CAMPAIGN, ELECTION, & GOVERNMENT REFORM

The Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision has let unrestricted corporate spending creep into our electoral system. During the 2016 election cycle, a total of $6.4 billion was spent on campaigns. I oppose the flawed Citizens United ruling because it gives an unfair financial advantage to large corporations during our elections.

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required some jurisdictions to receive federal preclearance before enacting changes to voting laws.

Since these rulings, dirty maps, dirty money and voter suppression has flooded our election system. I am devoted to working toward an election system that is open and fair for all Americans. This system must be by Americans and for Americans, free of interference from foreign adversaries who would seek to influence our elections for their own gain.

What I am Doing for You

I cosponsored, amended, and voted for H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which passed in the House. This bill makes it easier, not harder, to vote by implementing automatic voter registration, requiring early voting and vote by mail, committing Congress to reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act, and ensures the integrity of our elections by modernizing and strengthening our voting systems and ending partisan redistricting. The bill curbs big money’s influence by requiring all political organizations to disclose large donors, updating political advertisement laws for the digital age, establishing a public matching system for citizen-owned elections, and revamping the Federal Election Commission to ensure there’s a cop on the campaign finance beat. And H.R. 1 takes real action to “drain the swamp” by extending conflict-of-interest laws to the President and Vice President and requiring the release of their tax returns, closing loopholes that let former members of Congress avoid cooling-off periods for lobbying, breaking the revolving door between industry and the federal government, and establishing a code of conduct for the Supreme Court. My amendments to H.R. 1 clarified that individuals operating fake polling places or drop boxes are violating the bill’s provision making it a crime to interfere with or prevent another person from registering to vote, and put Congress on record opposing efforts to intimidate or engage in deceptive practices to dissuade students from exercising their right to vote in their college towns, while requiring schools to make voting information more accessible to students online and through social media.

I'm an original cosponsor of, I voted for, and the House passed H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, to strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - which had been weakened by a pair of Supreme Court rulings over the course of the last decade - to  make it more difficult for states to restrict future voting access.

I introduced H.R. 1266, the Duty to Report Act, which would require federal candidates, their families, and their campaigns to inform the FBI of any efforts by a foreign power to provide dirt on the candidate's opponent. For years, America has helped protect against terrorist attacks by telling Americans, “If you see something, say something.” The same should go for protecting our elections against foreign interference. (I previously introduced this bill as H.R. 2424 in the 116th Congress.)

I introduced H.R. 1264, the Corporate Duty to Report Act, which would make it a crime for a corporation to knowingly receive funds for an independent expenditure or electioneering communication from a foreign national without reporting this to the FBI. It also would be a civil violation for a corporation which knowingly receives money to run a political communication to fail to ask whether the communication counts as an independent expenditure or electioneering and, if it is, whether the person making the disbursement is a foreign national. (I previously introduced this bill as H.R. 2853 in the 116th Congress.)

I introduced H.R. 1265, the Enhancing Protections for Whistleblower Anonymity Act, to impose criminal penalties on any federal official who knowingly communicates the identity of a whistleblower, or information which would reveal such a person’s identity to the general public and allows monetary relief for violations of the bill. Whistleblower safety must be paramount. In fact, for decades Republicans and Democrats have universally agreed that exposing whistleblowers to harm undermines numerous laws and policies which encourage those to come forward with allegations of serious wrongdoing.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 5076, the Preventing Presidential Election Interference Act, to extend the Hatch Act - which prohibits using one’s official authority to involve oneself in a federal election - to cover the president and vice president.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2301, the Automatic Voter Registration Act, to require that states ensure anyone who provides identifying information to the state motor vehicle authority is automatically registered to vote. The bill improves on current law by shifting the burden for registering to vote from the individual to the state, ensuring that more eligible voters are able to make their voices heard.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1098, the Citizenship Empowerment Act, to require officials to provide voter registration forms in the citizenship packets provided to all newly sworn-in U.S. citizens, and let election officials set up informational tables outside naturalization ceremonies.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1059, the America Votes Act, to protect citizens who face disenfranchisement because of restrictive state voter identification laws. The bill establishes new federal protections for voters arriving at polls to affirm their identity by submitting a sworn, written statement, even if they do not have government-issued identification; voters who sign a sworn, written statement can vote using a standard – non-provisional ­­– ballot. The legislation is modeled on a successful Washington state law.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 237, the Vote at Home Act of 2021, to massively expand vote-at-home ballot access, provide voters with pre-paid ballot envelopes, and enact automatic voter registration.

I cosponsored H.R. 347, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, to require sitting presidents and vice presidents and major party candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency to publicly disclose their 10 most recent federal income tax returns.

I cosponsored H.R. 1366, the Protect the Youth Vote Act of 2021, to block the systematic efforts across the country to suppress the voices of young Americans. The bill would outline specific practices that violate the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18; provide authority for courts to retain jurisdiction in areas where they have found that a state or jurisdiction violated the 26th Amendment; let voters or the Attorney General receive preventative relief against actions that violate the 26th Amendment; require transparency on any violations of the 26th Amendment and reasonable public notice for voting changes; and allow the Attorney General authority to request federal observers where there is a serious threat of youth voter suppression.

I cosponsored H.R. 2230, the Delivering Envelopes Judiciously On-time Year-round Act (DEJOY) Act, to require the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to maintain the service standards for first-class mail that were in effect on January 1, 2021. This would countermand Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's proposal of a 10-year USPS restructuring plan that would lengthen the permissible mail-delivery window.

I cosponsored H.Con.Res.54, objecting to the slowdown in mail delivery and postage rate increase instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and seeking to halt both actions pending further investigation.

I cosponsored H.J.Res. 1, the Democracy for All Amendment, a bipartisan constitutional amendment that essentially overrides the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case in order to get big money out of politics and restore democratic power to the American people. The amendment would affirm the right of states and the federal government to pass laws that regulate spending in elections, reversing the concentration of political influence held by the wealthiest Americans and large corporations capable of spending billions of dollars in our elections.

I cosponsored H.J.Res. 48, a joint resolution proposing a "We the People" constitutional amendment providing that the rights protected by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only, and that artificial entities such as corporations shall have no rights under the Constitution.

In the 116th Congress:

I cosponsored and voted for H.R. 4617, the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act, which passed in the House.This bill would strengthen existing laws to protect U.S. elections against foreign interference. Specifically, it would create a duty to report illicit offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments and their agents, improve transparency of online political advertisements, close loopholes that allow foreign nationals and foreign governments to spend in U.S. elections, restrict exchanges of campaign information between candidates and foreign governments and their agents, and prohibit deceptive practices regarding voting procedures.

ECONOMY & JOBS

One of my top priorities is to create new jobs and opportunities for everyone living in California’s Fifteenth Congressional District. The federal government must have policies that support economic growth and focus on expanding the middle class through innovation and technology.  That means we must change our federal tax code to reward companies that create jobs in this country and remove systemic incentives to ship jobs overseas.

We also must update and expand  educational opportunities so that our children are prepared for the high-tech jobs of the future, and we must support research into new, clean energy sources as a way to support domestic industry and protect our environment.

We cannot let partisan and ideological differences stand in the way of our coming together for the common good. I will always support a good idea, whether it is proposed by a Democrat or by a Republican, if it means more jobs, higher incomes, and a better quality of life for Americans.

What I am Doing for You

I voted for H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; President Biden signed it into law March 11, 2021. This law:

• Put Vaccines in Arms: The plan mounted a national vaccination program that included setting up community vaccination sites nationwide and addressing disparities facing communities of color. It also took other measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments and addressing health care disparities. 
• Put Children Safely Back in School: The plan made a nearly $130 billion investment in school re-opening and making up for lost learning.
• Put Money in People’s Pockets: The plan finished the job on the President’s promise to provide $2,000 in direct assistance to households across America with checks of $1,400 per person, following the $600 down payment enacted in December.  The plan also provided direct housing assistance, nutrition assistance for 40 million Americans, expanded access to safe and reliable child care and affordable health care, extended unemployment insurance so that more than 20 million American workers can pay their bills and supported 27 million children with an expanded Child Tax Credit and more than 17 million low-wage workers through an improved Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Put People Back In Jobs: The plan provided crucial support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from racial and ethnic backgrounds that have experienced systemic discrimination, with Economic Injury Disaster Loan grants, expanded Paycheck Protection Program eligibility and more.  The plan also provided crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.

I introduced H.R. 5033, the Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing Production Tax Credit Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to provide tax credits for the domestic production of rare earth magnets - which are important in many modern devices including electric vehicles - including through international supply chain collaborations with allied nations. To read more about this bill, click here.

I'm an original cosponsor of and voted for, and the House passed, H.R.842, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2021. This bipartisan bill streamlines access to justice for workers who suffer retaliation for exercising their organizing rights; gives workers the power to override so-called “right-to-work” laws that prevent unions from collecting dues from the workers they represent; enhances workers’ right to support boycotts, strikes, or other acts of solidarity; authorizes a private right of action for violations of workers’ rights; authorizes meaningful penalties for companies and executives that violate workers’ rights; closes loopholes that corporations use to erode workers’ rights; prevents companies from denying workers’ access to justice; requires employers to be transparent with their workers; prevents employers from interfering in union elections; allows workers to hold union elections in a safe environment; and facilitates timely first contracts between companies and newly certified unions by requiring mediation and arbitration to settle disputes.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 1065, the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This bill would require employers to reasonably accommodate workers and job applicants who need accommodations due to pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 603, the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. After 2025, the bill would automatically increase the minimum wage each year at the same rate that median wages increase. It also would gradually eliminate the lower, subminimum wages for disabled, youth, and tipped workers, which contribute to wage theft, and exacerbate the wage gaps that harm women and Black workers. (I previously cosponsored this bill in the 114th, 115th, and 116th Congresses.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 804, the FAMILY Act, to provide workers with up to 12 weeks of financial support during a family or medical leave from work. This would cover time taken following the birth or adoption of a child including time to recover from pregnancy and childbirth, as well as leave taken to care for a sick child, parent, spouse or domestic partner, recover from illness personally, or time taken for military caregiving and leave purposes.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 308, the SAFE (Secure And Fair Elections for) Workers Act, a bipartisan bill that demands the National Labor Relations Board use the available technology of the 21st century to conduct union elections remotely, allowing workers to organize while ensuring the safest workplace possible during the pandemic.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3194, the Fairness for Farm Workers Act, to update the nation’s labor laws to ensure farm workers receive fair wages and compensation. The bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to end the overtime and minimum wage exemptions for farm workers.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2817, the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to address the child care crisis and ensure that working families can find and afford high-quality child care. This bill would make child care affordable for working families, expand access to preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, improve the quality of care for all children, and increase compensation and provide training for child care workers. Overall, the CCWFA would jumpstart our economy by creating roughly 700,000 new child care jobs, help 1.6 million parents—primarily mothers—go back to work, and lift one million families out of poverty.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 869, the Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act, a bipartisan bill to authorize nearly $25 billion in support to U.S. researchers who have been impacted by the pandemic. Although coronavirus-related research is a current federal government priority, most other research has been delayed due to closures of campuses and laboratories. The people who comprise the research workforce – graduate students, postdocs, principal investigators, and technical support staff – face financial and other hardships from the disruption of their research activities. The RISE Act will provide necessary relief to preserve the current scientific workforce and ensure that the United States is prepared to continue our global scientific leadership once this crisis ends.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1996, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to allow marijuana-related businesses in states with some form of legalized marijuana and strict regulatory structures to access the banking system. Forty-seven states, four U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia – representing 97.7 % of the U.S. population – have legalized some form of recreational or medical marijuana, including CBD. Yet current law restricts legitimate licensed marijuana businesses from accessing banking services and products, such as depository and checking accounts, resulting in businesses operating in all cash. This is a serious public safety risk for our communities, inviting theft, robberies, burglaries, or worse. 

I cosponsored H.R. 2341, the Bring Jobs Home Act, to cut taxes for American companies that move jobs to the U.S. from another nation, and to close tax loopholes that reward companies shipping jobs overseas.

I cosponsored H.R. 928, the American Family Act of 2021, to permanently expand and improve the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and make it a dramatically more effective tool for reducing child poverty and supporting families with kids. The bill would provide $300 per-month, per-child for children under 6 years of age and $250 per-month, per-child for children between the ages of six and 17—increasing the credit for all children. This bill also, for the first time, makes the credit fully refundable and extends the CTC to the United States Territories. The American Rescue Plan includes one year of an expanded and improved CTC modeled after the American Family Act. 

I cosponsored H.R. 2688, the Reclaiming American Rare Earths (RARE) Act, a bipartisan bill to permanently allow a tax deduction for the mining, reclaiming, or recycling of critical minerals and metals from the United States, and to support the development of domestic supply chains for rare earth elements and other critical materials essential to U.S. technology, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and advanced medical devices, broadband infrastructure, transportation, and national defense.

I cosponsored H.R. 1346, the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to bring back the millions of travel jobs lost to the pandemic by providing a temporary business tax credit to revitalize business meetings, conferences, and other structured events; a temporarily restored entertainment business expense deduction to help entertainment venues and performing arts centers recover; an individual tax credit to stimulate non-business travel; and tax relief for restaurants and food and beverage companies to help restore food service jobs and strengthen the entire American food supply chain.

