3. Economy: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, known as the economic stimulus package, passed by Congress in response to the economic recession.
10. Protected Classes: Adding “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” to the protected classes of race, religion, age, sex, and ancestry in antidiscrimination law.
11. Immigration: How should the federal government respond to the estimated 15 million illegal immigrants who are in the U.S.?
Steve Womack (R):
No meaningful attempt at immigration reform can occur unless and until the Federal Government provides the type of border security that ensures against repeated re-entries into our country by those deported. Until that happens, any measure that "excuses" or "legitimizes" the continued existence of illegal immigrants already in this country serves as an incentive for more of the same behavior. The answer: secure the border now. Once secure, our nation can begin the process of immigration reform without further exposing our nation to national security threats, expensive demands on health care, education and social services, and mandatory English language requirements.
12. Economy: How should the federal government respond to our nation’s $15 trillion national debt?
Steve Womack (R):
The only way to end debt accumulation is for this nation to live within its means as American families and businesses are obligated to do. The only true guarantee it will happen is for our country to adopt a long-overdue balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution. All other budget frameworks have proven unsuccessful. I support a balanced budget amendment and will continue to fight for its enactment.
13. Defense: Should the U.S. military be restructured? If so, how? If not, why not?
Steve Womack (R):
First, our military is the finest in the world and the collective support of our men and women in uniform should be a priority for all citizens. We continue to live in a very unstable world and our ability to "project power" and defend our national interests--both at home and overseas--is important to me. That said, I support a dynamic approach to evaluating our force structure, end strength, weapons and equipment procurement, ect. that both satisfies our ability to provide a strong defense but does so in the most economical terms. I am very concerned about the effects of a potential sequestration (across-the-board cuts) on Defense. It would likely severely diminish our military capability.
14. Government: List any federal departments that should be eliminated, added, or changed along with your proposals. If there are none, please tell why.
Steve Womack (R):
I have serious concerns about the overall growth of government. Rather than focus on individual departments, I believe Congress should carefully evaluate the relevance of every single federal department. There are opportunities for consolidation. There are opportunities for significant reductions in federal outlays that go toward irrelevant and duplicative programs. But it should be noted, too, that the primary issues of deficits/debt are not in these discretionary programs. They account for only about one-third of federal spending. At the same time we are reforming these departments, we must address the sustainability of our mandatory programs--social security, Medicaid, Medicare.
Steve Womack (R):
