What types of transportation do you use during an average week, and how has this shaped your view of transportation policy?

I drive. My children and six children use a combination of CTA and Metra.

What are some transportation challenges in your district?

Lack of access to public transportation.

How do you view Congress’s role in setting priorities for public transit, passenger rail, and strengthening accessibility in transportation?

This current congress has disfavored public transportation. We must do everything we can for lower-income communities and seniors who are less likely to have access to public transit.

What’s your position on the Federal government and Illinois’ current transportation infrastructure spending, and if you could change anything, what would it be?

As a champion of the recent bill to create the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, I have a proven record of leading on transportation infrastructure. We should promote more ridership on public transit via public advocacy campaigns. We also should redouble our efforts to make transit more accessible to people with disabilities and roll back the federal efforts to undermine the Americans with Disabilities Act (ACA).

What is your position on investing to expand passenger rail service in Illinois, including the development of high-speed rail?

I support more investment in this space.

Federal funding for Illinois transportation projects – such as the Red Line Extension and Red-Purple Modernization projects – has come under threat from the Trump administration. How do you plan to shore up funding for critical infrastructure projects under a hostile federal climate?

I have a record of winning uphill battles in Springfield. As the most bipartisan member of the Senate, I will take my legislative skills with me to Washington to stave off threats to the Red Line Extension. As well, I will fight to appropriate money to re-open the closed stops on the Green Line

Our streets have become increasingly militarized in the past several months as the Trump administration has ramped up DHS and ICE activity in our cities. This past summer, Congress voted to increase the ICE budget larger than most of the world's militaries.

What is your position on ICE and related immigration enforcement?

While I support secure borders and want to ensure that the poor legal residents of the South Side get at least as many resources as the undocumented counterparts shipped here through no fault of their own by Republican governors, I think the size of the ICE appropriation needs to be resized downward and we need to rein in this Klan-like organization.