Susan Wild
Office Sought: Pennsylvania Congress (7th District)
Political Party: Democrat
Age: 61
Campaign Website: wildforcongress.com
No. of Tweets: 821
No. of Facebook Followers: 3,879
Biography: Susan Wild calls Lehigh Valley home; it's where her children were born and attended public schools, where she's built her recognized legal career, and where she's become a respected and outspoken community leader. She touts her local recognition (she was named as one of the top 50 women lawyers in PA) and her work in civic engagement (director of a food bank, a program for women and families, and a civic theater group) as indicative of her passion for the communities around her.
On the Issues:
Jobs and Economy
"It’s often said that World War II was won right here in the Lehigh Valley — thanks to the tireless work of Pennsylvania’s men and women who produced the steel that transported and protected the allied troops around the world. In the decades since, the economy may have changed, but the grit, determination, and hard work I see every day in our communities has not. Today, anyone who is willing to work should have the chance to, and our political leaders have a responsibility to ensure Pennsylvanians benefit from the country’s economic growth. I’m dedicated to bringing stable, high-paying jobs to our district. Here’s my plan: defend, strengthen, and support unions to ensure that workers are guaranteed higher wages, safer working conditions, better benefits, and the right to collectively organize without fear of intimidation; invest in training, certification, and apprenticeship programs; increase federal spending on infrastructure; protect the Earned Income Tax Credit, which benefits millions of hardworking American families; and promote rural broadband infrastructure policies that expand broadband access to all communities."
Medicare and Social Security
"Medicare and Social Security are our nation’s solemn promises to our seniors — work hard, play by the rules, and we will make sure you get the health care and retirement security that you earned. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress don’t see it that way; even though you worked for those paychecks and paid your fair share into the system, Republicans view these earned benefits as entitlements that are theirs to slash and use to fund tax cuts for corporations and the super-rich. The federal government absolutely must live up to its end of the bargain on retirement benefits. I will defend Social Security while supporting cost-of-living adjustments and fighting against voucher schemes that prey on our most vulnerable Americans, ensure Medicare’s long-term stability, leverage Medicare’s negotiating power, and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse."
Healthcare
"Health care is a right, not a privilege. Pennsylvanians of every background and income level deserve access to high-quality health care. Period. However, employer-sponsored health insurance plans are a drain on employers, entrepreneurship, and often cause employees’ wages to be lower. We need to work toward a single-payer health care system, and in the meantime, have a public option available. In the wealthiest nation on earth, no citizen should have to take on a second job, risk bankruptcy, or make a choice between putting food on the table and paying for health care. We must: achieve true universal health care coverage; immediately stop Republican-led efforts to take away the protections secured by the Affordable Care Act — such as those for people living with pre-existing conditions; expand Medicaid to cover more Pennsylvanians; and lower prescription drug costs."
Opioid Crisis
"The facts are chilling: Our state is home to the country’s fourth-highest rate of drug overdose deaths. Of the nearly 5,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016, close to 85 percent involved opioids. And for every person lost to this epidemic, it not only affects their friends and family but their whole community — from businesses and the economy to schools and our health care system. Addressing — and solving — this crisis requires (1) recognizing that drug abuse is a medical problem, not a criminal problem, and (2) proactively providing communities with the resources they need to effectively combat it. I will: hold drug companies accountable; empower and support the medical community to provide healthcare and treatment; and put life-saving tools, like the overdose-reversing antidote naxolone, in professionals’ hands. Congress must work with state and local agencies and community groups to curb more needless and preventable deaths."
LGBTQ+ Rights
"It’s this simple — members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve the same rights and equality under the law as all other Americans, period. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry, was a watershed moment in the battle for gay rights; but as we know from the civil rights and women’s movements before it, we can’t rest there. To achieve — and protect — true equality for LGBTQ+ Americans, we need to fight all types of institutionalized discrimination, whether in schools, the workplace, or anywhere else in our communities. We must: pass the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to 'add sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to the list of already protected classes (joining race, color, religion and national origin)'; pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act, prohibiting bullying and harassment of students; keep our military strong, whether service members are gay, straight, or transgender; and make the United States a moral leader for the world on LGBTQ+ issues, fighting against bigotry and intolerance."