I cosponsored H.R. 890, the Gym Mitigation and Survival (GYMS) Act, a bipartisan bill to provide much-needed assistance to gyms, fitness studios, and fitness facilities that have struggled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The GYMS Act would provide $30 billion to the Small Business Administration to disburse grants to eligible fitness business. Facilities would be required to certify economic need and recipients can use funds for expenses such as payroll, rent and mortgage obligations, utility payments, worker protection expenditures, and more.

I cosponsored H.R. 2586, the Fire Fighters and EMS Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, a bipartisan bill allowing fire fighters and emergency service providers the right to join a union and collectively bargain, which is currently limited in 21 states.

I cosponsored H.R. 1753, the Improving Access to Nutrition Act, to permanently eliminate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility's three-month time limit and ensure that all people have access to nutrition assistance while seeking full-time work.

I cosponsored H.R. 4934, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, a bipartisan bill to reestablish the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to investigate challenges related to pay inequity, advance recommendations to address such challenges, and create action plans to implement the recommendations.

In the 116th Congress:

I introduced H.R. 4481, the Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act of 2019, to help the United States develop the technical expertise and production capabilities to assure a long-term, secure and sustainable supply of energy critical elements (ECEs). If we want to keep leading the world in technological advancement and create more American jobs, we must secure these energy critical elements and their production. My bill’s concept was incorporated into H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy and Jobs and Innovation Act, a bigger package of clean energy and energy innovation initiatives put together by the committees on Energy and Commerce; Science, Space, and Technology; and Natural Resources. The House passed H.R. 4447 in September 2020.

With bipartisan support, I cosponsored and helped pass H.R. 397, the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act of 2019. This bill establishes a new agency (the Pension Rehabilitation Administration) within the Treasury Department to provide 30-year loans to multiemployer defined benefit pension plans that are in critical or declining financial condition so that they may meet their pension obligations to current retirees. Only interest would be required to be paid back until year 30; loans may be forgiven if a plan is not able to pay them back.

As part of a bipartisan effort to support job seekers, I introduced H.R. 5561, the Widening Internet Readiness for Employment Development (WIRED) Act. This bipartisan bill would direct the Department of Labor to create guidelines for One-Stop Career Center websites to dramatically improve their design and offer virtual job-seeking services. (I previously introduced this bill as H.R. 3088 in the 115th Congress; H.R. 3280 in the 114th Congress; and H.R. 4823 in the 113th Congress.)

My first bill in my first term in Congress was the Main Street Revival Act to help grow our economy and create jobs. Each year, I have worked on this bipartisan bill which would let small businesses located in struggling areas elect to defer paying payroll taxes for their first year, helping them get off of the ground.

EDUCATION & OUR KIDS

I believe that providing a quality education should be one of our nation’s highest priorities.  All across the East Bay, schools are trying to do more with less – investing in the latest technology, rewarding outstanding teachers, and expanding access to before and after-school programs. In these tough financial times, our government must strengthen public schools by providing the funds and flexibility states need to implement vital education reform.

Our students are acquiring more student loan debt than ever before. Over 44 million Americans carry more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt – a crushing burden that slows our economy and puts the American Dream out of reach for many. The average 2018 college graduate has about $29,200 in student loan debt, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.

Much of this burden falls upon the millennial generation: the largest, most educated, most diverse generation in American history—and a generation that feels increasingly disenfranchised, disenchanted and distanced from the political and policy process. Many fully employed millennials can’t afford to save a cent to marry, have kids, buy a home or eventually retire;  all their income must go to serving their debt while barely keeping themselves afloat. This is among the top concerns voiced at meetings hosted by the Future Forum, a group I founded in 2015 and now comprised of 51 young House Democrats, focusing on bridging the gap between Congress and young Americans by discussing issues of importance to millennials.

Yet millennials don’t carry this debt alone - their parents often share in the burden. Some parents mortgage their homes to help pay; some take additional jobs or delay their retirement; some bear the costs of their adult, working children living with them. Many children of millennials suffer, too; parents who strive to feed, house and clothe a family while paying off their own student debt often can’t pay or save for their children’s educations.

Obtaining the education needed to compete in today’s economy must not require entire families to incur lifetimes of debt. I believe that a quality education prepares students for future careers in our global economy, and allows students to grow and thrive in their communities.  I am working hard in Congress to improve the quality of and accessability to education for students of all ages, from preschool through college.

What I am Doing for You

I introduced H.R. 4725, the No Student Loan Interest Act, which would significantly reduce the burden of interest charges on student loan borrowers. This bill would eliminate and forgive all interest charges on new and existing student loans, and lower the student loan interest rate to zero. (I previously introduced this as H.R. 3751 in the 116th Congress.)

I introduced H.R. 4724, the Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act, which would enhance student loan forgiveness for teachers, police officers, public health workers & others who dedicate their careers to public service. Public servants would receive loan forgiveness in proportion to their years of public service. (I previously introduced this as H.R. 3096 in the 116th Congress.)

I introduced H.R. 4723, the Fairness in Forgiveness Act, which would let current and former long-time workers at all 16 privately operated Department of Energy National Laboratories seek forgiveness of their federal student loans through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. (I previously introduced this as H.R. 3097 in the 116th Congress.)

I introduced H.R. 4726, the Student Loan Interest Deduction Act, which would expand the student loan interest deduction by increasing the maximum tax deduction for interest paid on any qualified education loan from $2,500 to $5,000 for individuals (and to $10,000 for joint filers). It also permanently eliminates income-based phase-outs at $65,000 for individuals ($130,000 for joint followers) in the current deduction. (I previously introduced this as H.R. 3098 in the 116th Congress.)

I introduced H.R. 4727, the STEM K to Career Act, which seeks to improve the employment of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teachers and the education of STEM students. It would forgive student loan obligations of borrowers employed as full-time STEM teachers in low-income elementary schools, increase the tax deduction for expenses by schools relating to STEM supplies, create a tax credit for the employment of STEM interns, and a tax credit for employing individuals that participate in STEM apprenticeship programs. (I previously introduced this as H.R. 3099 in the 116th Congress.)

Here's what I had to say about these bills on the House Floor:

I co-introduced H.R. 4907, the Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act, to restore fairness in student lending by treating privately issued student loans the same as other types of consumer debt and so that they are dischargeable in bankruptcy.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 604, the Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2021. This bill invests $130 billion – targeted at high-poverty schools – to help reopen public schools and provide students and educators a safe place to learn and work. In addition to helping students get back to school, the bill will also create over 2 million jobs during a time of widespread unemployment. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2730, the College for All Act, to eliminate tuition and fees at public colleges and universities for families making up to $125,000 — nearly 80 percent of families — while also making community college free for every person across the country. This would make the most substantial federal investment in higher education in modern American history.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3946, the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2021, to double the Pell Grant award, index the award to inflation, and make other changes to expand the award for working students and families. The bill also makes the Pell Grant funding fully mandatory to protect it from funding shortfalls, expands the program to include DREAMers, and restores lifetime eligibility for the program to 18 semesters, among other changes that will benefit students.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2912, the Truth-In-Tuition Act, a bipartisan bill to increase transparency around college tuition for students and families paying for higher education by requiring universities and colleges to provide a four-year price model for students and parents.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 394, the COVID-19 Student Loan Relief Extension Act, to not only extend the COVID-19 student loan forbearance relief that was set to expire on January 31, 2021, but  also to expand coverage to student loan borrowers who were excluded from support by the previous administration, and provide them with retroactive relief.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1919, the Enhanced Access to SNAP Act (or EATS Act), to address the growing crisis of food insecurity among college students by permanently expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility to millions of college students experiencing hunger on a daily basis.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1959, the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, a bipartisan bill amending the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to require a state to identify, evaluate, and provide special education and related services to children who have visual or hearing disabilities (or both) and also are, or may be, classified in another disability category. A state must ensure that it has enough qualified personnel to serve children who have such disabilities and that a full continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of disabled children for special education and related services.

I cosponsored H.R. 5984, the IDEA Full Funding Act, a bipartisan bill that would mandate incremental increases in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding to reach full 40 percent funding in FY 2029 and each subsequent fiscal year.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 5342, the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment of 2021, to require colleges and universities to have policies in place to prohibit harassment and establishing a competitive grant program to support campus anti-harassment programs, including prevention, counseling, and training.

With bipartisan support, I cosponsored H.R. 4402, the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2021, which would provide dedicated funding to states for mental health services providers, thus lowering the student-to-staff ratios for school counselors, psychologists and social workers.

I cosponsored H.R. 3519, the Stop Child Hunger Act, to ensure that children who qualify for free or reduced lunches receive electronic benefit transfer cards during school breaks or while schools are not operating in-person.

I cosponsored H.R. 5595, the College Student Hunger Act, to remove barriers that prevent low-income students from accessing benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) to ensure no college student goes hungry.

I cosponsored H.R. 3312, the Real Education & Access for Healthy Youth Act, to create a grant program creates to provide evidence-based sex education and access to youth-friendly sexual health services to young people in public schools, communities, and institutions of higher education.

I cosponsored H.R. 2283, the Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act, to promote the teaching and learning of Asian Pacific American history in schools across the United States. The bill would require grant applications from Presidential and Congressional Academies to include Asian Pacific American history as part of their American history and civics programs offered to students and teachers; it also would encourage the inclusion of Asian Pacific American history in national and state tests administered through the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and promote collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific American Center to develop innovative programming regarding Asian Pacific American history.

In the 116th Congress:

I cosponsored H.R. 4674, the College Affordability Act, which would reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 to lower the cost of college, to hold colleges accountable for students' success, and to give a new generation of students the opportunity to graduate on-time and transition to successful careers.

To improve transparency and flexibility for students and their families, I introduced H.R. 3095, the Know your Repayment Options Act, which would inform all federal student loan borrowers of all repayment options on a yearly basis, particularized for each individual, so they can pick the plan that works best for them.

I pushed for financial equality for students by cosponsoring H.R. 885, the Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act, to restore fairness in student lending by treating privately issued student loans the same as other types of private debt are treated in bankruptcy. Until 2005, this type of student loan debt was dischargeable in bankruptcy, but a change to the bankruptcy code removed this consumer protection.

I also cosponsored H.R. 1707, the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, which would let students refinance their student loan debt at the same low rate being offered currently to new borrowers.

To increase kids' access to the skills demanded in a rapidly advancing workforce, I cosponsored H.R. 3808, the Teacher Education for Computer Science (Teach CS) Act, which would increase expertise in computer science by building a robust pipeline from our colleges and universities to the classroom.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

We have a responsibility to ensure that this country is preparing for a safe, reliable and secure energy future. Overreliance on a limited range of fuel technologies, foreign sources of energy, and finite resources is unreasonable. We cannot drill our way out of our energy problems; we only have two percent of the world’s proven oil reserves but we use about 20 percent of the world’s oil.

Our strength will lie in our ability to transition to new, cleaner, more sustainable resources. And we must recognize the impact that our energy choices have on public health and the global environment, now and far into the future.

I am working to encourage innovation in the field of renewable energy and energy conservation. Addressing the climate crisis is imperative for our national security, the ecosystems that feed us, our public health and safety, and our future economic well-being.

We also must work hard to protect our environment and be good stewards of our land, air, and water; I help protect our environment close to home as an advisory member of the Tri-Valley Conservancy.

What I am Doing for You

I and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-Puerto Rico) introduced H.R. 6138, the Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act, a bipartisan bill to help communities better prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters including those driven by climate change. The bill would make several changes to FEMA’s pre-disaster mitigation grant program by increasing funding, ensuring that communities who need it most — those with high hazard risk and environmental justice communities — get access to this funding, and improving data collection to better track and manage resources before and after natural disasters.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.Res. 332, a “Green New Deal” nonbinding resolution that envisions a 10-year national mobilization akin to FDR’s New Deal that would put millions to work in good-paying, union jobs repairing the nation’s infrastructure, reducing air and water pollution, and fighting the intertwined economic, social, racial and climate crises crippling the country.  

I cosponsored H.R. 848, the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act of 2021, a comprehensive use of the tax code to combat the threat of climate change. The bill builds on current successful tax incentives that promote the deployment of green energy technologies, while providing new incentives for activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions; encourages residential investments in green energy and energy efficiency; expands incentives for energy efficiency and conservation in homes and buildings, with updated standards; supports widespread adoption of zero-emission cars, vans, and buses through tax credits for purchasing vehicles, and supporting deployment of publicly accessible electric vehicle charging infrastructure; invests in the green workforce by providing tax credits for advanced manufacturing facilities and mechanical insulation installations; advances environmental justice using tax credits for research and other academic programs; and prices greenhouse gas emissions.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 5423, the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act, to provide tax credits for American manufacturers at every stage of the solar manufacturing supply chain, from polysilicon production to solar cells to fully assembled solar modules. The bill would create tens of thousands of good-paying American solar jobs and free the U.S. from dependence on foreign solar panel manufacturers like China.

I cosponsored H.R. 3097, the Green Transportation Act, to direct cities and states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. This sector represents the single largest source of carbon pollution in the United States, which makes tracking and reducing those emissions an urgent priority in mitigating the climate crisis. Because many parts of the country are not accounting for transportation emissions, this represents an important step in working to reduce pollution by mandating the tracking of emissions and creation of local implementation plans. The bill would help deliver President Biden’s goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030.

I cosponsored H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to authorize $50 billion in direct infrastructure investment over the next five years to address America’s crumbling wastewater infrastructure and local water quality challenges. The bill would also significantly increase the amount of Federal assistance made available to States and communities through the successful Clean Water State Revolving Fund program—the primary source of Federal assistance for wastewater infrastructure construction—which has not been reauthorized by Congress since 1987.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3116, the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act, a bipartisan bill  to prohibit the U.S. Department of Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas along the Atlantic Coast, including the North, Mid-, and South Atlantic and Straits of Florida planning areas.

