Immigration, Climate Change, School Funding Debated During Reston Forum
RESTON, VA — More than 200 people showed up at the Reston Community Center - Hunter Woods Monday night to listen to the two candidates running in the Sept. 9 special election in Virginia's 11th Congressional District debate. Democrat James Walkinshaw and Republican Stewart Whitson presented opposing responses to 16 questions posed by Lynne Mulston, president of the Reston Citizens Association, which hosted the candidates forum. The following is a sampling of responses to questions submitted by audience members.Climate Change And Energy PolicyStewart Whitson: "We cannot get so fixated on one issue, climate, that we forget about the economy, or we forget about national security. So, in a nutshell, my policy for energy is an all the above approach, right? We need as much energy as we can, but we need energy at a low cost. I think one of the waves of the future is nuclear energy. They've modernized that. They've made it safer. I think that's a great compromise that both sides of the aisle could agree on. It satisfies people that want clean energy, and it also satisfies people that want cheaper, more and more energy. That would be my solution."James Walkinshaw: "The best thing we can do to address the climate crisis at the federal level is repeal the reconciliation bill that recently passed from the so called Big, Beautiful Bill, because that bill slashes investments in cheap, clean renewable energy, and we know now that 95 percent of the new energy production projects taking place in this country are renewable energy, because the market knows that it's cheaper, cleaner and better. Unfortunately, Washington hasn't gotten the message, and the reconciliation bill will drive up electricity costs for the average Virginia household by $420 a year because it slashes those investments so we'll pay more."Republican Stewart Whitson poses for a selfie with a supporter following Monday night's candidate forum in Reston. (Michael O'Connell/Patch)ICE Removing People Who Are In The U.S. IllegallyWalkinshaw: "Federal immigration enforcement can focus on the small number of people who are here and are undocumented and are committing violent crimes. It should not be focused on rounding up law-abiding members of our community, who are here, who are part of our community and are working hard. The Trump administration has taken their eye off the ball. We just learned last week that 60 percent of those detained by ICE in our region have not been arrested or charged with any crime. They're just rounding people up to scare them. It doesn't make our community safer, and it is not the right way."Whitson: "What the Biden administration did is they open up the border and they just allow all those people to flood into our community. This is CDP's own numbers during the Biden administration, 1.7 million known 'got aways.' What is a 'got away'? That means law enforcement officers are engaging with people. They see people illegally crossing the border, but they don't have the manpower to stop what they're doing and go take them. There's 1.7 million of those — and that's numbers from the Biden administration. That was unacceptable. What happened? My opponent promoted a sanctuary policy forbidding federal employees to stop that. He has brought that crime to our neighborhood, and we have to stop it."Democrat James Walkinshaw talks to one of the audience members following Monday night's candidate forum at Reston Community Center Hunter Woods, (Michael O'Connell/Patch)Federal Government's Role In EducationWhitson: "Instead of taking money from the federal government and giving it to the federal departments like the Federal Department of Education or giving it directly to schools, why can't we give it directly to parents? Let's give parents the money and let them decide where they want to go to school. Here's the deal. You do public school, because we love the public school. We're happy there, and so we choose that, but three of them go to a private school. I think every family in America should have that choice to find the right space for their children to learn."Walkinshaw: "I want to just go a minute on the voucher scheme that Stuart just referenced. Look, this has been tried in several states, and when vouchers are implemented, what happens is wealthy families get their private school tuition paid. That's what happens. Wealthy families who already have their kids in private school get taxpayer dollars to do it. I have no problem with folks sending their kids to private schools, but private schools should not get taxpayer dollars unless they're accountable to the taxpayers, and unless they agree to accept every child. They often do not accept children with significant special needs. They often do not accept children that come from high poverty households. We cannot give taxpayer dollars without accountability."More than 200 people attended Monday's candidate forum at the Reston Community Center Hunter Woods, which was hosted by the Reston Citizen's Association. (Michael O'Connell/Patch)Early Voting Runs Through Sept 6In-person, early voting for the Sept. 9 special election began last Friday and continues through Sept. 6. The election will decide who will succeed former U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th), who served in Congress for 16 years.Last November, Connolly revealed that he'd been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was receiving chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment. However, the cancer returned and the congressman's family announced he had died on May 21.Also See ...Early Voting Dates In Fairfax City For Congressional Special Election11th District GOP Candidates Spent Half Of Money Raised For Primary$2.2M Spent By Democrats In 11th District Congressional PrimaryStewart Whitson Running For Congress To Listen, Represent Voters' ValuesOpposing Trump Policies Reason Walkinshaw Seeks To Succeed Connolly In CongressWATCH: WJLA live-streamed Monday night's forum and the full video can be viewed on the station's website.The article Immigration, Climate Change, School Funding Debated During Reston Forum appeared first on Reston, VA Patch.
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