Congresswoman Kathleen Rice represents New York's Fourth Congressional District, which encompasses the majority of Nassau County, NY, a diverse suburban community located on Long Island.
First elected to Congress in 2014, Kathleen has become a leading voice on national security issues as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, where she passed legislation to improve airport security screening in her first year and conducted rigorous oversight of the Trump Administration's border policies during her tenure as Chair of the Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations. As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Kathleen established herself as a fierce advocate for veterans and for accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and she authored bipartisan legislation to expand employment opportunities for veterans, which was signed into law in January 2021. For the 117th Congress, Kathleen was named to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has the broadest jurisdiction of any authorizing committee in Congress, and she remains a member of the Homeland Security Committee.
Student loan debt has exploded in recent years and continues to rise faster than any type of debt, with more than $1.5 trillion outstanding nationwide and almost $80 billion outstanding in New York alone. Today, seven out of 10 college students graduate with debt, and average debt per student has tripled in the past 20 years – from $10,000 in 1994 to more than $30,000 in 2014.
Kathleen knows that these numbers are crushing the next generation of American workers and weighing heavily on our whole financial system. Too many young men and women are forced to make high monthly loan payments when they should be striving for financial security and fully participating in our economy. Easing the student loan debt burden will spur economic growth and give the next generation greater opportunity to make the American Dream a reality.
The first step is to provide relief to the millions of borrowers who took out loans when interest rates were high, and are now stuck making exorbitant monthly payments while also contending with high costs of living and an increasingly competitive job market.
Kathleen also introduced the Students and Families Empowerment Act, a bill that would help ease student loan debt for graduates and their families by removing the cap on tax deductions for student loan interest. This bill would also eliminate the income limit on student loan interest deductions and extend from 6 months to 12 months the grace period for recent graduates before they must begin to repay their loans. The Students and Families Empowerment Act would also forbid interest to accrue on loans during this period.
Student loan debt has soared in part because the costs of going to college have skyrocketed while median household income has remained stagnant or even slightly declined. And as these rising costs put a college degree further and further out of reach for middle- and lower-income students, federal aid has not been robust enough to bridge the gap. Kathleen believes we can never let wealth become a prerequisite for a quality college education in this country, and she is committed to making college a more affordable reality for all students and parents.
Protect Tax Breaks for Middle- and Low-Income Families: Rising costs and stagnant wages have forced many parents to put more and more money towards their children’s college tuition, only to find that it covers less of the costs. To make up the difference, more students are forced to take on more and more debt. There’s no question that we need to work with state and local governments and post-secondary institutions to rein in costs, but we also need to offer support to parents who are struggling to meet those costs.
Kathleen is committed to easing their burden and reducing student debt by offering tax breaks and incentives for tuition and other college costs. While some tuition tax credits currently exist, they’ve been repeatedly targeted for elimination in recent budgets. Kathleen believes we need to be protecting and expanding support for parents who sacrifice to help their kids go to college, and she will continue to work to protect and expand tax policies that offer greater financial support where it’s needed most.
Expand Aid For Low-income Students: Over the past 50 years, Pell Grants have helped millions of students from low-income families go to college and earn their degrees. Pell Grants remain the best tool we have for ensuring that low-income students can access a quality college education, but the program has not evolved to meet the costs of college in the 21st century. When the program began, a grant covered as much as 70% of an eligible student’s costs – today, it’s barely 30%. The maximum grant allowed is $6,195 a year, despite the fact that most students receiving Pell Grants come from families earning less than $30,000 a year.
Kathleen knows that this shortfall keeps college doors closed to many intelligent, hard-working American students, and it makes earning a degree that much harder for enrolled students who are often forced to take one or even two paying jobs while maintaining a full academic course load. Kathleen will continue working to expand college access by strengthening the Pell Grant program and restoring its purchasing power to reflect the reality of what it costs to go to college in the 21st century.
As District Attorney of Nassau County, NY, Kathleen was dubbed “the state’s toughest DWI prosecutor” by the New York Daily News, and her nationally-recognized efforts to combat drunk driving led to statewide changes in DWI law and Long Island’s first DWI-related murder convictions. In 2008, CBS's 60 Minutes profiled Kathleen's work to reduce drunk-driving, sparking a renewed national debate on local law enforcement's role in drunk driving prevention, prosecution, and education.
Under Kathleen’s leadership, Nassau County earned one of the highest conviction rates in the state for DWI crimes – rising from 28th among New York’s 62 counties before Kathleen took office to fourth in 2013, and first among counties with at least 500 convictions. In addition to tough enforcement and aggressive prosecution, Kathleen also worked to prevent drunk driving by developing an innovative education program that reached more than 50,000 high school students.
In 2014, Kathleen received the Governors Highway Safety Association’s highest honor, the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award, and in 2015 Kathleen received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Combating drunk driving remains one of Kathleen’s top priorities in Congress. While we’ve made tremendous progress on reducing DWI-related fatalities over the past three decades, we are still losing an average of more than 10,000 lives every year because of drunk driving. Kathleen knows that we can and must do more, and she is working to craft legislative solutions that will keep moving that number down to zero.
Aggressive prosecution and tough enforcement strategies are critically important, but the best way to prevent drunk driving fatalities is to prevent anyone who is over the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit from operating a vehicle. New technological developments have tremendous potential to accomplish that. The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program, a partnership between the National Highway Traffic Safety Association and the world’s leading automakers, is working to develop advanced breath-based and touch-based technologies that prevent a car from driving if the driver’s BAC is over the legal limit of .08 percent. Unlike a breathalyzer or ignition interlock device, this technology does not require the driver to breathe into a tube – sensors instantaneously measure the driver’s BAC by responding to naturally exhaled breath and the touch of fingertips. NHTSA and its partners are continuing to develop and test the prototypes to ensure they are completely accurate and reliable.