I cosponsored H.R. 653, the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, to permanently ban oil and gas drilling in federal waters off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.

I cosponsored H.R. 3053, the American Coasts and Oceans Protection Act, to prohibit any new leasing for the exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas along the Southern California coast, from San Diego to the northern border of San Luis Obispo County.  (I cosponsored similar legislation - H.R. 279, the California Clean Coast Act of 2019 - in the 116th Congress.)

I cosponsored H.R. 815, the Arctic Refuge Protection Act, to repeals the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program and to designate approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

I cosponsored H.R. 1788, the Clean Energy Hydrogen Innovation Act, to expand the definition of eligible hydrogen projects under the Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee office.

I cosponsored H.R. 2885, the Preventing Outages With Enhanced Resilience and Operations Nationwide Act of 2021 (POWER ON) Act, to provide $100 million for electric grid resilience grants through the Department of Energy to enhance the physical resilience of the electric grid; the money could be used for activities, technologies, equipment, and hardening measures to enable the electric grid to better withstand the effects of extreme weather, wildfires, or any other natural disaster.

I voted for H.R. 803, the Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act, which passed the House. This legislation is a package of eight bills that all received bipartisan votes of support in the House during the 116th Congress and were originally reported out of the House Natural Resources Committee. The bill designates approximately 1.5 million acres of public land as wilderness, protects more than 1.2 million acres of public land from new oil and gas and mining claims, ensuring that iconic landscapes like the Grand Canyon and Colorado’s Thompson Divide are permanently protected from the irreversible threats posed by extraction,  and incorporates more than 1,200 river miles into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System

In the 116th Congress:

My colleagues and I passed H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act of which I was a cosponsor. This legislation would have prevented the use of federal funds in withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accords and would require the president to annually publish the Administration’s plan to meet the standards agreed to under the Accords. Despite the former president’s repeated efforts to restrict public awareness of the climate crisis, we must be vigilant and fully transparent about our level of preparation for an uncertain future.

I introduced H.R. 4481, the Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act of 2019, to help the United States develop the technical expertise and production capabilities to assure a long-term, secure and sustainable supply of energy critical elements (ECEs). If we want to keep leading the world in technological advancement and create more American jobs, we must secure these energy critical elements and their production. My bill’s concept was incorporated into H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy and Jobs and Innovation Act, a bigger package of clean energy and energy innovation initiatives put together by the committees on Energy and Commerce; Science, Space, and Technology; and Natural Resources. The House passed H.R. 4447 in September 2020.

I cosponsored H.R. 3135, the Department of Energy National Labs Jobs ACCESS Act, a bipartisan bill to provide $5 million over five years to support apprenticeships in partnership with national laboratories.

To combat the ecological destruction close to home, I cosponsored H.R. 1132, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act, which would authorize $25 million over five years for wetlands restoration and conservation in the Bay Area. (I also co-sponsored this as H.R. 843 in the 113th Congress.)

In earlier Congresses:

I cosponsored the bipartisan Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act, a bipartisan bill providing policy direction to the Department of Energy (DOE) on basic science research, nuclear energy research and development (R&D), research coordination and priorities, and reforms to streamline national lab management.

I pushed to protect clean air and water by co-sponsoring the Land and Water Conservation Fund Reauthorization and Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

I have led two letters to Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry in support of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories as potential candidates for the Department of Energy’s new Energy-Water Desalination Hub. The eventual team chosen as the Hub will research improvements to desalination technology and increase energy efficiency, continuing our community’s legacy of leadership in sustainable infrastructure.

EQUALITY FOR ALL

LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. No one should face discrimination because of who they are and who they love, yet the fight for equal protection under the law is far from over. The federal government currently has no law against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Meanwhile, women continue to earn less than men – earning about 77 cents for every dollar that men receive for equal work - so I am working to provide support and opportunities for women because when women succeed in work and at home, our economy and communities succeed. And every woman deserves access to reproductive health services and the ability to make her own decisions about her health, so I am fighting for women’s rights and will stand up against any legislation that would prevent a woman from making her own healthcare decisions. 

What I am Doing for You

I'm an original cosponsor of, I voted for, and the House passed H.R. 3755, the Women's Health Protection Act, to codify the Roe v. Wade decision by creating a statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care, and a corresponding right for their patients to receive that care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions - such as mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling, two-trip requirements, and mandatory ultrasounds - that single out abortion and impede access.

I and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) led 40 of our colleagues in writing a July 2021 letter asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to issue guidance that federally-funded and federally-administered health insurers must cover all pregnancy and pregnancy-related services, including coverage of maternity care for dependents.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 5, the Equality Act, to ensure the same protections already extended to other protected classes are equally available to LGBTQ+ Americans. It would amend existing federal civil rights laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, federal jury service, public accommodations, and the use of federal funds.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 1620, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021. This bipartisan bill authorizes funding for a variety of critical grant programs, including for victim services, prevention, training, education, enforcement, economic stability, and other programs that support survivors and help them to heal and to access justice. VAWA’s authorization expired in 2018.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. This bipartisan bill would ensure that employers pay women and men equally for equal work. (I previously cosponsored this as H.R. 1869 in the 115th Congress, H.R. 1619 in the 114th Congress, and H.R. 377 in the 113th Congress.)

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.J.Res. 17 to eliminate the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The amendment was proposed to the states in House Joint Resolution 208 of the 92nd Congress, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972; it shall be part of the Constitution whenever ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 1065, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This bipartisan bill would require employers to reasonably accommodate workers and job applicants who need accommodations due to pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. (I previously cosponsored this as H.R. 2417 in the 115th Congress, H.R. 2654 in the 114th Congress and H.R. 1975 in the 113th Congress.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act, to impose sanctions on foreign individuals responsible for human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals abroad.

I cosponsored H.R. 1201, the International Human Rights Defense Act of 2021, to make permanent the State Department position of a special envoy for LGBTQI+ rights.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3834, the LGBTQ Essential Data Act, to require the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the reporting of violent deaths by law enforcement, so that lawmakers and researchers are better prepared to enact violence prevention measures.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2328, the Prohibition of Medicaid Funding for Conversion Therapy Act, to prevent Medicaid funds from being used to pay for conversion “therapy” and crack down on misleading billing tactics, which have allowed taxpayer dollars to fund the discredited practice.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 5744, the Customer Non-Discrimination Act, to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in public accommodations.

I cosponsored H.R. 1140, the Juror Non-Discrimination Act of 2021, which would prohibit the exclusion of individuals from jury service on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2234, the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act, to repeal the discriminatory Hyde Amendment banning use of federal funding for abortion services, which disproportionately affects low-income women and women of color. The bill would ensure that all women, regardless of income, insurance or zip code, can make personal reproductive health care decisions without interference from politicians. (I cosponsored this as H.R. 1692 in the 116th Congress, H.R. 771 in the 115th Congress and H.R. 2972 in the 114th Congress.)

I cosponsored H.R. 1670, the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, to repeal the Helms Amendment, which attacks reproductive rights by banning the use of U.S. foreign assistance funds on abortion services overseas. Repealing the Helms Amendment is a critical step toward achieving reproductive and economic freedom and equity for millions worldwide.

In the 116th Congress:

I voted for an amendment to H.R. 2500, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, to overturn the ban on transgender troops serving in the military. It was adopted by a vote of 242-187.

I coordinated and sent a letter, signed by 64 Members, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January 2019 asking him to publicly condemn violence against the LGBT community in Chechnya and to urge Russian leaders to stop this persecution.

In earlier Congresses:

I supported efforts to guarantee a safe and supportive learning environment by co-sponsoring the Student Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools, protect students from intimidation and violence, and create learning environments in which each and every child can learn and thrive.

I also co-sponsored the Voices for Veterans Act, which would extend and expand the membership of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include veterans who are members of the LGBT community.

I cosponsored H.R. 1322, the Women's Health Protection Act of 2017, which would invalidate any state laws that single out abortion providers for requirements and restrictions that are medically unnecessary, do not promote women's health or safety, and limit access to abortion services. (I cosponsored this as H.R. 448 in the 114th Congress.)

I cosponsored H.R. 5051, the Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014, to prevent corporate employers from using religious beliefs to deny employees coverage of contraception or any other vital health service required by federal law and keep in place existing exemption for religious employers (e.g., houses of worship) and accommodation of religious non-profits. This bill was the legislative response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores.

I cosponsored H.R. 728, the Access to Birth Control (ABC) Act.  This bill would prevent pharmacists from refusing to fill a prescription for birth control and require pharmacies to help a woman obtain medication by her preferred method if the requested product is not in stock. 

I led a letter sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, urging it to reduce the hundreds of thousands of cases including backlog DNA evidence, which includes untested rape kits, by better utilizing the capacity of private laboratories.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Like every family in America, the federal government must learn to live within its means. It is simply irresponsible to continue to rack up trillions of dollars in debt and then stick our children with the bill. I am proud that when I served on the Dublin City Council we balanced our budget each year. We can and we must reduce the federal budget deficit over time.

Deficit reduction needs to be balanced and smart, however, and include appropriate revenue increases. We must make sure the very wealthiest among us are contributing their fair share.

The federal government also must carefully review its spending to eliminate old, wasteful programs, update current ones for the 21st century, and make strategic investments to promote economic growth in the future. Spending reductions should be targeted and smart, not across-the-board cuts which reduce all programs equally regardless of merit. We can cut foolish spending without cutting foolishly.

​For example, I voted against the Trump tax “reform plan,” which gave working Americans crumbs while delivering tremendous cuts to corporations and the rich and exploding the national debt by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. It passed with unanimous opposition by Democrats in the House and Senate; it was signed into law by President Trump. Beyond its fiscal impact, the bill is unfair and will be detrimental to working families: 86 million middle-class households face a tax increase under the bill in the future and 13 million Americans will lose health insurance. By 2027, the top one percent would get 80 percent of the tax cuts.

What I'm doing for you:

I cosponsored H.R. 613, the SALT Deductibility Act, a bipartisan bill to fully repeal the federal $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deduction imposed by the Trump Tax Law of 2017 so that taxpayers can fully deduct their state and local taxes on their federal income returns. The 2017 cap resulted in a tax increase for many middle-class families.

I cosponsored H.R. 946, the Stop the Attack on Local Taxpayers (SALT) Act, to fully repeal the federal $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deduction imposed by the Trump Tax Law of 2017. Providing further tax relief to families struggling during the pandemic, this bill also eliminates the cap retroactively. Further, this bill restores the top individual income tax rate to 39.6%, the rate at which the highest bracket was taxed prior to passage of the Trump Tax Law. (I previously cosponsored this as H.R. 1142 in the 116th Congress.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 695, the USPS Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill to provide the United States Postal Service with much-needed financial relief by eliminating an unfair pension pre-funding mandate. By eliminating this mandate, the USPS would instead be able to invest in its operations while maintaining its annual commitment to current and future retirees, like every other federal agency.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The United States must set a strong example for other nations to follow in our foreign affairs. As a country, we should pursue all options available to prevent armed conflict while supporting the security of our allies. As the global voice of freedom and democracy, America should continue to serve as a model for peace and security across the world.

Support for human rights is an important part of promoting peace, security, democracy, and the rule of law. Every person, regardless of where they live, deserves an equal opportunity to succeed. I will continue to promote policies that stand up for the rights of all individuals around the world. And, I support the United States’ continued leadership to help ensure that all countries live up to their promises on human rights.

One of the primary roles of Congress is to ensure the peace and security of the United States. As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and as chairman of its Intelligence Modernization and Readiness Subcommittee, I am working hard to protect Americans here at home. In combating terrorist activities, the United States must continue to take a leading role in building partnerships and coordinating activities with both foreign governments and multilateral organizations.

I support a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, with Israel recognized as a Jewish state with secure borders alongside a state for the Palestinian people which is demilitarized and no longer threatens Israel with terrorism. While the United States should be playing a supporting role, any final agreement must be negotiated and agreed to by the Israelis and Palestinians. That is why it is so important the Palestinians not go to the United Nations and instead negotiate directly with Israel, without pre-conditions.

I supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on nuclear arms reached in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. I opposed President Trump’s decision to withdraw us from that agreement; we must  play a leadership role in dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities, or, when a violation occurs, be able to take action against Iran with international cooperation.

What I am Doing for You

I introduced H.R. 1267, the Prevent Corrupting Foreign Influence Act, to make it a criminal offense for the President, the Vice President, their families, or companies in which they have at least half-ownership to accept or receive anything of value from a foreign power or from any company that is more than 50 percent controlled by a foreign power. The Constitution and current laws already civilly prohibit government employees – including elected officials, but not their relatives – from receiving “emoluments” or gifts from foreign states except as allowed by Congress. This bill would expand the prohibition’s scope from merely gifts to include “anything of value,” and expand the prohibition’s application: for sources, to include companies controlled by foreign countries; and for recipients, to include the President’s and Vice President’s immediate family members and companies they control. (I previously introduced this bill in the 116th and 115th Congresses.)

I led 24 other members of Congress in writing a May 2021 letter to Dr. Fang Liu, Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organization, to request the immediate appointment of a task force to investigate and publicly report on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s unprecedented use of a military aircraft to intercept and force down a commercial flight.

