Growing up in what now is California’s Fifteenth Congressional District taught Eric Swalwell a lot about hard work, strong principles, and planning for a brighter future.
The oldest of four boys and son to Eric Sr., a retired police officer, and Vicky, who works as an administrative assistant, Swalwell was raised and attended public schools in the East Bay. A Division I soccer scholarship was his ticket to becoming the first person in his family to go to college. During college, he worked as an unpaid intern in the office of his representative, Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, and so was on Capitol Hill on September 11, 2001. This inspired his first legislative achievement: using his Student Government Association position to create a public-private college scholarship program for students who lost parents in the attacks.
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.