The west front of the U.S. Capitol is photographed near dusk Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, both Republicans, are seeking re-election this year. Moran is being challenged by Democrat Patrick Wiesner of Lawrence and Libertarian Robert D. Garrard of Edgerton. Jenkins is being challenged by Democrat Britani Potter of Ottawa and Libertarian James Bales of Lawrence.

The Journal-World asked each candidate for federal office to state their positions on five key issues:

Health care: Do you support or oppose the concept behind the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, in which the federal government provides subsidies for people to buy health insurance on exchange markets? What changes, if any, do you think should be made to that law?

Jobs and Economy: What steps do you believe the federal government should take to stimulate jobs and economic growth in the United States?

Student loan debt: It is estimated that student loan debt in the U.S. now exceeds $1.3 trillion. What steps, if any, do you believe the federal government should take in reducing the cost of higher education or in reducing the amount of debt students need to incur in order to afford a college education?

National security: What do you believe are the most serious threats to the national security of the United States, and what steps should Congress take to address those threats?

Immigration: Some political leaders have called for building a wall across the entire U.S.-Mexico border and for restricting immigration for certain groups. Do you support or oppose those measures? What other measures should the U.S. take to control immigration?

U.S. Senate

Sen. Jerry Moran (Rep.):

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran

Health care: The Affordable Care Act has burdened millions of Americans with a litany of broken promises, higher taxes, increasing health insurance costs, reduced health care choices, and burdensome mandates and regulations that stifle economic growth. We can and must do better. We should replace Obamacare step-by-step with a market-oriented alternative that enables individuals to purchase affordable health coverage that fits their unique needs while lowering overall costs by increasing competition and choice.

As a member of the Senate Health Appropriations Subcommittee, the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s disease and a founding member of the Senate NIH Caucus, I believe it’s critical to support medical research. Consistent, sustained support of medical research is essential to saving and improving lives, reducing health care costs, growing our economy, and maintaining America’s role as a global leader in medical innovation.

Jobs and economy: In my view, the greatest threat we have to being able to pursue the American Dream is the debt and deficit. Congress is hemorrhaging money at an alarming rate. Spending trillions of dollars that we do not have undermines economic growth today while dumping a massive financial burden on our children and grandchildren. I have opposed every increase in the debt ceiling, every stimulus package and every bailout offered by either party while fighting to reduce spending and enact a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Additionally, the current tax code negatively impacts our economy. It must be overhauled to make America a better place to raise a family, buy a home, start a business, and create jobs. I am the lead sponsor of the FairTax, legislation that would fundamentally simplify the tax code and abolish the IRS while creating a flatter, more fair system that benefits Americans of all incomes while supercharging the economy.

Student loan debt: Covering the increasing costs of higher education is just one of the challenges Kansas students face today. In fact, millions of undergraduate students who attend college each year take out federal Stafford loans to make college dreams a reality. Unfortunately, our current economic environment leaves recent graduates with limited job opportunities to earn enough to pay off college-related debt.

Too many recent college graduates are jobless or underemployed, working jobs that don’t require the college degree that they just earned. Congress should focus on simplification of the student loan process and fixing the failing economic policies that are hampering growth in America to make certain graduates can find jobs and not strapped with debt.

National security: The security and safety of the American homeland is a paramount responsibility for those elected to serve in Washington. It’s clear that in the 15 years since 9/11, the threats this nation faces from Islamic extremism remain very real.

Our military is already playing an important role in combating ISIS, but the American people must understand and be willing to support additional efforts that may put our military members at risk. The countries where ISIS is flourishing are chaotic, unstable and have major political problems. I believe military action can only be effective when accompanied by long-term diplomatic solutions, and the power of American diplomacy should not be underestimated.

With the ever changing threats to our national security, our military cannot afford the reduced readiness that results from force reductions. I will continue advocating for our servicemembers and military installations in Kansas and their supportive communities. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, I can directly impact the funding priorities of our nation’s military.

