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Democrat
Candidate for U.S. Senate
Phone: (602) 441-3595
Email: rich@carmonaforarizona.com
Website: www.carmonaforarizona.com
Twitter: @CarmonaForAZ
8351 E Canyon Side Rd, Tucson, AZ 85750.
(Mail: 830 N 1st Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85003)
Age: 62. (11/22/49, New York, NY).
Arizona since: 1985.
Occupation: 17th Surgeon General of the United States, U.S. Public Health Service, 2002-2006; Dept Surgeon, SWAT team leader and deputy, Pima County Sheriff’s Dept, 1986-2002, since 2006; vice chair, Canyon Ranch, since 2006; president, Canyon Ranch Institute, since 2006; distinguished Professor of Public Health, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, UofA, since 2006.
Marital: Married (Diana).
Children: 4.
Religious preference: Catholic.
Education: Master’s degree, public health, UofA, 1998; medical degree, University of California San Francisco, 1979; Bachelor’s degree, biology and chemistry, University of California San Francisco, 1976; Associate’s degree, Bronx Community College of the City University of New York, 1973.
Memberships: Bd of directors, American Red Cross; surgical consultant, bd of directors, American Heart Assn, AZ affiliate; chair, Pima County Emergency Planning Committee; Governor’s Hispanic Advisory Committee; advisory bd, AHCCCS; bd of directors, Southern AZ Child Advocacy Center; EMS medical dir, Tucson Airport Authority; medical dir, Rural Metro Corporation; chair, Regional EMS Council State of AZ; bd of directors, AZ Medical Assn; advisory bd, Nat’l Domestic Preparedness Office; bd of directors, Nat’l Tactical Officer’s Assn; nat’l chair, Nat’l Foundation for Infectious Diseases; nat’l chair, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease; nat’l chair, Stop Obesity Alliance; nat’l chair, Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition; Dept of Defense, Health Policy Bd; bd of advisors, Nat’l Hispanic Medical Assn; bd of directors, UofA Dept of Surgery; bd of directors, Vascular Disease Foundation.
Political influence: My grandmother and mom who pushed my siblings and myself to get an education. Their willingness to put their kids above themselves still informs my views, especially when it comes to fostering opportunity for kids today.
Top priority: My top priority will be helping Arizona’s economy recover, but we can’t get there unless we restore reason and civility to the political process. Without that, we won’t be able to solve problems.
Respected opponent: C. Everett Koop, Ronald Reagan’s Surgeon General, taught me a lot about how you can accomplish things in Washington if you’re willing to work with both parties and don’t need to take credit for accomplishments.
Job creation measures: We need short-term and long-term approaches to encourage job growth. In the short-term, we need hiring incentives for small businesses to hire the long-term unemployed and veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the long-term, we need to keep student loan interest rates low and start getting control of the spiraling cost of tuition. People won’t have the capital to start a business with the kind of debt burden too many of our graduates face today.
Illegal immigration: We need to overhaul our immigration laws and have a system that is tough, practical, and fair. First and foremost, we need to ensure our borders are safe and secure. Second, massive deportation is just not possible or realistic. Of course, those with a criminal record cannot be allowed to stay, and government efforts should be focused on removing these dangerous people from our communities. For the others who have been contributing to our community for years, we need a workable system that would allow them to earn citizenship. They need to pay taxes, respect our laws, and learn our language. But they cannot cut in front of others already in line, and instead must wait at the back of the line.
Federal deficit: By tackling the waste and fraud in government, we can make our government more efficient without eliminating services Arizonans rely on. Medicare spending is unsustainable, but rather than pushing benefit cuts, we should be looking for ways to spend smarter on our entire health care system by focusing on preventative care, eliminating fraud and abuse, and allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. And we should simplify our tax code and eliminate the giveaways and loopholes for corporations.
President Obama’s qualifications: No, and it’s sad the question needs to be asked.
