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Congressional Questionnaire 2008

Dear Congressional Candidate:

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the voice of the architecture profession and the resource for its more than 83,000 members in service to society. America’s architects are committed to serving the public as designers of our built environment and as advocates for policies that protect people and strengthen our communities.

The impact of the design and construction industry on the economic and social well-being of the nation is enormous: the architecture profession employs nearly 200,000 Americans of all backgrounds, and nearly one out of every ten dollars of our gross domestic product is tied to the design and construction sectors.

On behalf of our members, we strongly encourage you to fill out this questionnaire on key issues affecting architects and the built environment. The AIA will not endorse or otherwise express opinions on candidates for federal office; we will, however, make your responses and those of your fellow candidates available to our members and the general public.

We hope your campaign will take the time to review this questionnaire. For more information on the AIA’s issues and positions, please visit www.aia.org/gov.

Congressional Questionaire

Making Our Communities Vibrant
Candidate Name:
Campaign Address:
Campaign State:
Campaign District:
Campaign Phone:
Campaign E-mail:
Campaign Contact Name:
Office Seeking:
1. What is your position on federal programs to increase the availability of affordable housing or workforce housing?

2. Do you support increasing the share of federal transportation dollars that are used for public transportation and for community enhancement programs?

3. Would you support increasing funding for programs that promote the preservation of historic buildings and spaces and increasing the current historic rehabilitation tax credit?

4. Would you support increasing the amount of federal money to be used to clean up brownfields?

Protecting the Public’s Health and Safety
5. Under federal law, federal agencies must procure architects and engineers on the basis of qualifications, not by the lowest bid. Do you support the continuation of qualifications-based selection for the procurement of architects and engineers at the federal level?

6. Do you believe that the federal government has a role in helping communities plan in ways that mitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters? How would you reform the federal emergency management system to better help communities rebuild after disasters?

7. In Congress would you support a federal “Good Samaritan” statute that would provide architects and engineers qualified immunity from liability for negligence when they are providing services on a volunteer basis in response to a declared disaster or emergency?

Designing a Sustainable Future
8. Do you support increasing funding for programs at the Department of Energy that promote energy efficiency, such as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Federal Energy Management Program?

9. Do you support tax incentives for designing and building energy efficient buildings?

10. Do you support setting national goals for energy efficient building codes and authorizing the Department of Energy to propose amendments to existing model codes if those codes do not meet energy efficiency targets?

Helping Architects Get Down to Business
11. What policies would you support to reduce the costs of health insurance for small businesses?

12. Do you support reforms that minimize lawsuit abuse and to promote the administration of a fair civil liability legal system without jeopardizing the public interest?

13. Would you support an increase in the cap on H-1B visas for skilled workers?

14. Would you support the repeal of the three percent tax withholding on government contracts and the elimination of the 10 percent retainage on fees for federal contracts with architects and engineers?