I cosponsored H.R. 1456, the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to provide additional federal funding and resources to advance the Peace Corps’ mission around the world and better support current, returning, and former Peace Corps volunteers.

I cosponsored H.R. 556, the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (Global HER) Act, to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule that prohibits foreign organizations from receiving U.S. global health assistance if they provide information, referrals, or services for legal abortion or advocate for the legalization of abortion in their country, even if these activities are supported solely with non-U.S. funds. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3576, the Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act, to direct the State Department to permanently include reviews on the status of reproductive rights in its annual human rights reports. The ability to access reproductive care is a key part of the survival and success of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people around the world, and the State Department’s human rights reports empower lawmakers to take action against bad actors, enact policy, and advocate for the fair treatment of all people. 

I cosponsored H.R. 1155, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill to ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China do not enter the United States market.

In the 116th Congress:

I cosponsored H.R. 2118, the Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act, which would expand sanctions against Iran in regards to their ballistic missile program.

I cosponsored H.R. 2488, the U.S.-Israel Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Act, which would require the Secretary of State to submit a report on potential benefits and impact to the United States of establishing a joint cybersecurity center of excellence with Israel.

I cosponsored H.R. 1837, the United States-Israel Cooperation Enhancement and Regional Security Act, to continue the security relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

In earlier Congresses:

I've visited Afghanistan twice to meet with military leaders and troops for on-the-ground updates about our efforts to ensure the peaceful transfer of power and root out militant Islamic terrorism. I support continued aid and humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan so they may live in peace and security.

I voted in favor of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act , which would impose additional sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

In February 2018, I visited Vienna, Austria, to be briefed on oversight of the Iran nuclear deal, and Tbilisi, Georgia, to discuss Russian aggression toward Georgia, NATO and the West.

FOSTERING BIPARTISANSHIP

Good ideas know no party, ideology, or viewpoint. Too many of our debates today are spent with Democratic and Republican officials bickering like children and fighting for political advantage as opposed to doing what they were elected to do – solve problems.

I came to Congress with an open mind and an open hand, willing to work with anyone, of any background, and from any part of the country. Our country works best when we work together, and I am committed to building bridges across the political aisle to help move America forward.

I'm working with Republicans on issues from genetic research to rapid DNA testing to helping small businesses get started.  In fact, 59 percent of the bills I introduced or cosponsored in the 116th Congress were bipartisan.

GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

As a former prosecutor whose father is a retired police officer and whose two younger brothers currently serve in law enforcement, I have witnessed first-hand the damage guns cause. Our whole nation has seen too many mass shootings in cities from Newtown, to Aurora, to Tucson, to Orlando; too many cities see deadly gun violence every day. It is time to act to prevent this type of violence - if we fail to act, nothing will change.

At the same time, I am the son and brother of hunters and gun owners. I know that guns can be used responsibly and the Second Amendment provides individuals certain rights to own firearms.

I support commonsense reforms to prevent gun violence and make Americans safer. We must keep dangerous weapons off of our streets, improve our background check system, make sure the mentally ill receive the treatment they need, and provide schools the required resources to keep our children secure. We can’t take hatred out of hearts, but we can do more to keep deadly weapons out of hateful hands.

To keep these weapons of war out of our communities, I support banning the manufacture, import, sale, and possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons and high capacity magazines (i.e., hold more than 10 rounds).  We should buy back such weapons from all who choose to abide by the new law, and anyone found to be in possession of such a weapon after the buyback period has elapsed would be in violation and subject to prosecution. The ban would not apply to law enforcement agencies or hunting/shooting clubs. Read more about more about my proposal in my USA Today op-ed.

What I am Doing for You

I authored H.R. 1441, the No Guns for Abusers Act, to make it easier to take guns away from domestic abusers. The risk of intimate partner homicide is five times greater if an abuser has access to a firearm. My bill would require the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to report to Congress on the best practices that jurisdictions should use to require anyone charged with or convicted of a domestic violence crime, or subject to a domestic violence protective order, to relinquish all their firearms. The Attorney General would be authorized to award grants to jurisdictions which already have or adopt programs substantially similar to the best practices identified in the NIJ report. And the bill would require the Attorney General to propose federal legislation and adopt rules, policies and practices consistent with those best practices. (I previously introduced this as H.R. 6629 in the 115th Congress and as H.R. 1287 in the 116th Congress.)

I co-authored the bipartisan H.R. 1769, the NICS Denial Notification Act, with Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL). The bill would require federal authorities to alert state and local law enforcement within 24 hours when an ineligible individual lies on a background check and tries to purchase a firearm, which can be a warning sign of future criminal behavior.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021. This bill would expand the federal background check system to cover all firearm sales, including those at gun shows, over the internet, or in classified ads, while also incentivizing states to provide more accurate and complete information to the national background check database. 

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021. This bill would close the "Charleston loophole," a gap in federal law that lets gun sales proceed without a completed background check if three businesses days have passed.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2021, to ban certain assault weapons and high capacity magazines, stemming the tide of weapons of war to our schools and communities. (I co-sponsored this as H.R. 1296 in the 116th Congress, H.R. 5087 in the 115th Congress, H.R. 4269 in the 114th Congress, and H.R. 437 in the 113th Congress.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1454, the Ghost Guns Are Guns Act, to amend federal law's definition of firearms to include firearm assembly kits, closing the "ghost guns” loophole which lets buyers avoid federal background checks by buying unassembled firearms online.  

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3088, the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021, to close the ghost gun loophole by amending the existing definition of “firearm” under federal law to include gun kits and partial receivers and by changing the definition of “manufacturing firearms” to include assembling firearms using 3D printing technology.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2466, the Law Enforcement Protection Act, to add armor-piercing, concealable weapons as a category under the National Firearms Act (NFA). Possession of NFA-regulated firearms requires a background check, submission of photo identification and fingerprints, and registration of the firearm with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  Transfers and sales of such firearms must be approved by the ATF.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1477, the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act, to prohibit the possession of any firearm that is undetectable by airport-level detection devices. The bill requires any firearm with all of its major components attached to generate a gun-shaped image in the detection systems.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 881, the Recognizing Gun Violence as a Public Health Act, to require the Surgeon General to submit to Congress an annual report on the public health impacts of gun violence on our communities. The report would collect data on the deaths, disabilities, mental health ailments or economic hardships stemming from gun violence. It would provide the public and policymakers with research-based information to make informed decisions on how best to protect Americans from these dangers. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2814, the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, to ensure that the gun industry - including manufacturers, sellers and interest groups - is not shielded from liability when it acts with negligence and disregard for public safety. The bill would repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, effectively giving victims of gun violence their day in civil court. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2715, the Ammunition Background Check Act of 2021, known as Jaime’s Law, to require instant background checks to prevent criminals from illegally purchasing ammunition.

I'm an orginal cosponsor of H.R. 3929, the Disarm Hate Act, to prohibit those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes from buying or possessing firearms. 

I cosponsored H.R. 2510, the Keep Americans Safe Act, to ban the importation, sale, manufacturing, transfer, or possession of gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. These high-capacity magazines are designed for shooting and killing en masse and have been the accessory of choice in some of the bloodiest mass shootings in America.

I cosponsored H.R. 2377, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act. Extreme risk laws—also called “red flag laws”—empower loved ones and law enforcement to ensure that those who pose a threat to themselves or others do not have access to firearms.

I cosponsored H.R. 748, Ethan's Law, to create federal requirements for safe gun storage and establish strong penalties for any violations. The bill would require gun owners to secure their firearms in a “secure gun storage or safety device” if a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without permission, or if a resident of the dwelling cannot legally possess a firearm; it also includes incentives for states to pass, and enforce their own safe gun storage laws. The bill is named in honor of Ethan Song, a teenager from Guilford, CT, who died January 31, 2018 after accidentally shooting himself with an unsecured gun in a neighbor’s home.

I cosponsored H.R. 825, the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2021, to authorize the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention. (I co-sponsored the similar H.R. 435, the National Gun Violence Research Act, in the 116th Congress.)

I cosponsored H.R. 2971, the Foreign National Firearms Background Check Enhancement Act, a bipartisan bill to require that all foreign nationals in the United States receive prior approval from the Attorney General before purchasing or possessing a firearm.

In the 116th Congress:

My colleagues and I on the House Judiciary Committee held the first hearing on gun violence prevention in nearly a decade.

To address the tragic epidemic of mass shootings our country has witnessed, in 2019 I introduced H.R. 2959, the Freedom from Assault Weapons Act. This bill would ban certain assault weapons and ban high capacity feeding devices. The bans would apply to all current and future assault weapons and devices, providing a multi-year grace period during which the government would buy them back from people at market rates.

HEALTH CARE

Everyone should have access to quality, affordable healthcare, including preventative services, regardless of their economic background or medical history. I was not in Congress when it became law, but I support the goals of the Affordable Care Act and will work to strengthen and improve it. I also believe that robust funding of research programs at the National Institutes of Health and other agencies is key to improving outcomes for patients and reducing costs in our healthcare system.

What I am Doing for You

I'm an original cosponsor of, I voted for, and the House passed H.R. 3755, the Women's Health Protection Act, to codify the Roe v. Wade decision by creating a statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care, and a corresponding right for their patients to receive that care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions - such as mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling, two-trip requirements, and mandatory ultrasounds - that single out abortion and impede access. Abortion care is healthcare.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1976, the Medicare for All Act of 2021, to guarantee health care to everyone in America as a human right by providing comprehensive benefits to all with no copays, private insurance premiums, deductibles, or other cost-sharing.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 4974, the State Public Option Act, to establish a state public option through Medicaid to provide all individuals with the choice of a high-quality, lower-cost health coverage. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3407, the Mothers and Offspring Mortality & Morbidity Awareness (MOMMA’s) Act, to tackle the growing epidemic of maternal mortality and severe morbidity by standardizing maternal mortality and morbidity data collection across states, and authorizing a designated federal agency to aggregate that data; empowering the CDC to provide technical guidance and publish best shared maternal mortality and morbidity prevention practices; authorizing evidence-based national obstetric emergency protocol and best practices to save mothers’ lives; expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage through one full year after giving birth; and ensuring improved access to culturally competent care training and workforce practices throughout the care delivery continuum. (I previously cosponsored this as H.R. 1897 in the 116th Congress.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3126, the Healthy Maternal and Obstetric Medicine (Healthy MOM) Act, to ensure that all women eligible for coverage through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces, as well as women eligible for other individual or group health plan coverage, can access affordable health coverage throughout their pregnancies. The bill would do this by establishing a special enrollment period for expectant mothers. Right now, marriage, divorce, having a baby, adoption and changing jobs are considered qualifying life events that trigger a special enrollment period; however, becoming pregnant is not considered a qualifying event.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3537, the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, a bipartisan bill directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to support research on, and expanded access to, investigational drugs for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1305, the Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal (REPEAL) HIV Discrimination Act, to modernize laws and policies to eliminate discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS. Federal and state laws, policies, and regulations should not place a unique or additional burden on individuals solely as a result of their HIV status, and this bill offers a step-by-step plan to work with states to modernize their laws.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 6117, the PrEP Access and Coverage Act, to create a grant program to fund uninsured patients’ access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and cover services related to treatment.

I cosponsored, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 941, the Timely ReAuthorization of Necessary Stem-cell Programs Lends Access to Needed Therapies (TRANSPLANT) Act, a bipartisan bill to ensure the continued, equal-access provision of lifesaving transplants for patients in need of life-saving cellular therapy by reauthorizing the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory for five years.

I cosponsored H.R. 4311, the Medicare Dental, Hearing, and Vision Benefit Act, to expand Medicare benefits to include items and services such as dentures, preventive and emergency dental care; refractive eye exams and eyeglasses; and hearing aids and exams, and to provide for appropriate payment to health providers through Medicare Part B.

I cosponsored H.R. 151, the Preventing Future Pandemics Act, a bipartisan bill directing the State Department to work with international partners to shut down commercial wildlife markets, end the trade in live wildlife for human consumption and stop the associated wildlife trade, end the import, export and sale of live wildlife for human consumption in the United States, and phase out demand for wildlife as a food source.

I cosponsored H.R. 366, the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to eliminate most geographic and originating site restrictions on the use of telehealth in Medicare and establishing the patient’s home as an eligible distant site; authorize the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service to continue reimbursement for telehealth for 90 days beyond the end of the public health emergency; make permanent the disaster waiver authority, enabling Health and Human Service to expand telehealth in Medicare during all future emergencies and disasters; and require a study on the use of telehealth during COVID, including its costs, uptake rates, measurable health outcomes, and racial and geographic disparities.

I cosponsored H.R. 3183, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, a bipartisan bill to provide immediate access to support and medical care for individuals with metastatic breast cancer who already qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and are therefore eligible for Medicare. Under current law, these individuals must wait five months for SSDI and 24 months for Medicare benefits to take effect. This bill would waive both waiting periods, potentially improving outcomes for Americans with late-stage cancer.

I cosponsored H.R. 3085, the Equity in Neuroscience and Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials (ENACT) Act of 2021. This bipartisan bill would increase the participation of underrepresented populations in Alzheimer’s and other dementia clinical trials by expanding education and outreach to these populations, encouraging the diversity of clinical trial staff, and reducing participation burden, among other priorities. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia disproportionately affect older Black and Hispanic Americans compared to older White Americans. Black Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s and Hispanic Americans are one and a half times more likely to develop the disease. However, most of the Alzheimer’s research to date has not included sufficient numbers of Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans to be representative of the U.S. population. 