In May, 2019, Kathleen introduced the a package of three bills that would comprehensively combat impaired and distracted driving. The End Drunk Driving Act will require that within 10 years, all new cars sold in the U.S. come equipped with advanced DWI-prevention technology; the Prevent Impaired Driving Child Endangerment Act will set national standards for criminal penalties against individuals who drive while intoxicated or impaired with a child passenger in the vehicle; and the Distracted Driving Education Act of 2019 will create a new education grant program for non-profit organizations working to combat distracted driving.
Kathleen is committed to protecting women’s access to health care and reproductive health rights. In the face of staunch extremist opposition, Kathleen has been a vocal advocate for overhauling New York’s outdated and restrictive abortion laws. In Congress, Kathleen is continuing to fight back against extremists who are determined to restrict our access to reproductive health care and deny us a voice in conversations about our own health and well-being.
Read Kathleen’s opinion piece on the importance of protecting Roe v. Wade.
It’s not just reproductive rights that are under attack in this country. Women face discrimination and disparity across our nation’s health care system, and for years have been forced to pay more than men for health care coverage. Recent reforms will help stop many of these abuses and improve women’s access to affordable, high-quality healthcare services. But extremists in Congress and in state governments across the country are still working to undermine that progress – most recently, by threatening to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides not only reproductive health care, but also critical preventative treatments and counseling services. Kathleen knows this would be devastating to women and men across the country who rely on these services. She’ll keep fighting to ensure Planned Parenthood and other organizations get the funding they need, and she will never back down or be silenced when it comes to health care equality and women’s reproductive health rights.
Kathleen was the first woman elected district attorney in Long Island history, defeating a 31-year incumbent who led an office that failed to represent the diverse community it served. Kathleen made it a priority to make more diverse and inclusive what had been a male-dominated workforce, eliminating a 30 percent gender wage gap and implementing flex-time employment policies. Under Kathleen’s leadership, half of all prosecutors were women, half of all executive positions were held by women, and the DA’s office became a model for improving workforce productivity and professionalism through family-friendly employment practices.
In Congress, Kathleen is continuing to advocate for the kinds of policies that made the DA’s office so successful. Some of her priorities include:
Equal Pay for Equal Work: More than 50 years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, women in America continue to earn just 78 percent of what men earn. In our district, it’s 76 percent – one of the worst wage gaps in the state. Eliminating the gender wage gap is first and foremost a matter of justice for women stuck earning less than men for equal work – but it’s also a tremendous economic opportunity to harness women’s potential to fully contribute to our local economies. From their first year out of college straight through to retirement, women are paid less, promoted less, and less frequently placed in the policymaking positions they have earned – and the consequences of that limit the strength of our economy.
Within her first few months in Congress, Kathleen became an original cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act of 2015, which builds on the progress of past legislation by closing loopholes that have prevented those measures from closing the gender pay gap. Specifically, the bill requires employers to prove that pay disparity is caused by job performance and not gender, prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who share information about their salaries, and creates a grant program to empower women with salary negotiating skills.
In March 2019, Kathleen voted for the Pay Check Fairness Act, which passed by a bipartisan vote of 242-187.
Paid Leave: Women cannot truly succeed in the workforce when they’re forced to choose between earning a paycheck and spending time nurturing a newborn child or caring for their families. The U.S. is one of only three countries in the world without a paid maternity leave law, along with Papua New Guinea and Oman. As soon as Kathleen came to Congress, she immediately implemented a policy providing men and women on her staff with 16 weeks of paid maternity leave – the most provided by any member of Congress – because she believes that paid leave is critical to a strong, productive and diverse workforce. Kathleen will keep fighting for a federal paid leave law to ensure that all women have the flexibility they need to have children and care for their families without sacrificing their careers.
Protection from Discrimination: While we have seen important victories in the fight for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, members of the LGBT community still routinely face discrimination in the workforce and in all aspects of life. Kathleen is committed to ensuring LGBT individuals have full and equal rights and protections under the law by passing comprehensive legislation to prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, just as it is prohibited on the basis of race, gender, religion and ethnicity.
Kathleen is an original cosponsor of the Equality Act, which will prohibit discrimination and segregation based on sexual orientation and gender identity in places of public accommodation, including public gatherings, stores and businesses, public schools, public transportation services, public housing, and programs or activities that receive federal funding. Kathleen is also an original cosponsor of the Equality for All Resolution of 2015, which declares that discrimination against LGBT individuals is a serious and widespread problem, that existing protections in federal law are inadequate to ensure non-discrimination, and that Congress should pass legislation that explicitly prohibits such discrimination in areas including employment, education, access to credit, federally funded programs, housing, jury service, and public accommodations.
In May 2019, the Equality Act passed by a bipartisan vote of 236-173.
Kathleen fully supports the right of LGBT individuals to marry the person they love. Kathleen was an early and vocal advocate for New York’s marriage equality law, and when its passage prompted a local clerk to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, she responded immediately with a letter notifying all clerks in Nassau County that any such protest would not be accepted and would be met with criminal prosecution.
The recent Supreme Court decision overturning same-sex marriage bans at the state level was a major victory in the fight for marriage equality, but that fight is not over. One of Kathleen’s priorities in Congress is to fully repeal the Defense of Marriage Act in order to guarantee federal recognition, protections and benefits under the law for every legally-married same-sex couple in America.
The landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 drastically increased the number of African American voters and elected officials after African Americans had for years been systematically disenfranchised, suppressed, and denied the right to participate in the democratic process. 50 years later, voting rights are still very much under attack in states across the country, and a recent Supreme Court decision gutted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act that we rely on to enforce federal law and combat voter suppression. Kathleen is a proud cosponsor of H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, which will fully restore the Voting Rights Act so that the federal government has the tools it needs to ensure no one in America is denied the right to vote. Kathleen believes there should be no partisan divide on this issue – the right to vote is at the very foundation of American democracy, and the effort to protect and uphold that right should rise above politics and partisanship.