Environment and Energy
"Environmental conservation used to be a bipartisan issue — from the days of Teddy Roosevelt’s Antiquities Act right through Richard Nixon creating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and signing into law the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. But for the past 20 years, Republicans in Congress have unleashed an assault on our environment in which attacking the scientific consensus of climate change is just the start. This must end, and I will be a leading voice in Congress to defend our environment. I propose that we: fully rejoin the Paris Accord; protect our natural resources, including National Parks, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and offshore areas; incentivize renewable technologies and manufacturing; pass the FRAC Act, releasing information about the chemicals oil companies use when fracking for natural gas; ban fracking on public lands; demand equity in our environmental policies, since minority and low-income communities are disproportionately affected by the locations of superfund and waste sites."
Criminal Justice Reform
"When the United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but houses nearly one-quarter of the world’s prisoners, the system isn’t working. A country with our level of prosperity has no business having the highest incarceration rate in the world; our broken criminal justice system disproportionately affects minorities and poor communities, and is a burden on our whole society. There are simple, bipartisan approaches we can take to reform our criminal justice system to make our communities safer, make our laws fairer, and save lives in the process: end the failed 'War on Drugs'; repair the damage done by racial bias (beginning by outlawing racially biased laws such as 'stop and frisk'); remove barriers to reentry into society after non-violent criminals have served their time; restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated individuals; fully legalize marijuana; address gun violence with common sense reforms (including universal background checks, banning bump stocks, and raising the minimum age for gun purchases)."
Campaign Finance
"I am proud to have taken a 'No Corporate PAC Money' pledge. I believe people should decide elections, not corporate money. When dark money infects a political system, the consequences for democracy are devastating — civil society is eroded and powerful corporations go unchecked while citizens who actually make up the democracy are left behind. The days of legalized corruption and quid-pro-quo campaign financing must end. In Congress, I will co-sign any legislation that removes the grip dark money has on our electoral and legislative process. I'll start by overturning Citizens United, eliminating Super PACs and create a path toward public funding for elections, and restoring the full Voting Rights Act to make voting more accessible for marginalized groups."
Women's Issues
"Standing up for women’s issues is one of the core principles of my campaign. I was recruited to run by, and later endorsed by, EMILY’s List, the nation’s leading political action committee focused on electing pro-choice Democratic female candidates. I do not take my role as an advocate and defender of women lightly. From the right to have control over what a woman does with her body, to equal rights and protection in the workplace, I will always — always — be an advocate for women. I will: unequivocally defend a woman’s right to choose; stand up for women’s health at every turn, supporting funding for women's health clinics; fight to create laws at the federal level that prevent gender pay discrimination; strengthen workplace protections for women; and support parental leave."
Immigration
"In 2019, the new Congress must swiftly act to create a genuine, bipartisan plan for addressing our country’s broken immigration system. As your Representative, I won’t be deterred by partisan hysteria over immigration. Sensible and reasonable immigration policies will make our country safer and boost our economy. My guidepost on this issue will always be ensuring that we remain a beacon of hope, compassion, and opportunity, through sound, workable policy solutions. These solutions include: giving Dreamers a path to citizenship; ending family separation policies; opposing any further efforts to implement the Trump Travel Ban; advocating for a border security policy that is both effective and humane, keeping families together, processing immigration cases fairly, and focusing on deportations of violent offenders over hard-working families; and refusing to negotiate on political showpieces that waste taxpayer money, like the wall along the U.S.- Mexico border. Here in the Lehigh Valley we are looking for responsible solutions to border security, not political stunts."
Education
"Education is an investment in the future, and government should treat it that way — whether it’s in the way we pay and support our teachers, how we fund public education, or how we help more students get access to quality, affordable higher education. The following are some details on how I’d like to see us reach that goal: make college affordable by increasing federal aid to states, students with high costs, and holding colleges and universities accountable for skyrocketing tuition costs and fees; pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act, prohibiting bullying and harassment of students; keep public tax dollars in public schools; empower teachers and put an end to endless testing; inspire young women in STEM; and put us on a path toward universal preschool education."
Supporting Our Veterans
"As the daughter of a man who spent his career in the United States Air Force, I know first hand that supporting our veterans with world-class health care, strong pension benefits, and the tools to smoothly transition to civilian life are just as important as — and critical to — ensuring that we continue to have the strongest military in the world. In the United States, those who’ve put themselves in harm’s way to protect their fellow Americans should never be without the care and support they need. Here’s my plan: work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to succeed in delivering easy access to high-quality medical treatment and mental health care; protect the G.I Bill, which guarantees that veterans have an opportunity to earn a college education; and support military families."
