Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 6 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following came from Brian Evans, a Republican candidate for the 2nd Congressional District, which covers rural Oahu and the neighbor islands. There is one Democratic candidate, Tulsi Gabbard.

Go to Civil Beat’s Elections Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.

1. What would be your first priority if elected? How would that change if your party is in the majority? The minority?

I would seek to have a committee formed to immediately address our hospital medical error crisis. Medical errors in hospitals now claim over 250,000 Americans a year. It won’t be a priority I change regardless of which party is in the majority or minority. It is a crisis. I would also seek to shut down hospital rating organizations that “rate” hospitals they never walk into, such as LeapFrog Group.

2. Who would you support for Speaker of the House?

I’m not sure yet.

3. Under what circumstances should America go to war?

When we are attacked, or if one of our allies is attacked.

4. Should Facebook be regulated by the federal government? How?

No. If they break the law, they should be held accountable, but passing law for or against one company is not the American way.

5. What should the United States do to control carbon emissions and slow climate change?

Accept science.

6. Is it time to reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? How?

If we do anything, it would be to make certain our seniors (we will all eventually be one) have what they need to survive. We are the richest country in the world. No one should be hungry or homeless.

7. Congress has struggled in recent years to reach agreement on budget deficits, the national debt and spending in general. What would be your approach to fiscal matters?

Listen, then decide.

8. Whatever happens in the midterm elections, Congress will remain deeply divided. What specifically would you do to help bridge the partisan divide in Washington?

My focus will be on saving lives by making certain medical care is provided by qualified personnel. There can be nothing divided about my purpose in Congress. Not one politician is talking about this serious crisis in health care. It does not matter what your insurance is, or its cost, if you won’t walk out of the hospital.

9. What should be done to reform U.S. immigration policies, if anything?

I support many Republicans and Democrats in their ideas that I’ve heard to date. As you know, this is an ongoing issue. We are a nation of immigrants, however.

10. What is your view of the role of the U.S. military in the islands, and would you like to see that role increased or decreased?

I would like to see an increase given recent escalations with North Korea. Until there’s a real deal with them, Hawaii is the most threatened state in America.

11. What specific reforms, if any, would you seek in gun control policies?

I support a ban on assault weapons. Protection is one thing, but a gun that can kill hundreds in minutes is not what our founders intended.

12. What other important issue would you like to discuss here?

My issue is medical errors. To me, it is the most important issue we are facing as hospital lobbyists seek to disallow “medical errors” as a “cause of death” by the CDC. It would be No. 1, every year.