H.R. 4 seeks to restore the VRA by developing a process to determine which states must pre-clear election changes with the Department of Justice. It will also require a nationwide, practice-based pre-clearance of known discriminatory practices, including the creation of at-large districts, inadequate multilingual voting materials and cuts to polling places.
As a career prosecutor, Kathleen has seen firsthand the devastating effects of gun violence in America. Parents robbed of their children. Young men and women robbed of their futures. Communities terrorized. Families forced to live in constant fear for their safety.
Too much time has passed, too many lives have been lost, too many mass shootings have come and gone while Congress repeatedly fails to take action. Kathleen is committed to passing common-sense legislative solutions that will prevent gun violence and save lives without infringing on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.
EXPERIENCE
Kathleen has spent more than two decades fighting to make our communities safer. As a former homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn and a former federal gun crimes prosecutor in Philadelphia, Kathleen started her career as an advocate for victims and was never afraid to go after criminals who bring violence into our communities. As District Attorney of Nassau County, Kathleen aggressively enforced gun laws and led intelligence-driven investigations to take down gun traffickers and seize illegal guns before they reached our neighborhoods. Under Kathleen’s leadership, the DA’s office built lasting community partnerships and implemented innovative prevention programs in our schools that empower kids with the information they need to resist guns, drugs and gang violence. Kathleen also led Nassau County’s tremendously successful gun buyback program, which has taken thousands of illegal guns off our streets at no expense to taxpayers.
PRIORITIES AND LEGISLATION
Kathleen knows that real progress in preventing gun violence demands action at the federal level, and as a Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, she is making it a priority to help break through the gridlock in Congress and pass common-sense solutions that we know will save lives
In the 116th Congress, the Democratic Majority has made strong progress in the fight against gun violence, passing two bills that will drastically expand background checks and ensure that dangerous criminals do not have access to firearms:
Universal Background Checks: Kathleen is an original cosponsor of H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 240-190 in February, 2019. The bill establishes new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties (i.e., unlicensed individuals). H.R. 8 requires a background check for every gun sale or transfer, with some reasonable and explicit exceptions such as gifting a gun to a close family member, loaning a gun for hunting or target shooting, or providing a gun in the moment of self-defense. Federal law already requires licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks on gun purchasers or transferees, and H.R. 8 extends the requirement of background checks to unlicensed gun sellers. Under H.R. 8, unlicensed gun sellers would meet their buyers at a licensed gun dealer, who would run a background check using the same process already used for sales from their own inventory.
Closing the Charleston Loophole: Kathleen is also an original cosponsor of H.R. 1112, which passed the House in February, 2019 by a vote of 228-198. This bill closes the so-called “Charleston Loophole,” which currently allows the sale of a firearm to proceed if a background check is not completed within three business days. After the tragic mass shooting at the AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, we learned that the shooter was actually prohibited by law from possessing a firearm due to his criminal record. However, he was able to legally acquire a gun after three business days because the FBI had not yet completed his background check. The sale of a firearm after three days -- and before the FBI background check is complete -- is known as a “default proceed” gun sale. H.R. 1112 will take simple, yet vital steps to provide the FBI with additional time to complete a background check before the default proceed gun sale takes affect. First, the bill extends the initial background check review period from 3 business days to 10. After the initial 10 business day period, if a background check has not been completed, a purchaser may request an escalated review by the FBI, which would provide the FBI with an additional 10 business days to resolve the case. Default proceed sales are an especially common factor in domestic violence cases.
Other gun violence prevention priorities of Kathleen's include:
Military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines: Kathleen is committed to reinstating the ban on assault weapons, which expired in 2004 after Congress failed to reauthorize it, and she is an original cosponsor of legislation that would ban the sale of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. These weapons and ammunition feeding devices are not used for sport or self-defense, and we know too well that they threaten to turn our schools, movie theaters and public spaces into scenes of utter horror.
Preventing suspected terrorists from acquiring firearms and explosives: Kathleen is the lead Democratic cosponsor of the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, a commonsense bipartisan bill that would prohibit the transfer or issuance of a firearm or explosives to any known or suspected terrorist, including anyone who is currently on a government no-fly list.
Preventing domestic abusers from acquiring firearms: In the 115th Congress, Kathleen was the lead Democratic cosponsor of the Domestic Violence Records Reporting Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill which would help prevent domestic abusers from buying guns. The legislation creates incentives for states to provide complete domestic violence records to federal background check databases, and by providing grant funding to help states improve their reporting processes. This bill would help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and save lives.
Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): Kathleen was strong supporter of the latest VAWA reauthorization bill, which included a new provision closes the "boyfriend loophole," extending existing gun restrictions to include current and former dating partners convicted of abuse or stalking charges. Previously, the law only prohibited firearm purchases for people who are "married to, lived with, or have a child with the victim" and who have been convicted of a felony or are subject to a restraining order. The new provision would extend the law to unmarried partners and misdemeanor convictions of domestic abuse and stalking. The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 263-158.
Select Committee to Investigate Gun Violence: Kathleen has cosponsored legislation and resolutions that would create a bipartisan Select Committee of the House to investigate the causes and effects of gun violence and issue legislative proposals that will help reduce gun violence. Kathleen knows that Democrats and Republicans don’t always agree on the solutions to prevent gun violence, but we should all agree that gun violence is a very real and very serious problem in America, and this committee offers the best opportunity to bring both parties together and finally take action after so many years of debate. Click here to read Kathleen’s opinion piece in the Long Island Herald: We need a bipartisan solution to gun violence
More than six years after Superstorm Sandy, thousands of victims across Long Island are still struggling to rebuild their homes and businesses and return to life as they knew it before the storm.