I cosponsored H.R. 2517, the Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer’s Act, a bipartisan bill to help the 95% of individuals with dementia that have one or more other chronic conditions, such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. The bill reduces medical complications for these patients by creating a new way to fund dementia care through Medicare; this new model of managing care can help reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits and delay nursing home placement, which improves the quality of life for patients and makes treatment more affordable.

I cosponsored H.R. 1474, the Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Act, a bipartisan bill to provide training and support services to those providing unpaid care to patients with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia and requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate with the Office of Minority Health and the Office of Women’s Health to ensure that women, minorities, and other underserved communities are not left behind.

I cosponsored H.R. 623, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0, a bipartisan bill to provide a new source of funding for the National Institutes of Health’s Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program by redirecting penalties collected from pharmaceutical, cosmetic, supplement, and medical device companies that break the law.

I cosponsored H.R. 2631, the Amputation Reduction and Compassion (ARC) Act, a bipartisan bill to require Medicare, Medicaid, and plans sold on the federal healthcare exchanges to fully cover screening tests for beneficiaries who are at-risk of Peripheral Artery Disease. 

I cosponsored H.R. 2255, the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bipartisan bill to support visas for foreign-born doctors currently serving among the American healthcare workforce and additional visas for foreign-born nurses to come serve in the United States. The bill would reallocate visas previously authorized by Congress that have not currently been used; of these, 15,000 visas would be reallocated for foreign-born physicians and 25,000 visas for foreign-born nurses.

I cosponsored H.R. 4576, the Support Through Loss Act, to invest $45 million annually to the National Institutes of Health for federal research into miscarriage and pregnancy loss; to require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to develop and disseminate public information regarding pregnancy loss, including information on the incidence and prevalence of pregnancy loss, as well as the range of treatment options for pregnancy loss and recurrent pregnancy loss; and to ensure employers provide at least three days of paid leave for workers to process and cope following a pregnancy loss, an unsuccessful assisted reproductive technology procedure, a failed adoption arrangement, a failed surrogacy arrangement, or a medical diagnosis or event that impacts pregnancy or fertility.

I cosponsored H.R. 1439, the Expanded Genetic Screening Act, to expand coverage to include the noninvasive prenatal test - the gold standard of genetic screening tests - for all Medicaid beneficiaries, not just high-risk pregnancies.

I cosponsored H.R. 1577, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act, a bipartisan bill to expand access to treatment options for Medicare beneficiaries affected by obesity. 

I cosponsored H.R. 3630, the Lymphedema Treatment Act, a bipartisan bill to require Medicare Part B to cover physician-prescribed compression therapy items that are used to treat lymphedema.

I cosponsored H.R. 1368, the Mental Health Justice Act of 2021, to establish a grant program for states and local governments to train and dispatch mental health professionals to respond to mental and behavioral health emergencies.

I and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) led 40 of our colleagues in writing a July 2021 letter asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to issue guidance that federally-funded and federally-administered health insurers must cover all pregnancy and pregnancy-related services, including coverage of maternity care for dependents.

In the 116th Congress:

I voted consistently against many bills which would take health care away from millions of Americans by repealing all or part of the Affordable Care Act.

I introduced H.R. 4393, the Advancing Access to Precision Medicine Act. This bipartisan bill would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Medicine to develop recommendations on how the federal government may reduce barriers to  use of genetic and genomic testing to allow better delivery of precision medicine — the customization of healthcare, with medical decisions, treatments, practices, or products tailored to the individual patient.

My colleagues and I passed H.R. 1058, the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act of 2019, of which I was a co-sponsor. This bill provides $1.8 billion in funding for autism programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and Health Resources and Services Administration.

In a bipartisan step towards providing affordable healthcare to the middle class, my colleagues and I passed H.R. 748, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019, repealing the 40% excise tax on high-value, employer-sponsored health insurance, known as the Cadillac Tax. Tax breaks for the one percent should not replace life-saving medical care for the working class. I also co-sponsored this bill in the 114th and 115th Congresses.

Together with colleagues from both sides of the aisle, I cosponsored H.R. 2328, the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2019. This bill would sustain the nation’s access to critical primary and preventative care services by extending funding for Community Health Centers for five years.

I cosponsored H.R. 1784, the Healthy Families Act, which would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days per year to recover from short-term illness, care for a sick family member, seek routine medical care, or seek assistance related to domestic violence. Prioritizing workers’ health keeps our families strong, our businesses productive, and our communities resilient. I previously co-sponsored this bill in the 114th and 115th Congresses. 

Understanding the critical importance of timely cancer detection, I cosponsored H.R. 1570, the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2019, eliminating any co-pays under Medicare related to colorectal cancer screenings. Early detection cuts costs and saves lives.

To broaden access to training for aspiring medical professionals, I cosponsored H.R. 1763, the Physician Shortage Reduction Act, which would increase the amount of residency slots in hospitals nationally. We must encourage the growth of a medical workforce capable of supporting our rising need for care.

My colleagues and I have passed the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act, a bipartisan bill which created an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure across the country. This advanced early detection and diagnosis, reduced risk, and prevented avoidable hospitalizations. It also increased nationwide implementation of the Healthy Brain Initiative’s Public Health Road Map by establishing Alzheimer’s centers of excellence, providing cooperative agreements to public health departments, and improving data collection, analysis and timely reporting.

I worked with Republican and Democratic colleagues to pass the Childhood Cancer STAR Act, a bipartisan bill which would promote research on and delivery of pediatric cancer treatment. I also cosponsored this bill in the 114th Congress.

My colleagues and I have also passed the Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act. This bipartisan bill would allow for the creation of nationally designated children’s hospital networks to serve children with medically complex conditions and let them travel across state lines to receive care. I also co-sponsored this bill in 114th Congress.

IMMIGRATION

We are a nation of immigrants,  welcoming to people of all faiths and backgrounds. Unfortunately, our current immigration system is not living up to these basic ideals.

To bring our fundamentally broken, outdated immigration system into the 21st century, we must implement comprehensive reform. We must provide a road map so that undocumented workers can earn legalized status and citizenship, reduce backlogs and allow families to be reunited, let undocumented kids brought here years ago have the same opportunities as everyone else, and let businesses, including those in the high-technology sector, attract and retain workers from abroad when domestic talent is not available. Comprehensive reform also must include improvements to secure our borders and remove from this country undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes after they serve their sentences.

I am confident that we can adopt reforms that would provide a way to bring undocumented workers out of the shadows, allow our economy to use the best and brightest human capital, and impose meaningful border security.

What I am Doing for You

I'm an original cosponsor of, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, to provide vital protections to up to 3.4 million immigrants, many of whom have spent much of their lives in the United States. The bill offers a path to lawful permanent resident status for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status recipients, and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients. (I was an original cosponsor of this legislation in the 116th Congress as well.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1177, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, President Biden’s bold, inclusive, and humane framework for the future of the United States immigration system. The bill would provide millions of hardworking, undocumented immigrants with a pathway to earned citizenship, including Dreamers, Temporary Protective Status recipients, and essential workers who have made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic; prioritize family reunification and keeping families together; and bolster the country’s long-term economic growth. The bill would also equip the country to responsibly and effectively manage the border with smart and effective investments, address root causes of migration that force people to leave Central America, and restore the United States’ commitment to human rights. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3648, the Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill that will benefit the U.S. economy by letting American employers focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace. The bill phases out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas; it also raises the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15%.

I cosponsored, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 1333, the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which strengthens the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, and restores the separation of powers by limiting overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.

I cosponsored, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 1573, the Access to Counsel Act, to ensures that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested party to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 572, the National Office of New Americans Act, to establish an office within the Executive Office of the President to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts that help immigrants and refugees obtain employment, and assist with language access, and civic engagement. It would also oversee the coordination of work by federal, state, and local governments to support integration efforts, such as helping to attain citizenship.

I cosponsored H.R. 2222, the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, to end the inhumane conditions of detention centers and protects the civil and human rights of immigrants. The bill urgently reforms the alarming injustices of a broken, for-profit immigration detention system by ending the use of private detention facilities altogether, repealing mandatory detention, stopping family detention, and prohibiting solitary confinement while also restoring due process and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency measures.

I cosponsored H.R. 2920, the American Families United Act, to provide more discretion in immigration enforcement to allow relatives of U.S. citizens to adjust status despite certain minor immigration violations.

I cosponsored H.R. 3215, the Temporary Family Visitation Act, to create a new visa category to facilitate temporary visits to the United States for people to visit family members.

I cosponsored H.R. 5168, the Welcoming Evacuees Coming from Overseas to Mitigate Effects of Displacement (WELCOMED) Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to provide Afghan refugees entering the United States under humanitarian parole with the same benefits - including resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and more - as other refugees have traditionally received.

I joined more than 200 of my bipartisan colleagues on a July 2021 letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging the State Department to use any and all means to speed up the issuance of passports, including but not limited to resolving delays caused by service partners, speeding up plans to increase staff at passport offices, increasing the number of available walk-in appointments, and increasing capacity at call centers. 

In the 116th Congress: 

I voted in favor of H.R. 2740 and H.R. 2500, to block construction of President Trump’s southern border wall, both of which passed in the House.

I was an original cosponsor of H.R.2908, the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2019, to exempt children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitations on immigrant visas.

I cosponsored H.R.3799, the Reuniting Families Act, to cut the backlog causing the separation of 4.4 million family members from U.S. citizens and green card holders. (This bill is now included within the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.)

LOCAL ISSUES

I am a proud East Bay native, having grown up here, gone to school here, worked as a prosecutor for seven years in Alameda County and served in local government in Dublin. I am committed to working hard to see that the federal government partners with our community to solve local problems.

My top priority in Congress is helping create jobs and grow the economy of the 15th Congressional District. I also want to make sure we utilize federal dollars wisely to reduce traffic congestion which is choking our community and protect the majestic San Francisco Bay.

What I am Doing for You

I've submitted 10 Community Project Funding requests to the House Appropriations Committee for vital projects throughout our 15th Congressional District. Click here to read all about them.

I've submitted 12 funding requests for important highway and transit designated projects in our 15th Congressional District to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Click here to read all about them.

I’m pushing hard in support of connecting BART to the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train in Livermore, as a means of relieving traffic along the I-580 corridor.

I led a May 2021 letter, signed by five other Bay Area Members of Congress, to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas supporting BART’s application for a $9.211 million grant through the Transportation Security Grant Program to support transit police and cybersecurity.

Earlier:

I joined with Rep. Barbara Lee and Mark DeSaulnier in April 2016 to host an “Innovation Agenda 2.0” roundtable with East Bay business leaders.

I led 13 other House members in urging funding for two projects to benefit Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the California campus of Sandia National Laboratory: $500,000 toward a new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at LLNL and $25.1 million for electrical infrastructure upgrades at both labs.

Rep. Swalwell receives a briefing at the site of an ACE train derailment in Niles Canyon, March 2016.

In the 113th Congress:

I hosted events to help people and business in the East Bay learn from experts regarding how to find or create jobs; for example, the “Make it in America, Sell it to the World” event I organized provided valuable information about resources available for companies to grow exports.

I was an original cosponsor of H.R. 4239, a bill to provide emergency drought relief to California and other affected states as well as a help to address this crisis over the long-term in a fair and environmentally responsible way.

PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY

Like you, I love this great country of ours. When I was elected as a Member of Congress, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And more importantly, millions who volunteer for our Armed Services have sacrificed, and serve today, in defense of our democracy.

In our 2016 elections, Russia attacked our democracy. It was silent and nearly invisible, but nevertheless it struck the core of our democracy – our free and fair elections.

Our intelligence agencies have concluded with high confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated these cyberattacks in order to influence the 2016 election to favor then-candidate Donald Trump.

This unprecedented attack on the foundation of our republic, this deliberate effort to undermine faith in our democratic process, must not go unanswered. To ignore this evidence is to throw in the towel on one of our most treasured freedoms.

That’s why I introduced the Protecting Our Democracy Act with Rep. Elijah Cummings to set up an independent, bipartisan commission tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections. We have no responsibility more important that protecting and defending our democracy.

I’m here to help put this into context. Examining Russia as a country that has committed serious war crimes and human rights violations across the globe, the Trump Administration’s continued and close ties to Russia, and what Russia did to interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections is essential to understand the significance of its attack and what we need to do to ensure this never happens again. 

PUBLIC SAFETY & HOMELAND SECURITY

As a former Alameda County prosecutor, I know first-hand how dangerous our communities can be and the importance of keeping Americans safe. I spent seven years fighting to make sure that those who violated the law are punished, and I have now brought that spirit to Congress. The federal government should be both addressing regional and national crime issues and supporting state and local police and law enforcement with the resources they need to protect our streets.

I was an intern on Capitol Hill on September 11, 2001, and am mindful of the threats we face here at home. It is also a key job of the federal government to protect our homeland from terrorism and be prepared to respond in the unlikely event of an attack. As a member of the Intelligence, Judiciary, and Homeland Security committees, I believe protecting Americans is Congress’ most solemn duty.

What I am Doing for You

I introduced H.R. 4491, the National Security Council Modernization Act of 2021 to give the Secretary of Health and Human Services, whose department oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other disease surveillance agencies, a seat on the NSC. This would ensure that emerging public health threats are evaluated as potential national security threats, and would provide a readily-available forum for the Secretary to share information on such diseases with national security oriented departments such as the Department of Defense. The bill also strengthens the NSC by permanently seating the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence, and by allowing only Senate-confirmed officers of the United States to serve as full members – thus limiting the president’s ability to politicize the NSC.