Immigration: Illegal immigration is a serious problem with broad consequences for our country. America’s immigration system is clearly broken and must be addressed. Top priorities for any immigration reforms should be to ensure our country is safe and our borders are secure. For undocumented immigrants living in America, I oppose blanket amnesty and believe that those with criminal records should not be shielded from deportation by “sanctuary city” policies. The legitimate immigration processes must be reformed to enable those who wish to come to the United States legally are able to do so in a timely and appropriate manner while within the bounds of American laws.

Additionally, Congress should pursue policies that help the United States compete and win the global battle for talent. Attracting and retaining highly-skilled, entrepreneurial individuals – especially those whom we educate at American universities – will boost American innovation, propel economic growth, and create jobs for Americans.

U.S. Senate

Patrick Wiesner (Dem.)

Patrick Wiesner

Health care: Existing US health care policy is not cost effective, does not reward a healthy lifestyle, nor does it provide easy access to doctors and nurses. Small business owners and the self-employed are seeing annual health insurance premiums increases of 30 to 40 percent. This is happening even though annual family out-of-pocket responsibilities have increased from an average of $2,000 to well over $6,000 and in some cases $12,000. I have a client family of five (all non-smokers) whose monthly insurance premiums went from $1,070 in 2015 to $1,450 in 2016. They are ineligible for premium subsidies. They expect again another 30 percent increase for 2017. Next year, these clients will drop coverage because they simply don’t have the income to pay the premiums. Congress needs to fix the insurance models as the current structure has led to unaffordable insurance premiums. Halting and reversing this unchecked inflation in premiums and deductibles will be a primary focus of my senate work.

Jobs and economy: We need more private sector manufacturing jobs here. For the good of our economy, Americans need to make as much or more than we consume. Our trade deals haven’t led to more US jobs. In our country, companies must pay, in addition to wages, the costs of Social Security, health care, worker’s compensation, litigation risk, taxes, and environmental protection. Foreign companies don’t have these costs burdens. And because the United States military’s world-wide presence keeps the peace, most of our trade competitors don’t pay for their own national defense. Few, if any, respect our copyrights and patents. The countries that export to us are getting by on the cheap. That is how foreign businesses can afford to ship manufactured products from other continents to US markets. Foreign corporations avoid US taxes by pricing their products at levels that show little no profit on US sales. Until this unfairness is eliminated, I’ll oppose the TPP. Free trade means fair trade.

Student loan debt: Pell grants and federal guarantees of student loans are causes of continuous tuition increases. Colleges and universities raise their rates knowing the government will provide resources so that students can pay more. A way to keep tuition in check is for the institutions to co-guarantee the promissory notes with commercial banks as the lenders. Once the federal government gets out the tuition subsidy business, higher education will figure out ways to make its degrees affordable.

Another cause of education inflation is the out-of-state tuition penalty. Under current law, neither the equal protection provision of the 14th Amendment nor the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution apply to students wanting to leave their home state for an education. State universities should compete for students on price. Instead they use other states’ higher charges to out-of-state residents as a tool to extract more money from the, in effect, captivated instate students. A federal law barring this tuition discrimination will cure this problem.

National security: A bedrock value of Americans is that we help our allies. Iraq is an ally and now needs our help. Protection of their oil reserves is a vital interest to us. The United States cannot let the terrorist ISIS army march into Iraq and seize the oil fields. If ISIS takes control of these fields, they will use that oil wealth to promote violence against us and our allies. Complete defeat of ISIS is necessary or else they will move to other hideouts throughout the world. The governments of Syria, Libya, or Iraq, along with Afghanistan, don’t have economies strong enough to pay for the military and police forces required to control ISIS while, at the same time, providing for the needs of their own people. This means it’s up the United States to stop ISIS; the other nations don’t have this capability. After our troops give us victory, they can come home for good.

Immigration: I have served with Hispanics in the Army and have had dozens as clients. They are hard workers who take care of their families and heroically serve our country. A robust immigration policy will help the Kansas economy grow when these hard workers become employed by our businesses. State revenues would increase as more payroll taxes would be paid into the treasury.