As a member of Congress, one of Kathleen’s top priorities has been to ensure that residents, business owners and local governments in our district get the full funding and support they need to rebuild and recover from the storm. Kathleen is working closely with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that insurance claims are reviewed thoroughly and efficiently while advocating for reforms to correct unfair insurance practices that have only compounded the hardships suffered by Sandy victims.
CLAIMS REVIEW
In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, a difficult recovery process was made even worse for many Sandy survivors when their flood insurance claims were underpaid or flat-out rejected by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This faulty claims process has left thousands of Long Islanders feeling cheated and abandoned by a program that they paid into and trusted to be there when they needed it most.
In response to the widespread allegations of improper denials or underpayments, Kathleen called on FEMA to conduct a full review of all flood insurance claims made by Sandy victims. The following week, FEMA announced that it would reopen the claims review process, allowing any Sandy survivor who may have been underpaid to resubmit their claim and finally receive the full funding they deserve.
FEMA CLAW-BACKS
Over the past six years, victims of Superstorm Sandy have come to rely on FEMA disaster relief funding to rebuild their lives. However, many victims who received these funds later learned that they were overpaid through no fault of their own, and FEMA demanded that these funds be repaid. FEMA sent recoupment notices to nearly 1,000 local homeowners, seeking to recoup an average of about $6,500. In our district, FEMA is seeking to recoup more than $1.5 million from residents in Long Beach, more than $600,000 from residents in Freeport, and more than $555,000 from residents in Oceanside.
Victims of Superstorm Sandy have suffered a great deal and have worked tirelessly to rebuild their lives, despite having to wait months or even years to receive the relief funds they needed. The last thing they deserve is to be thrown further into debt.
Less than a month after being sworn into Congress, Kathleen joined several members of the New York and New Jersey Congressional delegations as an original cosponsor of legislation that would authorize FEMA to waive such debts in instances where homeowners were overpaid through no fault of their own. On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed into law the FAA Reauthorization Act, which included text from the Disaster Assistance Fairness and Accountability Act, a bill Kathleen co-led with Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-New Jersey) that establishes a three-year statute of limitations for FEMA to claw-back household and individual assistance.
RECOVERY GRANTS & ADVOCACY
Kathleen’s office has been aggressive in helping local municipalities and organizations throughout the district win various grants for a variety of recovery projects, while also shining a spotlight on a number of persisting Sandy-related issues.
In February 2015, Kathleen announced that the City of Long Beach was awarded nearly $3 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Sandy Emergency relief funds to for the purchase of eight buses and vehicles after much of the city’s transportation infrastructure was destroyed by the storm. A month later, Kathleen announced that the Lawrence Union Free School District would be awarded $2.6 million in federal relief funding for repairs to Lawrence High School in Cedarhurst, which was forced to close after sustaining heavy damage during Sandy.
In July 2015, Kathleen, publicly called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to approve South Nassau Communities Hospital’s request to open and operate a 24-hour Emergency Services Department in Long Beach after weeks of delay. Long Beach had been without an Emergency Department since the Long Beach Medical Center was forced to close after Sandy. As a result of Kathleen’s advocacy and collaboration with partners at the federal, state and local levels, the facility received federal approval and opened its doors on August 10th, 2015.
Kathleen has also worked with other State and federal officials to secure tens of millions of dollars in recovery funds for several school districts in her community, allowing students to return to their classrooms after years of repairs.
In April 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction on the Long Beach Coastal Storm Risk Reduction Project. This project was fully funded by the federal government at $130 million, and it included the rehabilitation of 18 groins, construction of 4 new groins, and placement of 3.2 million cubic yards of new sand to widen the beach and strengthen dunes. Kathleen continues to work closely with officials from the Army Corps to ensure that the project’s functional elements are inspected annually and maintained to last for many years to come.
During her time in Congress, Kathleen has helped secure more than $90 million in resiliency and recovery funds for NY-04.
FEMA REFORM
Victims of Superstorm Sandy have faced numerous and unexpected roadblocks throughout their recovery process. Unable to live in their homes but lacking the funds to rebuild them, hundreds of families were left in limbo, and many felt abandoned or cheated by the one government agency that was designed to help them. In response, Kathleen has called for an independent examination of the National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA's oversight processes. It’s critical that we understand what went wrong during the Sandy claims process to ensure victims of future storms get the help they need to move with their lives.
In November 2015, Kathleen and Congressman Dan Donovan (R-Staten Island) introduced the Flood Insurance Transparency and Accountability Act of 2015, bipartisan legislation that increases transparency and accountability in the NFIP and helps ensure that victims are protected against fraud and have the information, guidance and support they need to get the money they deserve.
In October 2018, Kathleen and Congressman Peter King (R-Long Island) introduced the Transparent Disaster Relief Act, bipartisan legislation that would better inform disaster survivors about which forms of federal assistance could be considered duplicative and result in a recoupment or, claw-back. The bill also requires the federal government to automatically provide disaster survivors with clear information on how they determine recoupment amounts.
CLIMATE CHANGE
For those of us who lived through Superstorm Sandy, there is no question that climate change is real, and there is no doubt that if we fail to significantly reduce carbon pollution, sea levels will keep rising and we will experience more frequent and more intense extreme weather events in the future. Kathleen is committed to taking aggressive action to reverse the effects of climate change, and she knows it’s not only necessary to protect our communities on Long Island – it’s also a tremendous economic opportunity. Investing in clean energy sources like wind and solar power will create good green jobs on Long Island and position ourselves as a national leader in the transition away from fossil fuels.