I introduced H.R. 4492, the Biosecurity Information Optimization for Defense (BIO Defense) Act of 2021 to improve the National Biodefence Strategy, a bipartisan plan enacted in 2016 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, by formalizing a National Biodefense Directorate including the Vice President and department secretaries. This entity would be required to meet regularly, hire staff, and establish uniform data collection methods so it can continually update the NBS to address the national security risks posed by pandemics. Importantly, the bill would require the Directorate to develop a National Strategy Combating Biodefense Misinformation to make sure our federal government is prepared to get the best-available public health information to the American people quickly and effectively in times of crisis.

I introduced H.R. 5405, the Biological Intelligence Oversight Reporting (BIO Reporting) Act, which would ensure the Intelligence Community uses every available tool to protect the United States against future biological threats.

I introduced H.R. 5406, the Biological Intelligence Organization and Attribution (BIO Attribution) Act, which would help the United States government identify the origins of new diseases and make informed decisions about responding to emerging epidemics and pandemics.

I introduced H.R. 3359, the bipartisan Homicide Victims' Families Rights Act, with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. The bill would give relatives of homicide victims under federal law the right to have their loved one’s case file reviewed, once the case has gone cold after three years. If the federal investigator feels it would lead to probative leads, a full reinvestigation would then occur. The bill also would require the federal government to notify family members and similarly situated people of their rights, and to provide them with updates on any cold case review undertaken. It would also collect data on systemic problems with cold cases. We hope this legislation will motivate states to pass similar statutes.

I introduced H.R. 4857, the Journalist Protection Act, to make it a federal crime to intentionally cause bodily injury to a journalist affecting interstate or foreign commerce in the course of reporting or in a manner designed to intimidate him or her from newsgathering for a media organization. It represents a clear statement that assaults against people engaged in reporting is unacceptable, and helps ensure law enforcement is able to punish those who interfere with newsgathering.

I led 105 members in sending a May 2021 letter to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy demanding he meet with Metropolitan Police Department Office Michael Fanone. Officer Fanone bravely defended the United States Capitol on January 6 and suffered severe injuries. The letter was sent to McCarthy during National Police Week, a time to celebrate the heroism of our law enforcement officers and commemorate those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

I was an original cosponsor of, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 1085, a bipartsian bill to award three congressional gold medals to the United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol against the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021.

I cosponsored and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021. This bill is a bold, comprehensive approach to hold police accountable, end racial profiling, change the culture of law enforcement, empower our communities, and build trust between law enforcement and our communities by addressing systemic racism and bias to help save lives. The Justice in Policing Act would: 1) establish a national standard for the operation of police departments; 2) mandate data collection on police encounters; 3) reprogram existing funds to invest in transformative community-based policing programs; and 4) streamline federal law to prosecute excessive force and establish independent prosecutors for police investigations.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1347, the Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act of 2021, to criminalize the chokehold and other strangulation tactics under federal civil rights law. The bill's language also is included in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3243, the Pipeline Security Act, a bipartisan bill to explicitly codify the roles of the Transportation Security Administration and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in securing critical infrastructure pipelines.

I cosponsored H.R. 350, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act (DTPA) of 2021, a bipartisan bill to strengthen the federal government’s efforts to prevent, report on, respond to, and investigate acts of domestic terrorism by authorizing offices dedicated to combating this threat; requiring these offices to regularly assess this threat; and providing training and resources to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement in addressing it. DTPA would authorize three offices, one each within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to monitor, investigate, and prosecute cases of domestic terrorism. The bill also requires these offices to provide Congress with joint biannual reports assessing the state of domestic terrorism threats, with a specific focus on white supremacists. Based on the data collected, DTPA requires these offices to focus their resources on the most significant threats. DTPA also codifies the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which would coordinate with United States Attorneys and other public safety officials to promote information sharing and ensure an effective, responsive, and organized joint effort to combat domestic terrorism. The legislation requires DOJ, FBI, and DHS to provide training and resources to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in understanding, detecting, deterring, and investigating acts of domestic terrorism and white supremacy. Finally, DTPA directs DHS, DOJ, FBI, and the Department of Defense to establish an interagency task force to combat white supremacist infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement.

I cosponsored H.R.1834, the Hate Crimes Commission Act of 2021, to create a bipartisan commission to investigate and expand reporting on hate crimes throughout the United States. This commission would be comprised of a group of 12 members appointed by House and Senate leadership who would have one year to prepare a report on the rise in hate crimes, potential causes of increase, and how to combat it. 

I cosponsored H.R. 55, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, to make lynching a federal crime for the first time in American history.

I cosponsored H.R. 2119, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize and increase funding for the Family Violence Prevention Services program, and to update the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Other legislative highlights in the 117th Congress:

• I joined a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, requesting support for programs to combat violence and sexual assault.
• I joined a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, supporting at least $49 million for the Department of Justice’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative to address the rape kit backlog.
• I joined a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, supporting multiple juvenile justice programs, including $80 million for the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) State Formula Grants Program and $96 million for the JJDPA Title V Delinquency Prevention Program.
• I joined a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, supporting $151 million for the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Reduction Grant Program and language to ensure its funds are only used for DNA backlog reduction.
• I joined a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, to strongly support funding the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act.
• I joined a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, to support the Drug Court Discretionary Grant program and veteran’s treatment courts.

In earlier Congresses:

I was the lead Democratic House cosponsor of H.R. 510, the Rapid DNA Act of 2017, which President Trump signed into law in August 2017. This bipartisan law helps local law enforcement use new technology to speed up justice by letting police – under standards and guidelines established by the FBI – perform real-time DNA testing at the time of arrest within their own booking stations, comparing samples to profiles in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

I was the lead Democratic House cosponsor of H.R. 624, the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017, which President Trump signed into law in September 2017. This bipartisan law combats identity theft by limiting the use of Americans' Social Security Numbers on government documents sent through the mail.

I was an original cosponsor of H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018, which President Trump signed into law in October 2018. This bipartisan law amended the Debbie Smith Act grant program – giving grants to state and local law enforcement to reduce their crime labs’ DNA backlogs – so some can be spent on prosecuting DNA-linked cold cases.

I led 84 House members in urging strong funding for the Transit Security Grant Program to help America’s mass transit agencies keep their riders safe and secure. (I led 66 members in a similar effort in the 114th Congress.)                                                                                                                                                   

Rep. Swalwell tours Rapid DNA technology pioneer IntegenX in Pleasanton, September 2017.

I was an original co-sponsor of H.R. 4651, the Digital Security Commission Act of 2016. This bipartisan, bicameral bill would create the “National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges” – a digital security panel uniting stakeholders to keep our nation safe while keeping our personal data secure.

I convened a discussion on juvenile justice and how to break the cycle of poverty and crime in March 2016 at the Alameda County Juvenile Court and detention facility in San Leandro. 

I convened an interfaith roundtable meeting in July 2016 in Hayward to discuss the recent rash of gun violence  in our country.

Rep. Swalwell talks with Alameda County Sheriff's deputies during a National Night Out event in San Lorenzo, August 2016.

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I organized and coordinated a letter signed by 132 additional Members of Congress to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), raising objections to its decision to allow certain small knives and sporting equipment in the cabins of planes. Ultimately, TSA reversed its policy and continues to prohibit knives on planes.

I introduced an amendment, which the House approved, to help protect mass transit systems like BART from terrorism. I also led letters to the Department of Homeland Security requesting BART receive federal grants to upgrade its Transbay Tube to protect against terrorism. BART was awarded a $17.4 million grant in 2014 and $12.8 million grant in 2013.

I signed a letter to the Appropriations Committee in support funding for the Byrne-Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) program and the Community Orientated Policy Services (COPS) program.

I voted for H.R. 756, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act. This bipartisan bill would strengthen cyber research, develop the federal cyber workforce, and improve the development of cyber standards.

I introduced H.R. 3438, the National Laboratories Mean National Security Act.  This bill would make it easier for national labs, like Lawrence Livermore and Sandia, to help states and localities secure us against terrorism.

RUSSIA: ATTACK ON OUR DEMOCRACY

On October 7, 2016, the seventeen agencies of our intelligence community concluded with high confidence that Russia was meddling in our elections through hacking, leaks, and the dissemination of fake news.

On January 6, 2017, the office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report on Russia’s actions and intentions in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report concluded that:

1. These attacks were ordered by President Putin;
2. Russia’s goals were to undermine faith in our democracy, to harm Secretary Clinton’s chances of winning, and to help President Trump’s election chances; and
3. President Putin and the Russian Government favored President Trump.

In addition to covert intelligence operations that supplied a constant stream of material to WikiLeaks, the Russian government worked to achieve these goals by using government agencies, state-funded media outlets, and paid social media trolls. For example, Facebook has acknowledged that "it has become a battleground for governments seeking to manipulate public opinion in other countries." Using these tools, Russia launched a dangerous fake news campaign intended to make it difficult for Americans to tell the difference between accurate reporting and blatant lies about both presidential candidates and about our own country.

But the most disturbing finding: Russia intends to do this again.

Russia will use the lessons learned from their 2016 attack on our democracy to carry out future attacks on both our democracy and other sovereign nations worldwide.  It's clear that President Putin intends to do this again. Republican Senator John McCain has warned that Russia will continue to use cyberattacks “as a part of Vladimir Putin’s ambition to regain Russian prominence and dominance in some parts of the world.”  The American people cannot ignore Russia’s actions against us, because doing so will leave our democracy vulnerable to the next attack.

RUSSIA: INFLUENCING TRUMP & HIS TEAM

It's not just about Russia’s 2016 election meddling, intervention in foreign countries, or past ties between them and President Trump’s Administration. It's also about the future of our country, and making sure it is free from Russian interference. However, with President Trump in the White House, that will not be possible. It's clear that he and his team have already been affected by their contact with Russia and have instated more pro-Russia policies than America has seen in decades.

Once one of the strongest anti-Russian hawks, Attorney General Jeff Sessions changed his tune on Russia after twice meeting with Ambassador Kislyak and joining the Trump campaign as a surrogate.  Throughout his 19 year Senate career, Sessions had long supported increased military spending to counter Russia and called for policies that would ensure Russia’s threat was dealt with through military strength and not diplomatic talks. In 2010, Sessions voted against the New START Treaty with Russia which called for further nuclear arms reduction between the two countries, arguing that it played into Russia’s hands and made America weaker. In 2014, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sessions called for Russia’s exit from the G8 and for sanctions against Russia.

During the Republican National Convention in July 2016, President Trump and his campaign worked to change the national platform to make their policies more pro-Russian and less pro-Ukraine. In the platform, they decided to no longer call for giving weapons to individuals fighting the Russians in Ukraine.  This was in contrast to the position of other Republican leaders. Not only did they not include it in the platform, they also went behind the scenes to shut down delegate amendments calling for tougher Russian sanctions and aid for the Ukrainian military.  Therefore, the platform passed at the hands of the Trump campaign was completely at odds with many other Republicans’ stance on Russia, which should be a signal unto itself.

Meanwhile, President Trump himself has made many comments while running for President, and since, that suggest an increasingly cozy relationship with Russia. For example, Trump said “if you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?” This is in opposition to long standing American policy on sanctions towards Russia, and furthermore, ignores the facts that Russia isn't helping Americans and their policies are antithetical to American interests. Not only that, but he acted on this soon after being sworn in as President, amending sanctions to now allow American technology to be exported to Russia, sanctions put in place during the Obama Administration.

Furthermore, after the intelligence community report came out condemning Russia’s interference in our election, then President-Elect Trump tweeted that the U.S. should want a good relationship with Russia, and thus that we shouldn’t be worried about problems with Russia. He continued in his tweets by saying once he became President, “Russia will respect us far more than they do now.”

Lastly, President Trump has made repeated comments that show a lack of support for NATO, saying that “NATO is obsolete,” and that it is “not as good as it was when it first evolved.” Again, this is in opposition to long standing American and Republican policy, which has been that NATO is completely essential to our foreign and defense policy, and that leaving NATO would do great damage to our European allies, thus strengthening Russia.

RUSSIA: NOT OUR FRIEND

Reversing the thaw in the post-Cold War era, in recent years, Russia has worked against American values repeatedly and overtly. Here are some of the top examples.

Russia Threatens Important U.S. Allies

In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, destabilizing democracy and threatening security in the region. As a result of this destabilization, pro-Russian forces fighting in Ukraine were able to obtain and use a missile to shoot down a Malaysian Airlines passenger flight over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. And in recent months, Russia has intensified its military presence along its border with our Baltic allies—Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.  In light of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the continued militarization of the region is a troubling sign of further Russian aggression against U.S. allies and interests abroad.

Russia Attacks Our Friends’ Elections

It's no secret that Russia is not a friend of democracy. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul noted that “for years now, the Kremlin has looked for ways to disrupt democracies, to help the people that they like to come to power and to undermine the credibility of the democratic process.” This is evident in their continued and directed cyberattacks against foreign nations throughout the last ten years. Here is a timeline of some of its most egregious attacks.

This is the timeline of just the public and known attacks. The list of other, yet to-be-attributed attacks is likely to be even longer. An attack on any democracy is a threat to the stability of our own. Russia’s known use of cyberwarfare against these and other democracies is unacceptable, and cannot go unanswered.

