Rep. Edwards talks senate campaign

By ALEX DRAGONE Senior Staff Writer

U.S. Representative Donna Edwards (D-MD) of Maryland’s 4th Congressional District spoke to an audience in Charles Commons on Wednesday night about her race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D) announced in March she would not run for reelection in 2016.

The event was co-hosted by the College Democrats, Her Campus and Students for Socioeconomic Equity.

Edwards began by giving her views on Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) future as Speaker of the House.

“I got to know him quite well, he and his wife, because we traveled to Egypt together about three years ago,” Edwards said.

“And it’s one of these examples because of the time that we spent together that we actually got to know each other as people... Even though I don’t agree with him on lots of policy issues, and he doesn’t agree with me on a lot of policy issues, I think he’s a nice guy.”

Edwards has been in Congress since 2008. One of the issues she works on is pay discrepancies between men and women.

“That day that you graduate,” Edwards said, addressing the women in the room, “is the day on which you’re making the closest in income to your male colleagues for the entirety of your career. So we have to change that.”

Edwards opened the floor to questions. When asked how she has dealt with the issue of domestic violence in her career, she pointed to her support of the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, which banned those with domestic violence convictions from owning firearms.

“One in four women experiences domestic violence, intimate partner violence. One in seven men experiences intimate partner violence,” she said. “We can... try and protect, try and give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools that they need, try and make sure that there are programs and services available that are appropriate for the communities... that we have.”

Edwards responded to a question from The News-Letter about policy differences between her and her primary opponent, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) of the 8th Congressional District, Edwards pointed to their opposing views on international trade agreements, entitlement programs and campaign finance laws.

“I have been a huge skeptic of trade deals that I believe have traded away jobs and opportunity for the American people,” she said. “Mr. Van Hollen has voted for nine of the last 11 trade deals since he’s been in Congress... Here in Baltimore since NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement]... our state has lost 7,000 manufacturing jobs.”

Edwards pointed to her opposition to many elements of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, like the removal of Buy America provisions from government contracts that favor American companies, while highlighting how Van Hollen did not declare his stance until after he became a candidate.

“His record on trade is abysmal,” Edwards said.

Edwards further said that Van Hollen was willing to cut entitlement programs during budget negotiations. She also cited the 2010 DISCLOSE Act, which Van Hollen authored with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). It exempted the National Rifle Association (NRA) from disclosing its campaign contributions.

Edwards spoke to The News-Letter and reaffirmed her stance on guns, claiming that most gun owners support “common-sense” gun control measures.

“The NRA works for the gun industry,” she said. “There are millions of Americans who are part of the NRA — hunters, collectors. But they register their guns and they submit to background checks. So why does the administrative institution of the NRA fight gun regulations that its members support? I talk to gun owners all the time who say they support these things.”

Edwards said she did not entirely agree with the Obama administration’s foreign policy.

“I support the recent dealings with Iran, but when the President announced his ramp-up plan in Afghanistan , I came out and opposed it publicly,” Edwards said. “I support the use of diplomacy. It’s a more complicated world than it was in 2008.

There’s a different Egypt, a different Tunisia. We haven’t been doing it recently, but Congress must be engaged on combat operations. I might not support it, but we need to be engaged.”

Edwards says that she has been a consistent critic of government surveillance programs.

“There might be a time to balance civil liberties and security, but we should lean towards civil liberties,” she said.