After decades of stagnant wages and rising costs of living, millions of American workers continue to reach retirement age without enough savings to pay their bills. Without Social Security, more than 40 percent of retired Americans would be living in poverty – with it, retirees in this country can live with dignity in their final years. Kathleen is committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security so that this critical program can continue to protect our most vulnerable citizens for generations to come.
Oppose Privatization: Kathleen will fight back against all efforts to privatize Social Security and dismantle the most effective, financially healthy social insurance program we have in this country.
Oppose Benefit Cuts: Recent proposals would unnecessarily slash benefits paid to all workers, even those living below the poverty line. This would be especially devastating to women and people of color, who disproportionately work in low-wage industries and do not have access to retirement plans through their job. Kathleen knows there are fairer, more effective ways to ensure the financial health of the Social Security program, and she will continue to fight back against attempts to balance the budget on the backs of seniors, disabled workers, and low-wage earners.
Improve Cost-of-Living Adjustments:The cost of living keeps rising, and, without adequate support, too many seniors struggle to make ends meet. Kathleen will work to improve the annual cost-of-living adjustment formula so that it better reflects the reality of rising health care costs and ensures that beneficiaries can live with dignity and access the high-quality medical care that they need and deserve.
Eliminate the Government Pension Offset & Windfall Elimination Requirement: Kathleen is a cosponsor of H.R. 141, the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate the government pension offset and windfall elimination provision so government workers and their families aren’t short changed their earned benefits because of their years of public service.
Prevent Improper Payments: Kathleen is an original cosponsor of H.R. 2543, the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which directs the Social Security Commissioner to provide better information about deceased Social Security beneficiaries in order to ensure that the government does not continue making payments to deceased individuals. This bipartisan legislation is a common-sense way to prevent fraud and wasteful spending, protect taxpayer dollars, and guarantee that benefits will be there for the people who need them.
Medicare allows millions of Americans, including 100,000 in our district alone, to access affordable, high-quality health care services. Kathleen will keep working to protect and improve Medicare so that it remains effective and financially secure for future generations.
Ensure Access to High-quality, Affordable Healthcare: The Medicare program is the best tool we have to control rising healthcare costs and ensure that wealth and privilege are not prerequisites for quality medical care in America. Kathleen will work to keep it that way – by opposing efforts that would cut benefits, shift a greater share of costs onto beneficiaries, or convert Medicare to a privatized voucher system.
Fair Pay for Physicians: In March, 2015, Kathleen voted for H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which passed in the House with broad bipartisan support and was signed into law on April 16, 2015. H.R. 2 fixed the flawed Medicare physician reimbursement system, which for years had threatened to severely cut payments to physicians and erode the quality of care provided to patients covered by Medicare. The bipartisan passage of H.R. 2 ensured that doctors receive fair pay for the services they provide without over-burdening the Medicare beneficiaries who rely on those services.
Solve the Physician Shortage: Thanks to the success of the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans who had long been uninsured or under-insured now have access to affordable health insurance. But at the same time, the national shortage of primary- and specialty-care physicians and other medical professionals means that many Americans still struggle to see a doctor when they’re sick. Recognizing that Congress must act to address this shortage, Kathleen is a cosponsor of the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act, which would fund 15,000 new Medicare Graduate Medical Education slots over five years. Teaching hospitals and academic medical centers play a vital role in New York State, and this bill will help New York recruit and retain our country’s brightest young doctors.
When men and women step up and risk their lives to serve our country and protect the American people, they do so trusting that they will have our complete and unwavering support after they’ve completed their service – and ensuring that we fulfill this promise is one of Kathleen’s highest priorities.
As a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Kathleen is working to improve the services and support that we provide to our nation’s veterans and advocating for critical reforms within the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) to ensure that all American veterans have access to the benefits and high-quality, comprehensive health care that they need and deserve.
JOBS & EDUCATION
While we’ve seen significant progress in reducing the veteran unemployment rate, far too many veterans, particularly post-9/11 veterans, remain unemployed. That is, first and foremost, a failure to fulfill our responsibility to support veterans as they transition to civilian life – but it’s also a missed opportunity. American veterans have received the best training the world has to offer. They’re highly skilled and uniquely experienced, and they have the potential to adapt their training, skills, and experience to thrive in the civilian workforce. They don’t need charity or a handout – they just need the opportunity to contribute to our economy.
Kathleen started working to tackle veteran unemployment as soon as she was sworn into Congress in 2015. The first bill she introduced, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE) Act, will increase veteran employment at companies that compete for VA contracts. The BRAVE Act authorizes the VA Secretary when awarding federal contracts, to give preference to companies with high concentrations of full-time veteran employees, rewarding contractors who actively invest in veterans and creating an incentive for others to do the same. This bipartisan legislation passed in the House with widespread support in both the 114th and 115th Congresses. In June 2019, the BRAVE Act (H.R. 2109) was passed in the House for the 116th Congress. Kathleen is working to have it taken up in the Senate and sent to the President for his signature.
In August 2017, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act (H.R. 3218), also known as the Forever GI Bill, was signed into law. Kathleen was an original cosponsor of this bill, which improved and expanded GI Bill benefits granted to veterans, their surviving spouses and dependents. In the 116th Congress, Kathleen is working to expand educational and job training benefits to ensure that veterans have the tools they need to effectively transition to civilian life.
HEALTH CARE
Kathleen is working to expand VA’s capacity to meet the rising demand for health care brought on by an aging veteran population and an influx of new veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Veterans Affairs must be prepared to meet the needs of today’s diverse population of veterans. Kathleen believes we must be particularly committed to expanding access to specialized mental health care for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other combat-derived mental illnesses. Congress must make it a priority to ensure that veterans with combat-derived mental health illnesses have immediate access to the best care available. Effective implementation and oversight of VA’s new Veterans Community Care Program will remain a top priority for the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in this Congress. Enacted in June 2018, the VA MISSION Act (S. 2372) consolidated the VA Choice Program with the Department’s other private-sector care programs into a single, comprehensive community care system that will provide eligible veterans access to private health care networks.