Russia Attacks Freedom of the Press

Russia’s national news agenda is largely controlled by the Kremlin; editorial policy at its state-owned television stations is managed by the government. Freedom House has counted at least 63 violent attacks on Russian journalists since 2006, including the killing of 20.  Beyond the atrocious nature of state-sponsored attacks on its citizens, it's evident that Russia doesn't hold any respect for the freedom of the press, a right that the United States holds as fundamental and remains enshrined in our Constitution. 

Russia Commits War Crimes

Russia continues to support the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose use of chemical weapons is intolerable and constitutes a war crime. Russian forces in Syria have appeared to deliberately target civilian areas of Aleppo. In a report presented by the Atlantic Council, satellite images, social media, surveillance footage, and eyewitness accounts outline Russia’s “indiscriminate” bombing of civilian areas of Aleppo. These attacks, which are responsible for killing and injuring civilians (including children) and for leaving a portion of the capital city without access to functioning hospitals, have been broadly condemned by the international community.

Russia has committed cyberattacks against America 

Besides taking the egregious step of meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, Russia has engaged in further cyberattacks against Americans. On March 15, 2017, the Justice Department charged two Russian intelligence officers with directing the hacking of 500 million Yahoo accounts in 2014. The information the Russian government obtained from the hack was used to focus on foreign officials, executives, and journalists, and steal Americans' credit card and gift card information. 

Russia supports an American enemy

Recently, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, the top U.S. military officer in Europe, said that he has seen growing Russian diplomatic and military influence on the Taliban in Afghanistan. General Scaparotti said "I've seen the inflence of Russia of late - increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban." Since 2001, the U.S. has been at war with the Taliban in Afghanistan, where more than 1,800 American troops have been killed.  

RUSSIA: TRUMP & HIS TEAM’S TIES

Despite Russia’s harmful national interests against the U.S., and its human rights violations around the world, President Trump and his team are directly and indirectly tied to Russia.

Throughout the 2016 presidential election, President Trump not only refused to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin, but was even friendly and accommodating in his remarks. In his own words, President Trump called President Putin “highly respected." More recently, President Trump put the U.S. on equal moral footing with Russia when responding to Bill O’Reilly’s question about Putin being a "killer," saying "We've got a lot of killers... you think our country's so innocent?" This is absolutely false moral equivalence, and unheard of for the President of the United States to insult and demean the country he leads.

President Trump has harshly criticized NATO, and exclaimed that only the NATO allies that paid equally to the alliance deserved protection from the United States. Though these remarks were softened by British Prime Minister Theresa May, who claims that President Trump fully supports the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it's still unclear how supportive he will be of NATO allies like the Baltic states in light of his relationship with Russia.

President Trump has also surrounded himself with people who do business with and are sympathetic to Russia. The New York Times reported that members of Trump’s 2016 campaign and other Trump associates had frequent contact with senior Russian intelligence officials throughout the campaign. In addition to these questionable communications, here are a few other associates with ties to Moscow:

• Donald Trump: Not only does his past and current team have ties to Russia, but the President himself also does. He has traveled to Russia extensively, done business there often, and has ties to Russian interests. For example, in 2008 he made a real estate sale to Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev. Trump bought a Palm Beach mansion in 2004 during a bankruptcy sale for $41 million, and less than four years later, without ever having moved in, Trump sold the mansion to Rybolovlev for $95 million. In a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office, he revealed highly classified information to the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. US media was banned from this meeting, but a Russian photographer was allowed in the session, later releasing these photos on the Russian state-owned news. 
• Michael Flynn: Flynn, President Trump’s former National Security Advisor, was asked to resign just weeks after he was sworn in. His resignation came after it leaked that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russian officials, specifically Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak, before President Trump’s inauguration. In these communications, Flynn discussed sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia – while President Obama was still in office. Earlier last year, he stated that the U.S. needs to respect that “Russia has its own national security strategy, and we have to try to figure out: How do we combine the United States’ national security strategy along with Russia’s national security strategy,” raising troubling questions. In 2015, Flynn delivered remarks at a Moscow gala honoring RT, Russia’s propaganda arm, where he was seated next to Putin. Flynn accepted $33,750 for this speech by RT, and did not correctly report the payment, thus concealing payment from a foreign government, and possibly violating the law in the meantime. Flynn continued to appear on RT as a foreign policy analyst. Altogether, Flynn was paid more than $67,000 by Russian companies before the 2016 presidential election.
• Jeff Sessions: Sessions, President Trump’s Attorney General, had two conversations with Ambassador Kislyak during the 2016 presidential election. However, during later confirmation hearings, he claimed that he “did not have communications with the Russians” when prompted by Senator Al Franken. Once reports of his meetings with Kislyak surfaced, Sessions recused himself from any investigation into Russia’s interference in our 2016 presidential election. Many officials are continuing to call for his resignation.
• Rex Tillerson: Tillerson, President Trump’s former Secretary of State, worked on energy projects in Russia for two decades during his career at Exxon. He has publicly described his “very close relationship” with President Putin and was awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship in 2013, the highest state honor possible for a foreigner.
• Jared Kushner: Kushner is President Trump's son-in-law and current Senior Advisor. Along with Michael Flynn, Kushner met with Ambassador Kislyak during the Presidential transition. The White House later acknowledged that following that meeting, Ambassador Kislyak requested a second meeting, which Kushner had a deputy attend. However, at Kislyak's request, Kushner did later meet with Sergey Gorkov, the head of Russia's state-owned development bank, who has close ties to President Putin. The U.S. placed this bank on its sanctions list following Russia's annexation of Crimea. The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to question Kushner about his meetings with Russian officials. The New York Times recently reported that Kusher failed to disclose dozens of contacts with foreign leaders on his application for top-secret security clearance -- one of those contacts being Ambassador Kislyak.
• Donald Trump, Jr.: Trump, Jr., President Trump’s son, met with Fabien Baussart, a leader of a Syrian opposition group backed by the Russian government, and others about how the U.S. could work with Russia on the Syrian conflict weeks before Donald Trump was elected President. He has also been quoted saying that his father’s businesses “see a lot of money pouring in from Russia”, and that he had visited Russia on business over a half-dozen times. In June 2016, he met with a Russian billionaire, Emin Agalarov, under the premise that Emin had “official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia” from the Crown prosecutor of Russia, and that this was part of “Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” 
• Paul Manafort: Manafort, who has business connections to Russia and Ukraine, was hired as Trump’s campaign manager in March 2016. He then resigned in August of the same year, after reports surfaced that suggested he had received $12.7 million from Victor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s pro-Russia former president. It was recently revealed by AP that Manafort proposed in a strategy plan from as early as June 2005 that he would work to influence politics, business deals, and media inside the U.S. and Europe to benefit Putin. This plan was pitched to Oleg Deripaska, a "Russian aluminum magnate" with close ties to Putin. Manafort eventually signed a $10 million contract with Deripaska in early 2006. The Trump Administration and Manafort have both said that Manafort never worked for Russian interests. Since the FBI confirmed in a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on March 20 that investigators are examining whether the Trump campaign and its associates coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, the White House has made attempts to distance itself from Manafort, claiming that he played "a very limited role" in the campaign, despite his clear leadership role as campaign chairman leading up to the Republican National Convention. On October 27, 2017, Manafort was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy against the United States, among other charges.
• Carter Page: Page, hired as a foreign policy advisor to Trump’s 2016 campaign, was known to have deep ties to Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company. In July 2016, a month after Russia's DNC meddling was reveled in the press, Page traveled to Moscow to make a speech. The Trump campaign approved this trip, saying he would not be traveling as an official representative of the campaign. In the speech he delivered in Moscow, he criticized American foreign policy as being hypocritical – remarks which ultimately led to his resignation from Trump’s campaign. Before joining the campaign, he was a businessman “of no particular renown” working in the Moscow branch of Merrill Lynch before creating his own consulting agency. Previously, Trump identified Page as one of a small group of advisors helping to craft his foreign policy platform during the campaign. However, President Trump’s staff now claims that “Carter Page is an individual who the [then] president-elect does not know.” Page met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the Republican National Convention in 2016. Buzzfeed recently reported that Page had met with a Russian intelligence agent named Victor Podobnyy in 2013, who was reportedly trying to recruit Page. Podobnyy was later charged by the U.S. for acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
• Tevfik Arif: Arif, who founded Bayrock, a real estate group known to have many deals with Trump, had a 17-year career in the Soviet Ministry of Commerce and Trade.
• Roger Stone: Stone, a former advisor to Trump, had back channel conversations with Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, which is the organization that published the DNC leaks and Podesta emails during the 2016 elections. He also had exchanges with Guccifer 2.0 -- a hacker believed to be linked to Russia involved in the 2016 hacking of Democratic National Committee emails -- in August 2016. Also in August, he tweeted "it will soon [be] Podesta's time in the barrell." About two months later, Wikileaks began posting John Podesta's emails.
• Felix Sater: Sater, formerly a senior advisor to the Trump Organization, is a Russian-born Bayrock associate with extensive involvement in organized crime. In 2015, he wrote an email to Trump’s lawyer, Cohen, referencing then-candidate Trump saying: “Our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.”
• Alex Shnaider: Born in Russia, Shnaider co-financed a real estate project with Trump. Shnaider’s father-in-law, Boris J. Birshtein, was a close business associate of Sergei Mikhaylov, the head of one of the largest branches of the Russian mob. 
• JD Gordon: Gordon, a national security advisor for the Trump campaign met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, who he told he would like to improve US - Russia relations. He advocated for a change to the GOP national platform to make their policies more pro-Russian and less pro-Ukraine, a change which Gordon said was directly supported by then-candidate Donald Trump.
• Wilbur Ross: Ross, President Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, was the top shareholder in the Bank of Cyprus, an institution with deep Russian ties and investors who made fortunes under Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to McClatchy, the banking system in Cyprus, because of its dependence on Russian investors, is money-laundering concern for the US State Department. Ross served as the vice chairman of the board of directors for the Bank of Cyprus. The second largest investor in the Bank of Cyprus was Viktor Vekselberg, who once served on the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft, which is under partial sanction by the US Treasury Department. Vekselberg is known to have a close relationship with Vladimir Putin. In February, six senators sent a letter to Ross inquiring about his relationship to Vekselberg. The senators also inquired about Ross’s relationship with Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, who is also linked to the Bank of Cyprus, was a former KGB agent, and is believed to be a Putin associate.
• Erik Prince: Prince, who had no formal role with the Trump campaign or transition team, had a secret meeting with a Russian close to President Putin, arranged by the United Arab Emirates, the Washington Post recently reported. The meeting reportedly took place around January 11, 2017 on the Seychelles islands, and was allegedly part of an effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Russia and then President-elect Trump. The UAE agreed to facilitate the meeting in order to explore Russia's willingness to curtail its relationship with Iran. Prince was a supporter of Trump, and has ties to Steve Bannon and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who is his sister. He was also seen in Trump transition offices in December. 
• Michael Cohen: Cohen is a longtime associate of President Trump’s and is his current personal lawyer. He has come under scrutiny for pursuing a Trump Tower deal in Moscow while Trump was campaigning to be President, and for alleged meetings with Russian officials in Prague. In January 2017, he met with a Ukrainian opposition politician and Felix Sater to discuss a plan to give Russia long term control over Ukraine and lift sanctions against Russia.  They then put this plan in a sealed envelope and left it in the office of then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. 
• George Papadopoulos: Papadopoulos was a foreign policy advisor for the Trump Campaign. On October 27, 2017 it was revealed that Papadopoulos had plead guilty to making a false statement to federal investigators "about the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian officials." While working for the Trump Campaign, Papadopoulos met with an overseas professor who told him about the Russians possessing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." He repeatedly sought to use his connections to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials. On March 31, 2016, at a foreign policy meeting with Trump and other campaign advisers, Papadopoulos shared that he could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. He sent multiple emails to other members of the campaign about his contact with "the Russians" and "outreach to Russia." 

In addition to these ties, it appears that Trump and his team are conscious of their guilt. In late February 2017, CNN reported that “the FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign.” This request may be a violation of procedures that limits communications between the White House and FBI on pending investigations.

Why is America’s leader and his team so close to Russia? This is either due to poor judgement or a deeper personal, financial, or political link between President Trump and Russia. It is not normal for the leader of our country to be so extensively tied to a foreign government that has sought to undermine democracies across the globe, and connections like these should be concerning to American citizens everywhere.  

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The biggest challenges facing our country deserve innovative solutions, and I believe that we need to empower our scientists and engineers to find them. 

I also am proud to support the two national laboratories in our district, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia, in my work in Congress as they are on the forefront of many technological breakthroughs that will power the future.

What I am Doing for You

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 849, the Scientific Integrity Act, a bipartisan bill that sets clear, enforceable standards for federal agencies and federally-funded research to keep public science independent from political or special interest meddling. The bill provides much-needed protections for our federal scientists, helps restore public trust, and better enables us to address and solve the many pressing challenges our communities face from pandemics to climate change.

I'm a cosponsor of H.R. 869, the Research Investment to Spark the Economy Act (RISE Act) of 2021, which would provide $25 billion in emergency relief to U.S. researchers at independent research institutions, public laboratories and universities throughout the country may continue their important, federally-funded projects through the pandemic.

In previous Congresses:

I introduced H.R. 2687, the Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act, to promote collaboration and research in the fields of energy critical elements and to ensure a reliable supply of rare earth elements. These elements are critical for numerous advanced technologies from hybrid vehicles and solar panels to military electronics. (I introduced this as H.R. 1022 in the 113th Congress.)

