U.S. House of Representatives, Texas District 10 race

Candidate declined comment.

What is your stance on the Affordable Care Act and what changes, if any, can be made to improve it?

Candidate declined comment.

Illegal immigration and border security are major issues in Texas. How do you propose America secure its borders?

Candidate declined comment.

Tawana Walter-Cadien, Democrat

Tawana Walter-Cadien is a lifelong Texan from Beaumont who has lived in Cypress for the past three years. She has a bachelor's degree in nursing from Prairie View A&M University and an executive master's degree in public administration from Texas Southern University. As a registered nurse, Walter-Cadien has spent most of her career in health care. For more information, visit tawanacadienforcongress.com.

Why did you decide to run for elected office?

As a lifelong Texan, I have always been geared toward serving my community. These are values that have been instilled in me at an early age and I instill those same values in my children. What I see now, as far as our communities are concerned, is that we have people who need a voice and need to be adequately represented, and I feel I have the ability to be that voice for the people of the district.

What skills and experience do you have that will benefit you as U.S. Representative for District 10?

As a mother and parent as well as community leader, I have participated and led many initiatives that have involved people and involved addressing the needs of people. It is vitally important, I believe, for a representative to be in touch and have experience with working with the people and assessing needs of a variety of persons. Because of my background as a registered nurse, I have been afforded and blessed with the opportunity to have met so many people from all walks of life. In my field of work we serve people regardless of differences, even political affiliations. I think what America needs as well as the 10th District of Texas, you have to have representation that puts aside differences and hones in on the needs of the person and those are the skills I have to bring forth to the United States Congress.

If elected, what are the most important issues to address?

Education, job creation, business growth and affordable, high-quality health care are the most important issues to address. In addition to those, veteran issues are very important as well as senior citizen issues. I often say that we must not treat our veterans and senior citizens with the 'your service is no longer needed attitude,' because these people literally gave their life. Our veterans signed their names on a dotted line to say they are willing to die for you and protect the country. Our senior citizens were working to keep this country afloat while we were getting our education and they should not have to deal with an attitude that their service is no longer needed. In doing so, in protecting our veterans and honoring them not just with our mouth but with our actions, as well as our seniors, we are also showing the younger generation and teaching them what should be done.

What is your stance on the Affordable Care Act and what changes, if any, can be made to improve it?

As I understand it, it provides an opportunity for improved access to health care for millions of Americans including those in Texas. We are already experiencing and reaping many positive aspects of the bill such as access to reduced health care costs especially for those who have pre-existing conditions. I, like most in Congress, have not read all of the Affordable Care Act and certainly the president has stated elements of the bill, which can be improved. I would seek to figure out what is working well for Americans especially for the constituents in District 10 of Texas and keep those things in place. I will work with my colleagues to figure out what can be improved on as well. I will not be sidetracked by the controversies of some aspects of the bill. What is imperative, it is imperative in my line of work, we service everyone. We don't side with one side because of a difference. In efforts to repeal the ACA, I have not seen an effort to replace it. When we are talking so very often we throw out statistics and throw out numbers, and I am speaking of those in Congress, but what seems to be missing is that they have forgotten that there are faces and human lives behind those numbers and those statistics. It is imperative that we work together in order to come up with the best solution for our health care crisis, because lives are literally being lost because people don't have proper health care or access to it.

What are the biggest concerns facing future generations of Americans?

Some of the most important things facing the future of America are education and access to quality education for everyone. Americans feeling good about their quality of life makes a humongous difference. We live in a generation where access to quality education is not the same across the board. The only people that it is going to harm in the long run are us. If our children are not equipped and don't have the quality resources that they need, they will not be able to effectively run this country and effectively protect our country against those who would want to cause us harm. Our children are smart and very innovative and they have drive. If we don't provide them with the resources that they need, then we are literally shooting our own selves in the foot for the future of our country. It is going to be important for us as adults to equip them. I will work to bring about effective legislation that combines a common sense approach with the next generation in mind.

Illegal immigration and border security are major issues in Texas. How do you propose America secure its borders?

As we all have seen over the last couple of months, the immigration issue is a major issue and it is something that is going to require effective dialogue. You are almost in between a rock and a hard place because you see children—and I am just speaking of what has been in the most recent news—who are escaping from some of the most gruesome areas. Then you have Americans here who are also in need of support. This immigration and border issue is a major concern for Texans and a major concern for Americans and you are stuck between a role of showing compassion, but to what extent. The jury is still out on how to effectively address the immigration issue, but comprehensive immigration reform is absolutely needed.