Amnesty is not necessary. Neither is a wall. My solution is to establish special immigration facilities in northern Mexico to process those who want to apply for legal status. Those here illegally can return to that country and then reenter in accordance with US law. The reward will be a path to full citizenship. The charge will be about $4,000 per person. This will cover the costs of processing, security, and facilities. The program would probably take six years to complete. The American people will support this plan.

U.S. Senate

Robert D. Garrard (Lib.)

Robert Garrard

Robert Garrard did not respond to the Journal World’s questionnaire. He does not maintain a campaign website outlining his positions.

U.S. House

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Rep.)

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins

Health care: Obamacare – the Affordable Care Act – has been a disaster. Next year, 17 percent of Americans will be left with only one ACA insurer to choose from. Folks have faced spiraling healthcare costs, decreased access to care, worsening plans and of course, let’s not forget President Obama’s “lie of the year 2013” that you could keep your doctor if you wanted to.

But here’s the bottom line: we need healthcare reform in America and urgently. Obamacare isn’t the answer, and we need to replace that law with a patient-centric system that addresses the rising costs and doesn’t cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in wasted funds. We need to generate more choices for people searching for healthcare options, with protections against discrimination by providers based on age, medical conditions, income and more. Most importantly we will build a system where it is the American people who pick plans based on their own needs, not the dictates of Washington. Bureaucrats have no place being in charge of healthcare.

Jobs and economy: I believe fixing our broken tax code and making it more fair is the single most important thing we can do, right now, to make our economy stronger and more secure. The fewer special carve outs that exist, the better. Tax reform isn’t glamorous. Tax reform doesn’t turn out hundreds for a political rally. Yet any family, individual or small business that has filed a tax return or forced to file for an extension in April knows our tax code is an outright mess. The house has put forward a concrete proposal to fix our broken tax code. You can view it at better.gop and I encourage you to take a look at it and let me know what you think.

Student loan debt: Since 2002, the cost of tuition & fees at public universities increased by 51%, yet job prospects for are bleak. Tuition costs continue to increase at twice the rate of inflation. Average student leaves school with $26,000 in student debt. Some may propose “free college” as a way to address this problem but the reality is numerous estimates show it would have an annual price tag of $70 billion or more.

I have authored legislation that helps families save for college by expanding 529 plans. It’s a plan many Kansans have taken advantage of and I’d encourage you to take a look at them if you and your family don’t already have one. I also support universities providing more upfront information on what an average salary in a chosen field is and what your debt will look like when you leave college and enter that profession.

National security: We’re at a dangerous point in our history where our enemies do not fear us, our allies do not trust us and our standing in the world is diminished. We can’t keep cutting the budget of the military while asking them to do more and more. It’s incredibly frustrating when some folks in Washington want to start every discussion with “for every dollar you increase defense, you have to increase the same for domestic policies.”

The Federal government’s number one job is to keep us safe, not run our lives. We must make sure our nation’s defense has the resources it needs to keep you and your family out of harms way.

Immigration: As a nation of immigrants, we must continue to welcome legal immigrants who wish to live and work in our nation. At the same time we must secure our borders and refuse to grant amnesty to those who violate our laws. We also cannot ignore the gaping holes that exist along our southwest border. The current crisis there demonstrates what happens when vague policies meet poor enforcement. This is a matter of national security.

U.S. House

Britani Potter (Dem.):

Britani Potter

Health care: I believe the Affordable Care Act failed to live up to its name. It accomplished several positive things, such as ending lifetime maximums and pre-existing condition denials. However, for millions of Americans who get their insurance through their employers, there was little impact. In fact, many continue watch their premiums rise, much like they did before. It’s a broken system.

There are steps we can take to make improvements right away. First, pharmaceutical companies have been price gouging customers for years. We need to shorten pharmaceutical patents and create competition in the prescription drug arena to drive prices down. We also must create transparency. Health care is one of our biggest personal expenses, yet we don’t know how much we’re paying until long after we agree to the service. Providers and insurers need to make their prices and pricing procedures known, which will again create competition and benefit consumers.

