Paul Tonko

Paul Tonko has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 21st district of the State of New York, since 2009.

Positions, record and controversies
During the 2008 campaign, Rep. Tonko completed the Project Vote Smart "Political Courage Test," where he expressed the following positions on a variety of issues:

Budget and spending
Rep. Tonko said he would maintain spending on agriculture, arts, international aid, federal law enforcement, space exploration and the United Nations. He would slightly increase spending on educaton, FEMA, homeland security, state law enforcement, medical research, national parks and welfare, and slightly decrease spending on national defense. Tonko also said he would greatly increase spending on the environment, public health services, scientific research and transportation and infrastructure.

Taxes
Tonko indicated that he favored greatly decreasing taxes for those making less than $100,000, maintain taxes on those making between $100-000 - $180,000, slightly increase taxes on those making between $180,000- $350,000 and greatly increase taxes for those of $350,001 and above. He also said he would maintain the taxes on alcohol and gasoline, greatly increase the tax on capital gains and slightly increase taxes on cigarettes, corporations, and inheritances. He would also maintain the charitable contribution deduction, medical expense deduction and mortgage deduction, while increasing the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit and the student loan tax credit.

Education, Employment and Healthcare
On education, Tonko said he favored federal government funding of universal pre-K programs, federal tax incentives to help families save for college, increasing funding for the Pell Grant program, and decreasing the interest rates on Stafford Loans. He also supported the elimination all federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).

On employment, Tonko said he favored the following positions: increasing funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market, encouraging employers to offer child care services, flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies, increasing the federal minimum wage, the right of workers to unionize, and the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws.

He also indicated support for implementing a universal health care program to guarantee coverage to all Americans, regardless of income, and expanding child health care programs.

International Aid and Policy, National Security
On international aid, Tonko said he supported the United States giving aid to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives, giving aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States and eliminating aid from the U.S for any nation with documented human rights abuses.

Tonko also said he supported providing leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, creation of a Palestinian state, greater international sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates, aiding the Lebanese government against insurgent forces, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Additionally, he supported the following international policies: applying greater economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea if it fails to abide by its agreement to suspend its nuclear program, increasing financial and military support for Afghanistan, trading nuclear fuel to India for civilian purposes, U.S. involvement in ending the violence in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing economic and military support to the Transitional Government of Somalia, using sanctions to encourage the government of Zimbabwe to end its human rights abuses and the creation of an independent nation of Kosovo. Tonko has said he will not support decreasing financial and military support for Pakistan.

On national security issues, Tonko has said he would support using military tribunals to try suspected terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or impractical, holding foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country, and increasing funding to states and cities for homeland security. He would not support law enforcement agencies having greater discretion to monitor domestic communications, pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be threats to national security, long-term use of National Guard troops to supplement the armed forces in assignments overseas, or the expansion of the U.S. missile defense shield.

Social Issues
Tonko said he believes that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry and would not support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. He also favored federal funding for research on existing embryonic stem cell lines and federal funding to create lines of stem cells from new embryos. He indicated support for the continuation of affirmative action programs.

Social Security and Welfare
Tonko said he would support continuing to give states and local governments flexibility in and responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants, providing housing assistance for welfare recipients, and ensuring the viability of Social Security by increasing the payroll tax.

Bio
Tonko, then 26 years old, was the youngest person ever to be elected to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. He has worked as an engineer in the New York State Department of Transportation and was on the staff of the Department of Public Service. He served in the New York State Assembly from 1983-2007 and was chairman of the Assembly Standing Committee on Energy from 1992 to mid-2007.

2008 elections
Tonko was the Democratic nominee seeking to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty (R-N.Y.) in the 2008 congressional elections. He won in the primary election which took place on September 9, 2008. Tonko defeated Republican challenger James Buhrmaster in November 2008 general election.

Money in Politics
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External resources

 * Official Paul Tonko for Congress campaign website
 * Green Papers: New York Congressional Candidate