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Suzanne Kosmas has lived in New Smyrna Beach since 1973. She has four grown children and nine grandchildren.

Kosmas is the owner of Prestige Properties, a real-estate company, which opened in New Smyrna Beach in 1979.

She was elected for the Florida House of Representatives in 1996 and served four consecutive terms.

Kosmas graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stetson University in 1998.

She is a member of Coronado Community United Methodist Church, and has taken leadership roles with numerous organizations, including: the Atlantic Center for the Arts; the Volusia County Readiness Coalition; Success by 6; the Volusia/Flagler Boys and Girls Club; Southeast Volusia Habitat for Humanity; the New Smyrna Beach Chamber of Commerce; Friends of Spruce Creek; the Volusia County Cultural Arts Advisory Board; the Southeast Volusia Historic Foundation Board; United Way of Volusia County; Volusia Vision; FUTURES Inc.; the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council; Volusia County Environmental and Natural Resources; and the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program.

Choose whether you agree or disagree on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being "Strongly Agree" and 1 being "Strongly Disagree." Add a 1 sentence comment to clarify your stance with the readers.

* CANDIDATE DID NOT CHOOSE A NUMBER

There is as much opportunity for a person to become a homeowner as there was five years ago.

Comment: Living costs for American families have skyrocketed while wages have remained stagnant or declined over the past five years. Coupled with the consequences of our national housing crisis and the recent financial crisis, becoming a homeowner in America has become harder to achieve.

A nationalized health-care system should be available to all U.S. residents.

Comment: We must do all we can to ensure all Americans have access to basic, affordable health care.

Congress should support, without qualification, the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.

Comment: I strongly support an individual's right to keep and bear arms.

The U.S. is safer than it was before 9/11.

Comment: Much more needs to be done at home, such as securing our nation's ports, and abroad, such as ending the war in Iraq and refocusing counter terrorism efforts in Afghanistan, to keep our country safe and secure.

Diplomacy is always the preferable strategy in dealing with international conflict.

Comment: Keeping our country safe is the most important responsibility we have but we should never send the brave men and women of our military to battle without exhausting all other options; diplomacy must always play an important role in conflict resolution before our troops are deployed.

Accomplishment of which you are most proud: Personally, I’m most proud to be a mother; professionally, I am proud of running a respectful and successful business for over 30 years. I’m also proud of my record in the state legislature, where I focused on children’s issues, quality public education, and health care. My goal was to bring a common sense approach to the legislature, and I’m proud of all I accomplished.

Public-service goal you have yet to achieve: To bring the same type of consensus building approach that I used in Florida’s State Legislature to Congress so that we can truly address the serious issues our country faces, from energy to fiscal policies, in a manner that values results above partisanship.

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