--The four candidates battling for the 19th Congressional District are as different as they come.

Democrat Zephyr Teachout is a Dutchess County resident who teaches at Fordham University Law School. She ran for governor in 2014.

The other Democratic candidate, Will Yandik, is a farmer, journalist and deputy town supervisor of Livingston in Columbia County.

Republican Andrew Heaney is a resident of the town of Washington in Dutchess County. He runs a family-owned heating oil company, and this is his first bid for public office.

John Faso, also a Republican, is a former state Assembly GOP leader from Kinderhook, in Columbia County, who ran for governor in 2006.

Differences and similarities aside, the candidates are gearing up for the primary election Tuesday in hopes of securing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. They are each seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, who is retiring after three terms in Congress.

The winners of the primary election will face off in the general election Nov. 8.

Between preparing for the primary and meeting with area residents, the candidates had a lot to say last week when asked by The Daily Star about four of today's most controversial issues.

GUN CONTROL

In the wake of the shootings in San Bernardino and Orlando, Heaney said, there has never been "a more important time to stand firm in defense of our Second Amendment rights."

"If there had been an armed citizen nearby in either of those attacks, it is possible lives could have been saved," Heaney wrote. "I think it's important to remember the lessons of 9/11, which is that on the same day our military was unable to protect us, regular American citizens on Flight 93 were able to thwart an attack on Washington DC."

The American people are "our first and best line of defense against these kinds of attacks," Heaney added.

Faso said, as the NRA's endorsed candidate in the race, he considers the Second Amendment to be "an individual right, just as the late Justice (Antonin) Scalia noted in his majority opinion in the historic Heller case."

"I support making sure that those on terror watch lists are precluded from buying a firearm so long as due process rights apply," he said, "allowing those improperly placed on such lists to be given an opportunity to be removed."

Teachout said she feels the key "isn't at the extremes." She supports strengthening universal background checks and closing the terror gap, she said.

"While many gun owners are law-abiding citizens who use and store their firearms responsibly, far too many guns wind up in the hands of those who should not have them--as evidenced by the 30,000 Americans killed by guns every year," Teachout said. "Sensible gun reforms would greatly improve public safety."

It is common sense that "terror suspects who are on the no-fly list should also be on a no-buy list," Teachout continued. She said she also supports allowing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct gun violence research, which has been banned by Congress since 1996. Congress needs to fund the CDC so researchers can study the causes of gun violence and provide recommendations on how to address it as a public health issue, she said.

As a gun owner, Yandik said, he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

"But," he noted, "we must admit we have a gun violence problem in this country and pass meaningful gun safety legislation."

This would include strengthening federal background checks, he said, and "ensuring that states and localities have the resources to provide and enter accurate and up-to-date data into the system."

Yandik agreed with Teachout that the prohibition on funding for the CDC to study gun violence should be ended and that those on the terrorist watch list should be prevented from buying guns.

He also wants to "close the gun show loophole" and "oppose reciprocal concealed-carry laws," Yandik said.

HEALTH CARE / THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Everyone deserves affordable health care, according to Teachout. The Affordable Care Act was important, she said, because it "provided millions of Americans with health insurance who previously could not obtain coverage."

However, she said, "we need to get costs under control."

"Everywhere I go in this district I hear from people who are struggling to afford their insurance premiums," Teachout said. "One major driver of our costs is the behavior of large, powerful pharmaceutical companies. Big Pharma is making disgusting profits, setting prices in an almost arbitrary and abusive manner."

Teachout said America has to "take a battle axe to Big Pharma, make sure their prices are fair, and fight for the federal government to be able to negotiate drug prices."

The Affordable Care is "far from perfect," according to Yandik, but he opposes its repeal because it has covered so many Americans previously unable to get coverage, allowing young people to stay on their parents' insurance plans longer and "closing the doughnut hole for Medicare."

"However, it has not done enough to control costs," he said. "More competition among providers and oversight is needed to bring down the cost of deductibles and premiums, and I would support a public option to compete with private plans."

No health care system can work without slowing the costs of health care, Yandik said, and he supports "leveraging the full power of the federal government to negotiate for cheaper prescription drug prices for Medicare and Medicaid," working "to fund preventative medicine that studies have shown reduce long-term costs," and rewarding "innovative medical programs that move us away from fee-for-service and focus on health outcomes."

Faso, on the other hand, supports the repeal of the ACA, he said.

"The federal healthcare overhaul has raised premiums, reduced employment and adversely affected the doctor-patient relationship," he wrote. "If elected to Congress, I will support efforts to replace the ACA with a system that emphasizes patient choice and advocate for greater access to community health centers to serve the indigent and uninsured. I would also allow every family to have access to a health savings account so that routine expenses can be paid with pre-tax dollars."

Heaney said he thinks the ACA is "a failure that hasn't lived up to any of its promises."

"Health care is more expensive, people have worse coverage, and have lost access to their doctors," he said. "It has also done incalculable harm to our economy and to job creation. We need to repeal it and start over while ensuring those who have gained coverage don't lose it in the process."

ABORTION

One of Teachout's first political acts was in 1989, she said, when she took a Greyhound bus to Washington, D.C., to join a half-million women in the March for Women's Lives.

"I've been an advocate for a women's right to make her own decisions ever since," she said. "I see this as a question of individual freedom."

Yandik said he is also "pro-choice" and believes "we need to fully fund Planned Parenthood and other Title IX agencies."

Faso said he is "generally opposed to abortion except in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother."

"I oppose taxpayer financing of abortion," he said, "and support parental notification for minors."

Heaney is "personally pro-life," he said, and does not support federal funding of abortion or late-term abortion.

"I think we need to work to reduce the number of abortions performed through all means available, including education and support for adoption," he said.

IMMIGRATION

Faso said he thinks America's immigration system is broken, "and to fix it we must first work to secure our southern border."

"Farm employers must also have better access to seasonal labor," he said. "I don't support citizenship for those illegally in the country; I would support legal status however -- but not citizenship -- for those who have not committed crimes and are willing to pay a fine. We should emphasize immigration for those who bring specific skills beneficial to the economy."

Heaney said, after the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, immigration has become "a national security issue first and foremost."

"We know that ISIS is trying to infiltrate through our porous borders, just as they've done in Europe," he said. "We need to stop illegal immigration now."

Teachout supports reforming the nation's immigration laws by increasing border security, she said, and "providing border patrols the tools they need to be effective."

"I support comprehensive immigration reform, including an earned pathway to citizenship for the immigrants living in the country illegally," she said, "by requiring them to pass a criminal background check, pay a fine and back taxes, and wait a number of years."

Yandik supports a comprehensive immigration bill that would include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, he said.

"Undocumented workers should have to get to the back of the line and pay some sort of penalty or back taxes before being eligible for citizenship, but it is neither realistic nor American to deport more than 10 million people," he said. "I also support the Dream Act and the executive orders President Obama has used to keep children of undocumented workers and their parents from being deported."

Polls for the primary election June 28 will be open from noon until 9 p.m.

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