Jobs and economy: The economy thrives when the middle class thrives. Congress has made too many policies on behalf of the extremely wealthy, dishonestly referring to it as “job creation.” Businesses thrive when they have customers with money to spend. We need to raise wages, and fund projects, such as infrastructure improvements, that will truly create more jobs for Americans. We also need to implement a fair tax structure, where those living paycheck to paycheck aren’t burdened with funding the government.

This is an area where getting money out of politics is vital. Right now, the corporations and individuals with the most money wield the most power in Washington. They aren’t interested in fair government policy for the middle class. They’re paying politicians, like my opponent, top dollar to keep as much of the nation’s wealth at the top as possible. We need to elect people who will root out greed in government.

Student loan debt: The current student loan debt situation serves as a deterrent for kids wanting a college education. That’s absurd. Even more absurd is my opponent’s plan to resolve the issue through the use of 529 plans. 529s are great for families with enough income to save substantial amounts of money for education, but the sad reality is that this describes very few middle class American families. Her plan offers nothing for kids in households with too much income to qualify for grants, but too little to save enough to avoid massive debt.

I propose we move to a model where children in families earning less than $150,000 per year are allowed free tuition to in-state public schools. The expense could be covered by placing a nominal tax on Wall Street transactions. The result would be a more educated populace, capable of greater innovation, higher earning potential, and a thriving middle class.

National security: Terrorism, both domestic and foreign, is the biggest threat to our national security. At the domestic level, many of the recent mass shootings we’ve seen could be addressed with a combination of better mental health services and extended background checks on firearm purchases. No American citizen should be isolated as they descend in mental state where they are susceptible to radical violent organizations like ISIS.

Abroad, we need to ramp up our focused attacks on territorial holdings by groups like ISIS. We cannot allow ISIS to spread their areas of control around the Middle East. We must continue our air strikes that take out their hideouts, murderous leaders, and weapons storages. I also believe we need to avoid sending large numbers of troops to the Middle East. They become terrorist targets, and there is little advantage to troops risking their lives to occupy territory in the region.

Immigration: I absolutely oppose the construction of massive border walls, and restricting immigration based on religious beliefs. These ideas don’t mesh with the American values I know. We do need to increase our border patrol presence as a safety measure, which simultaneously creates jobs. However, the extreme measures for keeping out and punishing illegal immigrants I hear are frightening.

A significant portion of illegal immigrants did not cross the border illegally. They came here on visas, which have since expired. We need to create a path to citizenship for immigrants. They’re already here and for the most part, abiding by our laws and working. By allowing them citizenship, we give them an opportunity to contribute by paying taxes and contributing in the same ways that anyone else working in America does. Those here illegally who choose to commit crimes, however, should go through the criminal justice system and face deportation.

U.S. House

James Houston Bales (Lib.)

Health Care: I’ll be honest, I don’t know enough about health care to support or oppose Obamacare at this time. All I know is that from what we see in the news, it doesn’t seem to be working. Certainly it needs to be fixed or replaced with a complete solution. What that repair or solution looks like, I do not know.

Jobs and Economy: We need to get out of the way of the private sector. We need to deregulate industries, giving them a chance to create jobs without constantly looking over their shoulders. While government stimulation is not the answer to a flagging economy, the government can assist through infrastructure investment through the private sector. Revitalized transportation infrastructure will help everyone in every sector of the economy.

Student Loan Debt: Student Loan Debt can be addressed in three solutions. First, student loan debt needs to be dischargeable in bankruptcy. Second, the Federal government needs to get out of the loan game. College costs have skyrocketed due to the glut of easy Federal money, and the costs will decline once effectively free money comes out of the equation. Third, we need a program of Federal loan forgiveness for students who are unlikely to ever pay back their loans, or who are willing to work in underserved areas of the public sector.

National Security: The greatest risk to national security is provocation. A foreign policy built around regime change and the expansion and enforcement of Western democracy has created almost every international enemy we face today. Congress should quit authorizing military adventurism and covert intervention.

Immigration: A border wall solves nothing. We need to make our immigration processes more transparent and accessible to those who wish to become Americans. Work permits, residency, and citizenship should be achievable to any who wishes to come here.