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act: On June 25, 2019, the Blue Water Navy Veterans Act (H.R. 299) was signed into law. Kathleen was an original cosponsor of H.R. 299, which created a presumption of herbicide exposure, including Agent Orange, to allow disability compensation for veterans who served aboard naval vessels offshore of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This historic law was the culmination of a decades-long bipartisan effort in Congress to properly recognize these veterans’ claims and grant them the justice they deserved.
WOMEN VETERANS
Women represent the fastest-growing cohort of today’s military and veteran populations. Over 345,000 women service members have deployed since 9/11, and the population of women veterans is expected to increase over the next decades. Today, there are over 2 million women veterans who have bravely served our country.
Kathleen is working to address the unique challenges servicewomen and women veterans face.
In the 116th Congress, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs launched a new bipartisan Women Veterans Task Force. As a member of this task force, Kathleen is supporting efforts to promote inclusivity and equitable access to resources, benefits, and healthcare for women veterans. Kathleen is also a member of the Servicewomen & Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, a new caucus launched in the 116th Congress specifically geared toward addressing issues facing America’s servicewomen and women veterans.
In May 2019, Kathleen introduced the Honoring All Veterans Act (H.R. 3010), a bipartisan bill that would update the VA motto to be more inclusive of women veterans and today’s veteran population. The current motto was adopted by VA 60 years ago and is a quotation from President Lincoln that reads: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” The Honoring All Veterans Act replaces the outdated motto with a modernized version of the original wording, which reads: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.” Updating the VA motto would signify an important acknowledgment of today’s veteran population and mark a powerful commitment to promoting a culture at VA that respects all veterans.
HOMELESSNESS
It is disgraceful that even one American veteran should be forced to live on the streets after risking their lives to protect our country. On Long Island and all across the country, thousands of veterans are homeless on any given night, and thousands more are at high risk of becoming homeless. Kathleen is working to ensure that every American veteran has access to affordable housing.
In March 2019, Kathleen led a letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services to request robust funding in support of the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) for FY 2020. The appropriations bill (H.R. 2740) passed in June included $60 million for HVRP, an increase of $10 million above the 2019 enacted level and the President’s budget request. Additionally, the Department of Labor announced that two organizations serving homeless veterans on Long Island were awarded federal funding through HVRP grants for 2019.
VA REFORM
Kathleen is working to make crucial reforms within VA so that all American veterans receive the benefits, services and comprehensive support that they deserve. Over the first half of this year, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has been investigating several troubling allegations of mismanagement, abuse of taxpayer dollars, and a glaring lack of accountability for VA officials who commit wrongdoing. Kathleen will keep working to hold VA officials accountable for their actions, improve oversight and transparency within VA, and implement reforms so that the department works better for the veterans they serve.
TOUGH & SMART APPROACH TO HOMELAND SECURITY
As a former state and federal prosecutor, Kathleen worked throughout her career to show that law enforcement can be tougher and smarter – matching aggressive enforcement with innovative crime-reduction strategies, utilizing new technologies and intelligence-driven investigations, and forming strong community partnerships to help prevent crime.
In Congress, protecting our country remains Kathleen’s top priority, and as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, she is a vocal advocate for a tougher and smarter approach to fighting terrorism and protecting our country. Kathleen knows we must be prepared to do whatever it takes to defeat anyone who threatens the American people and our interests and allies abroad, and we must do so in the smartest way possible – utilizing advanced technology and intelligence tools to target and attack our enemies, supporting our international partners in their efforts to combat terrorists, and developing innovative strategies for countering radicalization around the world.
ELECTION SECURITY
Our elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and Russia’s interference in the 2016 Presidential Election should have been a wakeup call that Congress needed to make election security needs to be a top, bipartisan priority. And Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into President Trump’s campaign only further confirmed what we already knew and feared – that Russia launched a sweeping and systematic effort to interfere in and influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
Since 2016, Kathleen has been vocal in her support of stronger election security measures, and has strongly opposed President Trump’s attempts to delegitimize and undermine our government’s efforts to secure our elections and hold Russia accountable for their actions.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: In November 2018, the Administration established the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Formerly known as the National Protection and Programs Directorate. As a Member of the Homeland Security Committee, Kathleen helped to introduce and pass the legislation that officially changed the agency’s name and policy priorities to focus on cybersecurity and protecting our critical infrastructure.
Election Security Legislation: Since January of 2017, Kathleen has cosponsored several critical pieces of legislation that would bolster our election security capabilities at the federal and state level, including legislation that provides funding and support to local election boards to secure their vulnerable infrastructure.
In March 2019 Congress passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which enacted critical election security measures to protect the integrity of our democratic process. Kathleen was an original cosponsor of H.R. 1, which passed by a vote of 234-193. Among other measures, this H.R. 1 would:
In June 2019 Congress took further action to safeguard our elections form foreign interference and hacking by passing the Securing America's Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, for which Kathleen was also an original cosponsor. The SAFE Act would enact several steps to ensure our election systems are safe from hostile foreign actors, including:
Election Security Coordinator: In July 2018, Kathleen and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) led a bipartisan group of members in urging President Trump to appoint an Election Security Coordinator within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to oversee and organize all U.S. election security efforts across the federal government. Even after overwhelming definitive evidence that Russia meddled in our elections, our federal government still lacks a centralized approach to combating this continued and growing threat. Currently, there are multiple federal agencies, task forces and commissions working to counter foreign interference and electronic hacking in our elections, but there is no formal government entity responsible for facilitating inter-agency coordination or ensuring government-wide information sharing and cooperation. The threat of continued election interference is urgent and real, and these agencies cannot do their jobs effectively if they are working in a silo. An Election Security Coordinator would consolidate our election security strategy and bring federal agencies together to combat all forms of election meddling in an organized and concerted manner. Their letter can be found here.
