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Office sought
Congress, 12th District of North Carolina

Occupation
Member of Congress (16 years); previously practiced law (22 years)

Age
62

Address
P. O. Box 36831, Charlotte, NC 28236

Web site and e-mail
www.wattforcongress.com
wattmebj@att.net

Party
Democrat

Elective experience
North Carolina State Senate - 2 years; U. S. House of Representatives - 16 years.

Other relevant experience
Practiced law for 22 years; President of the Mecklenburg County Bar, owned and operated small businesses (part owner and managing attorney of a law firm; part owner and board member of an assisted living facility; part owner and board member of Westside Capital (owner of McDonald's Cafeteria); limited partner in several read estate developments); served on numerous boards and commissions.

Family
Married 41 years to Eulada P. Watt, 2 sons - Brian and Jason

Why have you chosen to run for this office?
To continue to advocate for the interests of the residents of the 12th District and to try to get the country headed in the right direction again.

What distinguishes you most from your opponent?
16 years of experience in Congress and effective advocacy for the residents of the 12th District.

Key qualifications you would bring to the job
My 16 years of service has enabled me to:

Build an effective staff and constituent services organization that is effective at getting results for my constituents;

Position myself with seniority and influence in Congress (a recent survey rated me the most influential member of the North Carolina delegation; however, I personally think that rating is more deserved by Rep. David Price) and on Committees (Financial Services & Judiciary) with jurisdiction over issues that directly impact the lives of my constituents -- issues such as housing, justice, financial services and economic opportunity; and

Learn and understand the positions of my constituents and speak boldly and aggressively for those positions.

List your top three campaign issues and your stances on those issues
The Economy & Jobs: See below.

Iraq War: I voted against the war resolution and believe that the Bush Administration misled the American people about the rationale for the war, never had an exit strategy and has seriously mismanaged the war effort. The war has added to the threat of terrorism, continues to have severe adverse consequences for our image in the world and has been a prime contributor to our deficit and our economic woes by using critical resources that were desperately needed at home. The President must set a timetable for our withdrawal that transfers responsibility to Iraq and removes our troops by the end of 2009.

Health care: I continue to believe that the only way we can effectively deal with this issue is some form of universal health coverage that emphasizes preventive care and provides an affordable package of health benefits to all U.S. citizens. The Congress and the next President must be willing to tackle this issue, find consensus and close the deal.

What is your position on congressional earmarks?
I support limited congressional earmarks that direct federal funds appropriated for a general federal purpose to priorities approved by local constituencies (governments, non-profit and educational institutions) to achieve that federal purpose if the earmarks are fully transparent and do not personally benefit the member of Congress requesting the earmark or his family or associates. Allowing local constituencies to set the priorities abut how best to achieve a general federal purpose to be carried out in local communities is often preferable to allowing federal bureaucracies to do so and is fully consistent with the constitutional prerogatives of Congress over the purse.

What measures should be taken to boost the sagging national economy?
Among a number of factors that are currently impacting the U.S. economy adversely there are at least three that should have been handled better by the Bush Administration.

First, following a dogged refusal to interfere with the "market", the Administration failed to exercise any regulatory authority over predatory and other irresponsible practices that were taking place in the mortgage and general credit markets. The results were foreseeable. Rep. Brad Miller and I introduced our predatory lending legislation and regularly sounded alarms years before the mortgage and foreclosure crisis that went unheeded until we were in the middle of the crisis that has so severely impacted the economy. Warnings about dangerous levels of credit card debt are also going unheeded and this could soon add to the economic downturn.

Second, for eight years the Administration has failed to take seriously the perils of our dependence on oil, refused to support incentives for conservation and development of alternatives to oil and taken foreign policy steps (especially the war in Iraq) that increased instability and fueled speculation in the futures markets. This led to tripling gas and energy costs over the last eight years that has become a major factor in the economic downturn.

Third, the war in Iraq diverted us from the sound fiscal policies that had resulted in surpluses and promised substantial decreases in deficit spending. Deficits have continued to put pressure on the value of the dollar and made it impossible to invest in domestic infrastructure, education and innovation that are necessary to keep unemployment low.

So what can be done? (1) The Financial Services Committee, on which I serve, has been the epicenter of efforts to boost the sagging economy -- from the stimulus package to important efforts to shore up the credit markets, avoid further deterioration and establish a new regulatory framework that will reduce the prospects for future crises of the kind we are experiencing. (2) Innovation in the energy sector is needed both to meet the energy crisis and drive down the price of energy and to create new green jobs. (3) We need to get our military and our money out of Iraq and make Iraq assume responsibility for itself, both militarily with its own police and security forces and economically with its oil resources.

When and how should the U.S. troops be removed from Iraq?
See above.