U.S. Congress candidate questions

Mark E. Amodei

Party: Republican

Address: PO Box 17116, Reno

Occupation: Member of Congress and Lawyer

Age: 60

Contact: 775-344-0550; Amodei4Nevada02@gmail.com; www.amodeifornevada.com

Record of Service: Congressman Amodei served with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps, from 1983 to 1987. Awards and honors: Army Achievement Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. Upon receiving an honorable discharge, Congressman Amodei returned home to become an attorney with the law firms Allison MacKenzie in Carson City from 1987 to 2004 and Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw and Ferrario (now Kaempfer Crowell) in Reno, Nevada from 2004 to 2007.

Served in the Nevada Assembly from 1996 to 1998 and in the Nevada State Senate from 1998 to 2010 representing the Capital District

Served as the President of the Nevada Mining Association from 2007 to 2008

As a lawyer, Congressman Amodei has been a sole practitioner from 2009 – present.

Served as chairman of the Nevada Republican Party until May 2011, when he stepped down in order to pursue the Republican nomination for Congress

Congressman Amodei was the Republican candidate for the special election held on Sept. 13, 2011 to replace Dean Heller in Nevada’s Second Congressional District

Education: Carson High School – Class of 1976; University of Nevada, Reno – Class of 1980; McGeorge Law School, University of the Pacific – Class of 1983.

Platform: As a lifelong Nevadan, former Army officer, and former state legislator who has dedicated more than 20 years to public service, I am proud to represent Nevada’s Second Congressional District. While CD-2 includes: most of Lyon County, all of Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Pershing, Storey and Washoe counties, as well as the state capital, Carson City, I vote in the best interest of all Nevadans — because that’s my job.

During my time in Congress, I have sponsored over a dozen bills and amendments that were successfully passed in the House. I’ve also delivered for Nevada by working hard to pass seven individual bills into law, including legislation that resulted in the largest Nevada land transfer since 2002, and another bill to place more than 70,000 acres of Nevada public lands back into local control. I understand the unique needs of the Second District of Nevada, and will always do right by our state and for the hardworking folks I’ve been fortunate enough to serve. I will continue to fight for policies that will: lower taxes, cut job-crippling regulations, increase funding for our veterans, keep the promises we’ve made to our nation’s seniors, and offer meaningful solutions to the challenges facing the West.

What is one issue affecting the lives of Northern Nevadans that you would work to fix?

Advocating for Nevada’s self-determination, the protection of our resources, and the ability for all Nevadans to earn a living;

Supporting landmark legislation that made recent reforms to our nation’s tax code by delivering widespread relief to Nevadans, simplifying our filing system, and giving job creators increased potential for reinvestment and growth;

Fighting for responsible solutions that offer comprehensive fixes to our broken immigration system and help to secure our border; and

Upholding my commitment to our veterans by voting to increase funding for veterans’ services every year since I’ve been elected.

I’m proud to call Nevada my home and am committed to improving the lives of my constituents by solving issues the old-fashioned way – listening to the concerns of the Nevadans I serve, keeping an open dialogue, and always explaining why I voted the way I did. We’ve accomplished so much in these last seven years, and together, we can continue making a difference for the Silver State. I would be honored if you choose to send me back to Washington for another two years, and I’m ready to keep this momentum going for us.

Clint Koble

Party: Democrat

Address: 3055 Reuben Drive, Reno, NV, 89502; P.O. Box 11263, Reno, NV, 89510

Occupation: Retired

Age: 67

Contact: clint@clintkoble.com; (775) 843-4081; clintforcongress.com; Facebook: clintkobleforcongress, check out the Running Man!

Record of Service: Presidential Appointee as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency for Nevada under President Obama for 7 ½ years.

Schools attended: 1974 Graduate of the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota. BA in Political Science and BA in History.

Platform: My Platform is to fix our broken government in order to fix the problems that face our country. Congress is failing to maintain consistent procedures that breed contempt, partisanship, and divisiveness. Our balance of power is out of sync and the House of Representatives has abdicated too much of its responsibilities to the Executive Branch. Congress is displaying lack of good governance because it is passing bills in the middle of the night, passing bills that legislators don’t read, and passing budgets that are usually late and unsustainable. I want to restore transparency, respect, and civility back into our government.

What is one issue affecting the lives of Northern Nevadans that you would work to fix?

I want to fix our broken healthcare system in order to reduce costs.

Americans pay more for healthcare than anyone in the world, even for the same exact services and procedures. Pricing issues have been largely ignored by Congress in the last 10 years, and I want to do something about it. For example, in the U.S., it costs about $100 per day for a rheumatoid arthritis drug while the Swiss pay less than a third of that cost.

I want to do something about that. There are several things that Congress could legislate that could easily save patients and the entire system, lots of money.

First, Congress could lower costs by changing Medicare Part D to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. Congress allows the Veterans Administration to negotiate drug prices and consequently, its prescription drug prices are considerably lower.

Secondly, Congress could regulate drug prices, as many other countries in the world do. Since the government provides Medicare, it makes sense that it would regulate drug costs to save money.

Lastly, Congress should require hospitals to post prices for diagnoses and procedures in order for patients to compare costs. A little bit of competition between hospitals wouldn’t hurt.

In addition, there needs to be more oversight into what vendors charge the healthcare system. Huge profits are allowed for vendors that drain the system.

More has to be done about the opioid addiction crises in this country. This year has been the deadliest year yet with huge costs to families and healthcare costs.

There should be caps on all Medicare copays. Without caps, some Seniors will spend an exorbitant amount of their fixed monthly income for doctor visits and prescription drug costs.

The Veterans Administration allows patients to have their healthcare information shared with local providers, which can save time and money. The VA has done an excellent job of record keeping in this country, and its model should be copied everywhere.

There are many other ways to lower costs; it just takes the political will to get it done. Healthcare is extremely important and the patient should always come first. When elected to Congress, I will put the needs of people first.