I helped lead 24 House members in urging strong funding for the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Yield Campaign, a program that maintains our national security and keeps America moving toward a new energy future.

I cosponsored H.R. 565, the Stepping Up to STEM Education Act, which would establish an office of STEM Education at Department of Education, create state STEM networks, and create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED). (I cosponsored this as H.R. 1089 in the 113th Congress.)

Rep. Swalwell tours the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, May 2015.

I cosponsored and voted for H.R. 4438, the American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2014. This bipartisan bill would modernize and make permanent the research and development tax credit.

I sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget supporting funding for the Department of Energy’s Science Laboratory Infrastructure Account and, in particular, the planned construction of Lawrence Berkley National Lab’s new bioscience facility in Richmond, California.

I sent multiple letters to the House Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee in support of robust funding for the Department of Energy Office of Science.

SENIORS

I am committed to protecting our seniors and preserving the programs that have kept so many healthy and out of poverty. I support preserving and strengthening Medicare, and I believe that turning Medicare into a voucher system would hurt seniors and raise barriers to care. In Congress, I will work to preserve and protect Social Security, for example by raising the cap on earnings subject to the payroll tax, and strengthen Medicare to protect patients and support the physicians who care for them.

I strongly oppose using the Chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for Social Security Benefits. While the budgetary challenges we face are serious, we should not be balancing the budget on the backs of seniors.

What I am Doing for You

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 5723, the Social Security 2100 Act, to increase benefits for all recipients by about 2 percent; improve the annual COLA formula to better reflect the costs incurred by seniors; set the new minimum benefit at 25 percent above the poverty line and tie it to wage levels to ensure that the minimum benefit does not fall behind; improve benefits for widows and widowers in two-income households; repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) that currently penalize many public servants; end the 5-month waiting period to receive disability benefits; provide caregiver credits to ensure that caregivers are not penalized in retirement for taking time out of the workforce to care for children or other dependents; extend benefits for students through age 22; and increase access to benefits for children who live with grandparents or other relatives. Presently, payroll taxes are not collected on wages over $142,800; this bill would apply the payroll tax to wages above $400,000, a provision that would only affect the top 0.4% of wage earners.

I cosponsored H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, two titles of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service. This bill ensures that a teacher who spends his or her summers working a second job or a police officer who changes careers after years of service will not face a possible 40 percent reduction in their Social Security benefits. (I previously cosponsored this bill as H.R. 141 in the 116th Congress, H.R. 1205 in the 115th Congress, H.R. 973 in the 114th Congress, and H.R. 1795 in the 113th Congress.

I cosponsored H.R. 2062, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, to overturn a Supreme Court decision requiring that individuals prove that age discrimination was the decisive and determinative cause for the employer’s adverse action, rather than just a motivating factor in the employer’s adverse action.

In previous Congresses: 

I cosponsored H.R. 3351, the CPI-E Act, to base cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly.

I cosponsored H.R. 4144, the Seniors And Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act, to provide a one-time 3.9 percent COLA for 2016.

I cosponsored H.R. 775, the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act, a bipartisan bill to repeal the Medicare cap on therapy services for seniors.

I cosponsored H.R. 1571, the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act, a bipartisan bill to deem an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital entitled to Medicare coverage of any post-hospital extended care services in a nursing facility.

I cosponsored H.R. 4442, the CONNECT for Health Act, a bipartisan bill to expand access to telehealth and remote patient monitoring services under Medicare.

I have signed multiple letters in support of the Medicare Advantage program.

Rep. Swalwell helps make a Meals on Wheels delivery to an elderly couple in Dublin, March 2016.

I cosponsored H.Con.Res. 34, which expressed the sense of Congress that Chained CPI should not be used to calculate cost-of-living-adjustments for Social Security benefits.

I sent a letter asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to assume the Sustainable Growth Rate will be fixed when it determines physician payment rates for Medicare Advantage.

I voted against H.Con.Res. 25 and H.Con.Res. 96, the budget proposed by then- Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. These budgets would have ended Medicare as we know it; repealed the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, including preventive services for seniors; imposed drastic spending cuts; and given massive tax reductions for corporations and upper-income persons.

I cosponsored H.R. 1029, the No Loopholes in Social Security Taxes Act, to increase the amount of income subject to the Social Security tax from $113,700 to $250,000.

VETERANS & MILITARY AFFAIRS

I will work to ensure our national security remains strong. When our service members are called to serve, it is imperative that we provide our troops with the equipment and weapons they need to be successful.  I will continue to support policies that protect our troops, their families, and our nation.

And we must make good on our promise to help our fighting men and women when they return home; we owe them much more than a “thank you for your service,” we owe them real actions to provide meaningful support. The federal government must live up to its responsibilities to properly support those who served in our armed forces and their families. I firmly believe that this is one of our nation’s chief responsibilities.

What I am Doing for You

Veteran’s Claims Backlog

It is unacceptable that our veterans wait so long for their benefits. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made significant progress on its huge backlog of veterans’ benefits cases, in which delays at the Oakland Regional VA Office were among the worst in the nation. I’ve co-sponsored bills intended to speed up the VA claims processing and increase its efficiency. I will continue to work to ensure that those who proudly serve our country receive the benefits and care they have earned.

VA Medical Care

Long wait times and scheduling problems at VA Medical Centers are deeply concerning, and I am working to ensure veterans are receiving timely access to quality care. After learning of long wait times at VA Medical Centers, I wrote a letter to the VA Secretary requesting a system-wide audit of scheduling practices and wait times. I’ve also visited the VA facility in Livermore and have been assured by the director and her staff that while long wait times and access issues are occurring at VA centers across the country, this is not the case in the Bay Area. I will diligently work to ensure this remains true and to improve care for all veterans around the country.

I, along with and Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-7) and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH),  led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough in June 2021 asking the VA to consider additional flexibilities for the VA Home Loan Guaranty program. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1282, the Major Richard Star Act, a bipartisan bill to provide combat-injured veterans with less than 20 years of military service their full benefits.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1585, the Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act, a bipartisan bill to include veterans who participated in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1980, as radiation-exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1948, the VA Employee Fairness Act of 2021, which would ensure that VA’s Title 38 healthcare professionals — including nurses, physicians, dentists, and physician assistants who serve our veterans — have the same workplace rights currently granted to other VA clinicians and federal employees. By providing full collective bargaining rights to these healthcare professionals, VA will be better equipped to retain and recruit top tier staff to care for our nation’s veterans and empower VA staff to speak up about patient safety concerns.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 2709, the Access to Contraception for Servicemembers and Dependents Act, to ensure military families receive the quality reproductive health care they deserve. The bill would bring health care provided by the military in line with current law for civilian populations by ensuring that those who receive health care through the military have access to all forms of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraception with no health insurance co-pay. The legislation would also guarantee access to emergency contraception for survivors of sexual assault upon their request and require the Defense Department to develop a comprehensive family planning education program. (I previously cosponsored this as H.R. 2091 in the 116th Congress.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3224, the I am Vanessa Guillén Act, to revolutionize the military’s response to reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault by making sexual harassment a standalone offense within the Uniform Code of Military Justice and moving prosecution decisions of sexual assault and sexual harassment cases out of the chain of command, as well as establishing a process for compensating servicemembers who survive sexual violence when the military has been negligent. It also reforms the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program.

I'm an original cosponsor of and voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 1448, the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act. This bipartisan bill would authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to create a pilot program on dog training therapy and provide service dogs to veterans with mental illnesses regardless of whether or not they have mobility issues.

I cosponsored H.R. 239, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, to provide women veterans access to the same no-cost contraceptive care as their non-veteran counterparts.

I cosponsored H.R. 2734, the Veterans Health Family Services Act, to ensure that servicemembers’ and veterans’ fertility treatments (such as IVF and counseling) are included as part of their health benefits.

I cosponsored H.R. 2974, the Military Spouse Hiring Act, a bipartisan bill that incentivizes employers to hire spouses of members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Research from the Department of Defense and the Hiring Our Heroes Foundation has found that unemployment rates for military spouses far exceed that of the national average; this bill would help close the gap by expanding the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to include the hiring of qualified military spouses, allowing employers to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those spouses.

I cosponsored H.R. 3967, the Honoring our PACT Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to give veterans a presumption of service-related disability/illness from toxic exposure to airborne hazards like burn pits and Agent Orange as well as radiation from testing sites.

I cosponsored H.R. 475, the Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act, a bipartisan bill bill that aligns military dependents covered by Tricare with civilian providers by raising the age for Tricare coverage to 26 years of age, as is the case with every other healthcare insurance provider.

I'm an original cosponsor of, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 707, the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act, a bipartisan bill to honor a top-secret World War II unit with Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.Res. 50, expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the naming of new or undedicated facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs after women veterans and minority veterans in order to reflect the diversity of all who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States.

In the 116th Congress:

I cosponsored H.R. 3400, the Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training (ENLIST) Act, to provide the opportunity to pursue citizenship to legal immigrants through military service. The ENLIST Act would apply to DREAMers in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.

I cosponsored H.R. 553, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, a bipartisan bill to help protect military families from financial hardship by repealing provisions that require the offset of plan annuities from amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation to surviving military spouses.

I cosponsored H.R. 2617, the OATH Act, a bipartisan bill to require the Department of Defense to input any Occupational Environmental Hazard exposure into a service member's records, which follow the servicemember throughout their career and into veteran status. This bill would also mandate that the DoD and VA retroactively update service records based on information contained in the Burn Pit Registry. This bill's provisons were incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021 versions of the National Defense Authorization Act.

I cosponsored H.R. 3166, a bill that would require DoD to update any administrative forms containing racially insensitive terms.

I cosponsored H.R. 1652, the Veteran Education Empowerment Act, a bipartisan bill to ensure that servicemembers have adequate access to higher education by directing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a grant program to provide Veteran Student Centers at colleges and universities to assist veterans in the pursuit of higher education.

In earlier Congresses:

Recognizing the unique needs and contributions of all servicemembers, I cosponsored the Voices for Veterans Act, which would extend and expand the membership of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include veterans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

I cosponsored the Give Veterans Home Loan Choices Act of 2017, which would ensure that veterans are provided all home loan options available to them, so that they can make a well informed decision when selecting a home loan for their families.

I cosponsored H.R. 3137, the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act of 2019. This bipartisan bill would direct the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments to jointly establish the "K-9 Service Corps Program", which would award grants to nonprofit organizations to plan or operate programs to provide service dogs to certain military members and veterans. 

To address the grave lack of mental health care available to our servicemembers, I co-sponsored the Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Healthcare Act. This bipartisan bill would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide initial mental health assessments and mental healthcare to veterans with ‘an other than honorable’ discharge’ who have deployed and served in combat zones. Generally, individuals who have such discharges are not eligible for any veteran benefits.

I cosponsored the Veteran Suicide Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill which would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to complete a publicly available review of the deaths of all covered veterans who died by suicide during the preceding five-year period.

Recognizing the need for a proactive policy to protect servicemembers from chemical and environmental threats I co-sponsored the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017, a bipartisan bill which grants presumptive Agent Orange exposure status to U.S. military personnel who served in the territorial seas of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, so that they can receive expedited consideration for benefits if they suffer from any of the diseases the U.S. Government has linked to Agent Orange. The bill became law in 2018. 

In a previous Congress, I sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee supporting funding for Veterans Treatment Courts. Veterans Treatment Courts provide veterans with substance abuse issues an alternative to incarceration by allowing them to seek mental health services and rehabilitative care instead of being jailed for non-violent, minor drug-related crimes.

I also sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies in support of $164 million for veteran suicide prevention and outreach programs in FY 2017.

In my first term in Congress I co-sponsored a bill which would allow for veterans who have a service-connected, permanent disability rated as “total” to utilize no-cost, space-available travel on Department of Defense aircraft via the Space-A travel program. 

I co-sponsored the Helping Heroes Fly Act, to add protections to improve the experience for severely wounded veterans when they go through airport screening. This bipartisan bill became law. 

I co-sponsored the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2013, a bipartisan bill to extend the VA’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program through FY 2018. 

I co-sponsored the Pay as You Rate Act, a bipartisan bill to require the VA to pay a veteran his or her disability compensation benefits as each element of a claim is reviewed rather than making them wait until the entire claim has been processed. 

I voted for the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act. This bipartisan bill would provide states with funds to streamline the process by which veterans that were trained and worked as EMTs in the military could receive certification and licenses to serve as EMTs once they return to their home states. 

I voted for the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act. This bipartisan bill, which was signed into law, increases transparency regarding the VA’s medical care system and allows veterans to seek private health care under certain circumstances such as long wait times or distance from a VA Medical Center.

Future Forum

FutureForum, chaired by Congressman Eric Swalwell, is a group of 27 young Democratic Members of the House of Representatives who are focused on issues and opportunities for millennial Americans. 

The millennial generation is facing challenges that Congress can’t afford to ignore. From the crisis of ever-increasing student loan debt to the decline of entrepreneurship among young Americans compared to previous generations, these challenges are impacting the overall health of our economy.   

#FutureForum believes Congress can’t just talk to millennials but needs to talk with millennials to create solutions to our growing challenges. Through opportunities on the Floor of the House of Representatives and visits to cities across the country, #FutureForum is crowdsourcing ideas and meeting members of our generation where they are: community colleges and universities, workforce training centers, start-ups and established companies.