Candidate Q&A: Gavriel Soriano, U.S. House Florida District 11 (REP)

Editor's note: Candidates responses have not been edited for grammar and are presented as received.

GAVRIEL SORIANO
BIO
Age: 27
City/town of residence: Bushnell, Sumter County
Family: Unmarried
Education: Volunteered in a religious capacity for three years in a state hospital for the confinement of the mentally ill.
Qualifications: Article I, Section , Clause 2 of The Constitution states, No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. I am 27 years old, born in the United States, and I am a son and lifelong resident of  the State of Florida and The 11th.

What are the key differences between you and your opponents?
On one end of the spectrum, we have Incumbent Daniel Webster, who has failed to stand behind America First principles with the actions that enliven them.  Representative Webster states, At a time when we are experiencing the highest inflation in 40 years and Americans are struggling to pay for goods, Congress should be focusing on finding ways to cut federal spending,” and then again, he states, Washington operates on the principle that if money is appropriated, it should be spent.  I have exposed and resisted this flawed principle.”  Yet on May 10, 2022, Representative Webster exposed his own flawed principle when, as gas prices in his district were climbing toward the $5 a gallon mark and a family-pack of chicken drumsticks costs around $12, Representative Webster voted to send $40 billion of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine.  Moreover it has become apparent to me that Representative Webster has become a puppeteer to a select few who fund his campaign.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have political hackster Laura Loomer and her stunt-driven, racist, and radical actions.  In 2020, Loomer ran and lost to Democrat Lois Frankel in the general election of U.S. District 21 of South Florida.  Then, in the latter half of 2021, it appears that Loomer packed her briefcase, her GPS, her slogan, and her campaign purse filled with funds donated to her by the people of U.S. District 21 and began her sporadic 200-mile trips up north to run in the heavily Republican U.S. District 11 of Central Florida.  Loomer’s slogan, The fighter we need in Congress, proves the slogan an anomaly in her case.  Because rather than to remain in her home district of South Florida to fight the good fight in an attempt to flip the district to Red for the sake of the district, the state, and the country, Loomer ditched the fight.  So while Loomer touts herself a fighter during her intermittent campaign trips to The 11th, this carpetbagger’s actions speak not of a fighter but of a coward, one who abandoned District 21 and the financial contributors, volunteers, and Republicans who had once supported her.  So if the good people of her home district, where she has been living for a number of years, the people who trusted her mean so little to Laura Loomer, who are We, the People of The 11th?

I am Gavriel Soriano, that son of The 11th U.S. District, where I have invested my life: I have volunteered here, started a business here, and served the Public here.  I am that brother to my People; my blood, my sweat, my tears, are in this soil, alongside theirs.  

As such I will not abandon the People of my district. I will not turn north, south, east, or west in search of greener pastures in another district!  Nor will I cower to the bribes or political agendas of the power-hungry.  Rather, when the going gets tough, and it will throughout these next two defining years, I will run toward the front line; I will dig my heals into the trenches; I will stay the course, braving each challenge toward victory for us, for our homes, for our lands, for our liberties, and for our noble and conservative way of life.

What are the values and morals that have guided your life, and how will use them as District 11 representative?
The values and morals that have guided my life are summarized in the following quote from Hillel, a Jewish sage – If I am not for myself, who will be for me?  If I am only for myself, what am I?  If not now, when?

To me this means that I must be for myself and about my business, and as a citizen, I found a lack in the incumbent Daniel Webster and therefore, in the interests of myself and my family, I have chosen to run against him to secure representative, transparent, accountable, and bold representation.

Moreover, this quote reminds me that when I make it into Congress (God willing), if I am only for myself, then I am no better than an animal who ravages to satisfy his own hunger.  Therefore, as Congressman for the People of The 11th, I must be secure representation as I serve to accomplish the People’s business in Congress.

Describe the state of our nation's economy and what steps need to be taken to improve it.
The state of our nation’s economy is plummeting fast.  Inflation is at its highest in forty years; the supply chain is broken; manufacturers are pulling back the production of some foods and other items; gas prices are astronomical and, minor decreases have occurred at the risk of depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserve and increasing dependence on foreign oil; the cost of goods and services have increased; small businesses are taking greater cuts to maintain their customer base; and the list continues.  Congress must put an end to federal spending abroad, lower taxes, and decrease small business regulations amongst other things.