BORDER SECURITY
As the Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation and Operations, Kathleen is committed to holding the Trump administration accountable for its inhumane border and immigration policies, while also ensuring that the men and women of Customs (CBP) and Border Protection have the resources and support they need to facilitate legitimate trade and travel .
Oversight: Over the last two years, Kathleen has led several trips to the southern border to conduct oversight of the Trump Administration’s harmful immigration policies.
Family Separation: In June 2018, at the height of the Trump Administration’s family separation policy, Kathleen joined a bipartisan group of members on a visit to a detention facility in Tornillo, Texas where hundreds of separated children were being held. During her visit she also met with CBP and HHS officials who were charged with caring for the minors. Kathleen was vocal in her opposition to this policy and called for the President to halt all further family separations. As a direct result of this policy, Kathleen called for former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign.
Conditions at Detention Facilities: In 2019, Kathleen led two separate oversight visits to the southern border in her capacity as Chair of the Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation and Operations. Both trips were part of the Committee’s efforts to conduct oversight of the conditions in which migrants and asylum seekers were being held and CBP operations at various ports of entry. The delegations also met with local officials and non-profit organizations working to support migrants families and children in the area. Kathleen visited detention facilities in El Paso, Brownsville, and McAllen, Texas where they inspected conditions, met with migrants and asylum seekers and heard from CBP officials.
Border Security Legislation: Kathleen has introduced and supported several pieces of legislation that would ensure oversight and accountability for this administration's policies at the southern border.
The Rescinding DHS’ Waiver Authority for Border Wall Act (H.R. 1232): In light of President Trump's repeated attempts to build a wall along protected parts of the southern border, Kathleen introduced H.R. 1232, which would strike a 2005 law that allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to unilaterally waive all local, state, and federal laws to expedite construction of border barriers. DHS has used this authority to waive important environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act to build new border barriers in multiple locations across the southern border.
The Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody Act (H.R.3239): Kathleen was an original cosponsor of the Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody Act, which was passed in the aftermath of a DHS Office of Inspector General report that exposed the inhumane and dangerous conditions in which thousands of migrants were being held. The bill, which passed the House in July 2019 by a vote of 233-195, would require CBP to enact strict safety and hygiene standards for migrants in their custody. Under H.R.3239, CBP would be required to conduct health screenings, provide emergency care and ensure access to medication, translators and emergency transportation for migrants in their care. The legislation would also ensure clean drinking water, toilets, waste disposal and hygiene products are made available, in addition to implementing nutrition and shelter standards.
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY
As the former top Democrat on the Transportation Security Subcommittee, Kathleen has been a leader in the effort to strengthen the security of our nation’s aviation and ground transportation sectors, which are and will always be top targets for terrorists.
Enhanced screening for airport workers: After several high-profile incidents in which airport and airline workers smuggled weapons, drugs and other dangerous items past airport security and onto commercial flights, Kathleen and Subcommittee Chairman John Katko (R-NY) introduced H.R. 3102, the Airport Access Control Security Improvement Act of 2015, which streamlines and strengthens TSA’s vetting and screening procedures for airport and airline employees. The bill passed the House in 2018 as part of the 5-year FAA reauthorization bill.
Maintaining TSA Screening Equipment: In May 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General issued a report that found that TSA’s failure to maintain sensitive screening technology threatened the life of the equipment, which could force TSA to rely on less effective equipment, creating significant security risks. In light of this report, Kathleen authored H.R. 2770, the Keeping Our Travelers Safe and Secure Act, which TSA to develop and implement a comprehensive preventive maintenance process for airport screening equipment, including specific maintenance schedules, guidance for TSA personnel and contractors on how to conduct and document maintenance actions, mechanisms to ensure compliance, and penalties for noncompliance. The bill also passed the House in 2018 as part of the 5-year FAA reauthorization bill.
Sounding Alarm on Chinese State-Owned Rail Car Manufacturer: In May 2019, Kathleen led a New York Delegation letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) expressing concerns over a Chinese state-owned company’s plan to design a new set of subway cars. Over the past five years, a Chinese state-owned enterprise has won four major contracts to build metro cars for transit systems across the United States. These rail cars would include modern train control technology, Wi-Fi, and other systems that could be susceptible to cyber-attack, hacking, or left vulnerable to backdoors in key systems. Kathleen sent specific questions to the MTA regarding the agency's cybersecurity protocols and whether it has conducted a threat assessment of these companies. With millions of passengers riding on the New York City Subway system every day, it is important that we take steps to ensure the integrity of our systems and mitigate any cyber risks before attacks happen.
LOCAL HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS AND PROGRAMS
Throughout her time in Congress, Kathleen has fought to protect and expand several Department of Homeland Security grants and programs that support local law enforcement agencies and vulnerable non-profit organizations, such as mosques and synagogues.
Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP): The NSGP provides funding through the Department of Homeland Security to support target hardening and other physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist attack. The program also promotes emergency preparedness collaboration among nonprofit organizations, local community leaders and broader state and local government agencies.
Over the past five years, Kathleen has helped nearly 40 Jewish community organizations in NY-04 secure more than $4 million in federal funding for critical security enhancements to their facilities. This funding helps support critical security enhancements at organizations like these, such as forced-entry-resistant technology, security-modified doors, alarm systems, and surveillance cameras. These grants have provided thousands of organizations and communities across this country with the safety they need and the peace of mind they deserve.
Kathleen has written to both the Obama and Trump Administrations to ensure funding for this grant is included in inclusion in multiple Homeland Security appropriation bills and has consistently cosponsored legislation to authorize NSPG funds.
