David Hoffman's responses to candidate questionnaires. More questionnaires will be posted as endorsements are released publicly.

Roughly 17 million Americans are unemployed; 7.6 million have lost their jobs since the recession began in December of 2007. In October, unemployment eclipsed 10% for the first time since 1982; In Illinois, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 11%. Those that are not unemployed, are suffering drastic cuts in hours and pay.

As someone with extensive experience investigating and prosecuting business fraud and white-collar crime, I will take seriously the Senate’s oversight responsibilities, insist on transparency, and seek action against irresponsible behavior on Wall Street – and by local banks that engage in similar practices. And I will push for tougher oversight and smarter regulation of banks and other financial institutions to help ensure that nothing like our current crisis ever happens again.

I support comprehensive health insurance reform that will ensure that insurance companies can no longer drop existing coverage or refuse to cover people with pre-existing conditions. I believe a public option – establishing an optional non-profit insurance plan for those who prefer it or for those who cannot obtain private insurance – is an important part of comprehensive health care reform, since it will provide competition to lower costs and hold private insurance companies accountable.

There is no more important investment we can make in America than the money we invest in educating our children... We must focus on innovative, best practices by schools and teachers around the country, and use our resources to encourage all schools to emulate them.

I am pragmatist when it comes to our foreign policy, and believe that a strong America is a safe America. We must be prepared to deploy the full arsenal of U.S. and international power to protect our national interests, and must engage with our allies and international institutions to protect and advance those interests. We must be ready to use our military strength to keep us safe from terrorists and others who would harm our country; but we must also act reasonably in light of the specific threat at hand so that we do not sacrifice the credibility our country has deservedly established through our world leadership in the fight against oppression and brutality.

I believe that only the U.S. can provide the leadership that is required for serious peace negotiations in the Middle East. The United States can – and should – play an active role in facilitating those negotiations. I pledge to support those efforts and will work to ensure the search for peace in the Middle East tops the U.S. foreign policy agenda.

Today, one of the greatest security challenges our nation faces is in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our mission is to defeat al Qaeda and eliminate it from the region, stem the tide of radicalism in Pakistan and secure that country’s nuclear arsenal from terrorists and rogue actors. We must also prevent al Qaeda and its Taliban allies from reclaiming the safe haven in Afghanistan it used to attack us on September 11, tragically taking thousands of innocent lives. I was in favor of our military action against the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan after al-Qaeda’s horrific attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11. The Taliban provided support and a safe-haven to al-Qaeda. Striking back at members of al-Qaeda, and the Taliban who sheltered them, was an appropriate response.

Now is the time to move America in the direction of cleaner, renewable energy such as wind, solar, bio-fuels and other potential sources. This is not only necessary to reduce global warming; it is essential in creating good jobs and keeping the US and Illinois economically competitive in a global marketplace. We can lead the world in these technologies – and the new industries they will spawn – but only if Congress provides the necessary incentives to reduce our dependence on foreign fuel sources.

I am strongly pro-choice and believe that reproductive decisions should be made by a woman and her doctor rather than by politicians. A woman’s right and ability to make this personal, private decision – a fundamental, constitutional privacy right – must be protected from interference by the government. We must trust women to make their own personal decisions on these matters.

The government should not intrude on our personal decisions of who to love and who to marry. To me, this is an issue of basic equality. While religious institutions must remain free to define marriage as they see fit, the civil marriage laws of our society (and related federal tax laws) should ensure that couples who want to declare their lifelong commitment to each other should be treated equally, regardless of sexual orientation. I would support repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which discriminates against gay couples.