Questions to Presidential Candidates 2020

Coalition of Polish Americans reached out to the Presidential Candidates to obtain their positions on several key national and international issues related to the upcoming election.

In an effort to articulate concerns common to all Americans, including several of particular interest to the Polish American community, we compiled a list of eight policy questions.

We intend to distribute the Candidates’ statements, propagate them through our social media, and share them with our neighbors and other community organizations, in order to help voters make the right decision in the upcoming November 2020 Presidential election.

Questions to Presidential Candidates

1. Poland, the Baltic States, and the other countries of Central Eastern Europe are under the growing threat of Russian imperialism. What is your assessment of the current American foreign policy toward Poland?  Which aspects of existing military cooperation will you uphold and what changes do you envision, if any, under your leadership?  Do you believe current US military presence in Poland is sufficient to deter Russian threats?  Would you support permanent US military bases in Poland?  Do you support helping Poland modernize its defense industry and armed forces?

2. The Three Seas initiative is an economic development and cooperation project of Central Eastern European countries. What are your plans for United States involvement in this project?

3. Polish-Americans are among the highest educated and accomplished ethnic groups in the USA. Nevertheless, they are vastly underrepresented in the U.S. government.  If elected, would you commit to appoint at least 5 well qualified Polish-Americans to senior cabinet positions?

4. Will you recognize the Katyn Massacre of 1940 as the crime of genocide? In this Massacre, the Soviet Union summarily executed over 22 thousand Poles, including 14,700 POW officers, based on their nationality, as clearly stated in the NKVD order.

5. Academic freedoms and respect for different views constitute the essence of university in the Western Civilization. The character of the modern university in America has become reductionist, truth-denying and plagued by so-called political correctness.  What are your plans to reverse this destructive trend in the academia?  What will you do to protect free speech and the exchange of ideas at universities, and to curb administrative or otherwise forcible stifling of free discussion?

6. Are you for removal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes? Will you approve HR 141 – Social Security Fairness Act of 2019 – which proposes to repeal WEP?  WEP causes a drastic reduction of Social Security retirement and disability benefits for millions of American public servants as well as immigrants, who also worked outside Social Security system.

7. Do you intend to approve the Polish-American Tax Treaty, which has been waiting for enactment since 2013? The Convention between the US and the Republic of Poland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion has been signed back in February 2013, and promptly ratified by the Polish Sejm.  It was then referred to the Committee of Foreign Relations, and has been waiting for ratification by the US Senate ever since.  The convention proposes to repeal taxation of Social Security benefits in Poland and taxation of Polish retirement benefits in the United States.

8. The U.S. President stated in his 2019 UN speech that the future belongs to sovereign and independent nations. However, certain actions and language employed by the U.S. government in relations with Poland, such as the way the Warsaw Middle-East Conference in February 2019 was organized, some pronouncements therein by Mr. Pompeo, and many statements by Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher, create an impression that the United States may not at this juncture view relations with Poland as a true partnership based on mutual respect and regard for the legitimate interests and cultural traditions of both sides.  What specific measures would you implement to assure Poland that the United States is committed to the creation of a true alliance that fully respects Poland’s sovereignty?