National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL): NUSTL directly supports first responders in New York City, Nassau County and in cities across the country by testing and evaluating new technologies and systems that would be used in the event of a terrorist threat, industrial accident or natural disaster. NUSTL is constantly developing and testing new tools for first responders to use in the event of a terrorist attack, industrial accident or natural disaster. NUSTL organizes simulated scenarios with first responders to test new emergency systems, sponsors research for cutting-edge technology and works with first responders in the field to evaluate and assist with new tools. It is the only lab in this country that is focused entirely on helping first responders carry out their mission.
After the Trump Administration twice proposed eliminating NUSTL in its FY 2019 and 2020 budget proposals, Kathleen introduced and passed H.R.542, the Supporting Research and Development for First Responders Act, which would permanently authorize the NUSTL and protect it from future funding cuts. H.R.542 passed the House on June 10th, 2019 by a vote of 395-3.
The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI): UASI assists high-threat, high-density urban areas in efforts to build and sustain the capabilities necessary to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism. The UASI program provides funding to local law enforcement agencies in these areas in an effort to help them acquire the training and equipment they need to build these mitigation and response capabilities. The NYPD, FDNY and Nassau County Police Department have all received substantial support through the UASI program.
Kathleen has strongly opposed funding cuts to UASI and has helped ensure that the program remains fully funded in annual DHS appropriations bills.
CLIMATE CHANGE & NATIONAL SECURITY
Kathleen knows that climate change and our dependence on fossil fuels are not only threats to our environment and public health – they’re threats to our national security. Our military leaders aren’t waiting around for politicians to stop debating whether or not climate change is real – they know it’s real, and they’re taking action, leading the transition towards alternative energy sources and more diverse, more resilient power grids. Right now, our dependence on fossil fuels places an enormous burden on our servicemembers operating around the world. American troops on the ground are forced to spend massive amounts of time, effort and resources delivering, retrieving and protecting fuel – and that leaves them in danger. In the Iraq War, between 2003 and 2007, one out of eight U.S. Army casualties was killed while protecting fuel convoys.
That’s the burden that climate change and fossil fuel dependence are imposing on our military, and it’s only going to get heavier as fossil fuel emissions continue to lead to rising sea levels and more frequent, more intense extreme weather events. When Superstorm Sandy struck Long Island, we got a glimpse of the extreme weather events that we’ll see more frequently if we fail to take action to combat climate change. We saw the vulnerabilities of our power grid and critical infrastructure, and we saw how the military responds to help recover from such events. And if climate change continues at its current pace, our military will be forced to devote more and more people, more and more money, and more and more time to assist with recovery efforts – leaving them with fewer resources to protect our country from all the other threats to our national security. That’s why Kathleen is working to raise awareness of the national security risks of climate change so that we follow the military’s lead and take a unified, comprehensive approach to developing renewable energy sources and clean technology.
While our economy has made significant progress since the recession, Kathleen knows that too many people still aren’t feeling the benefits of our nation’s economic recovery. Too many people are struggling to make ends meet, seeing little to no wage growth while costs of living keep rising. Middle-class families are still feeling financially insecure, and those striving to reach the middle class are finding it harder and harder to get there.
Kathleen believes this is a critical moment for our economy. We have the opportunity to restore the strength of the middle class, create good middle-class jobs, boost wages for working families and lay the foundation for long-term economic growth and enhanced competitiveness in the 21st century economy. Kathleen is working to seize that opportunity by advocating for a forward-looking economic agenda that supports small business growth and innovation, invests in our workforce, and capitalizes on opportunities to create jobs and boost wages by selling more American products and services to customers overseas.
SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH
It’s often said that small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and that’s especially true for our district’s local economy. Small businesses are the driving force of job growth and economic development in communities across our district, and Kathleen is working to advance policies that help small businesses grow and foster an innovative environment in which more entrepreneurs come to our district to start their companies. Kathleen also recognizes that one of the best ways we can enhance the competitiveness of small businesses is by reforming our outdated tax code, which often burdens small businesses while corporations benefit from loopholes that encourage companies to outsource jobs and keep profits overseas. Kathleen supports comprehensive tax reform and will continue working to bring our tax code into the 21st century and eliminate loopholes that hurt our economy and put small businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
INVEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY & CLEAN TECHNOLOGY
Climate change is a major threat to our national security, our environment, and to our economy – but it also presents us with a tremendous opportunity to grow our local economy. Long Island has the potential to be a national leader in clean energy production, which will create good, green jobs and new opportunities in our district. Kathleen knows we need to capitalize on that potential by making aggressive investments in clean energy sources like wind and solar power, and she will continue working to advance policies that reduce costs for clean technology manufacturers so they can expand their operations and create good local jobs.
INVEST IN THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE
Our country was built by the best workforce in the world, and we have to make it a priority to making smart investments to ensure that American workers have the knowledge, skills and experience they need to succeed in our changing global economy. Kathleen supports expanding skills and technological training, particularly in the fields of renewable energy and clean technology so that workers on Long Island can help lead the transition away from fossil fuels. Kathleen is also a vocal advocate for enhanced science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to better prepare American students to compete for the best jobs in the 21st century economy.
INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE
Repairing our country’s critical infrastructure is an economic imperative that has enormous potential to create good middle-class jobs and lay the foundation for long-term economic growth. Here in New York, our crumbling roads and bridges cost New York drivers billions of dollars a year, and costs us all even more in lost productivity and missed opportunities. Rebuilding our infrastructure must be done, and we all stand to benefit. Kathleen will continue fighting for aggressive infrastructure investments that will create good jobs – jobs that pay more equitable wages than other occupations, according to U.S. employment data – as well as promote greater efficiency and long-term growth, support American manufacturing and boost exports of American-made goods to international customers.