As District 11 representative, describe how you will work across the aisle.
Working across the aisle means representative, transparent, accountable, and bold representation.  When I walk into the meeting hall, I am not one man, but I am a district of over 400,000 people strong, and so it is for each congressman or woman.  Therefore, I will make it my business to know each congress-person and to know the respective districts that each represents.  I believe that this knowledge is the critical success factor necessary in concerting measures for the common good.

Define "recession."
As per Noah Webster’s American Dictionary Of The English Language, the word recession signifies, the act of withdrawing, retiring or retreating.

In relation to economics, the historical definition of recession used to be, two back-to-back quarters of negative economic growth.  According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the GDP dropped 1.6% during the first quarter of 2022, and then again 0.9% in the second quarter.  According this definition, the United States is in a recession.

But while the Biden Administration and the National Bureau of Economic Research fiddle with a new definition that they hope will appease the political climate, I ask, Are Americans withdrawing from purchases in significant numbers, and Has the supply of goods and services decreased in significant numbers?  The answer according to the People of The 11th is a resounding, Yes!  Here is what the People of The 11th are saying, 

“We will not be taking a family vacation this year.”

“Entertainment has gone from movies and trips to the zoo, to Hulu and free bike trips along the trail.”

“We will wait before buying a home.”

“I buy just enough gas and food to get me through the day and then start the process again on the following day.”

“Too many of the things we used to buy are no longer on the shelves.”

What is your evaluation of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. 
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; that Roe and Casey are overruled; and that the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives, is one of the most critically significant and constitutionally aligned decisions of our lifetime.  

Describe the state of our education system and what steps need to be taken to improve it.
According to the federal Department of Education website, the Department’s origins date back to 1867, when President Andrew Johnson signed legislation creating the first Department of Education. Its main purpose was to collect information and statistics about the nation's schools. However, due to concern that the Department would exercise too much control over local schools, the new Department was demoted to an Office of Education in 1868.

Beginning in the 1950s, political and social changes resulted in expanded federal funding for education.  [Beginning with] increased aid for science education programs. The 1960s saw even more expansion of federal education funding: President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" called for the creation of many programs to improve education for poor students at all levels—early childhood through postsecondary. This expansion continued in the 1970s with national efforts to help racial minorities, women, people with disabilities and non-English speaking students gain equal access to education. In October 1979, Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act (Public Law 96-88). Created by combining offices from several federal agencies, the Department began operations in May 1980.

Moreover, the website reads, In the 1860s, a budget of $15,000 ($528,245.78 in today’s estimates) and four employees handled education fact-finding.  And, as of mid-2010, the Department boasts of 4,300 employees and a budget of about $60 billion.  Is this exorbitant drain on American taxpayers justified when we consider the effects of The Department on public education?  

The federal Department of Education produces a system that partially engages in child-sitting; partially engages in the development of social interactions; partially engages in measuring parental fitness; partially engages in teaching inappropriate sexual matters; partially engages in teaching history, language, and science; partially engages in the indoctrination of its students; partially engages in shaping parental ideas on parenting and education; partially engages in diagnosing children; and wholly engages in the conquest of parental rights.

The Department of Education requires thorough scrutiny.  And from a very cursory view, we ought likely return it to an Office of Education, wherein we develop a repository of information in the form of books respectively related to histories, languages, and sciences from which school officials in the States can glean and order out-of-print books if needed.

What is the cause of division in the United States, and how can we improve it?
As per the sonnet, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”, the American Experiment brings together people of a multitude of cultures.  Because of this conglomeration, the cultural home will always exist amongst us and it will exist to our benefit.  

But the racial division that is being perpetuated in the United States today has been authored by corrupt politicians and political opportunists, and enabled by inept politicians, for their political benefit and certainly not for the benefit of We The People or for the benefit of our communities.  

We the People must refuse to be pawns, victims, and weapons of destruction in the hands of politicians and political opportunists.   

What is your position on the United States' involvement in Ukraine?
With regard to the United States involvement in Ukraine, I personally believe that we cannot be like the cobbler whose children are walking around barefoot.  Shall we work to give billions to a country which is not our ally, while severe problems exist and go unattended in our own country?