Issues

We’re at a critical juncture in our country today. Too many issues have gone unaddressed for too long, hurting our economy and working families. We can’t afford to keep the same failed policies and play the same partisan games that caused these problems in the first place. I support expanding economic opportunity, helping working families and small businesses, spurring job growth and being fiscally responsible. I am focused on results, not rhetoric.

In Congress My Priorities Include:

Economic Security and Rising Costs for Families

From a lack of paid leave after a child is born to the prohibitive cost of child care — in America, folks with kids just don’t receive the kind of support they need. We’re failing parents, caregivers, and families. That’s why I have been leading the fight to expand the Child Tax Credit.

Women’s Health and Security

Abortion Access  An extreme Republican supermajority on the Supreme Court has now stripped women of their constitutional right to an abortion. This is the culmination of 50 years of Republicans’ assault on women.  Millions of women have now lost the ability to make their own health care decisions. While Washington protects abortion access in law, […]

Public Safety and Police Accountability

I support investing in proven community policing and crime diversion programs to keep our streets and homes safe. We can both invest in our local police forces and demand accountability from those we count on to protect our communities.     For far too long Black Americans have faced systemic racism and injustice. The murder of […]

Health Care

We cannot go back to the days when someone could be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or when you could be charged more for coverage for simply being a woman. Health care reform needs to be a continuing conversation. We need to support health care innovation and new technologies to lower costs, and allow individuals to choose between public and private options. We must make it easier and more affordable for small businesses to provide health coverage for their employees.

Housing and Homelessness

Hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country lack access to safe, affordable housing. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 11 million households in America already paid more than half of their income in rent, while many others found housing completely out of reach—leaving them without a stable roof over their head, and often forcing them to […]

Environment and Climate Change

Taking care of our natural resources and protecting our environment is critical to maintaining the quality of life we cherish. That’s why I’ve introduced and passed legislation to protect our public lands including protecting Illabot Creek as wild and scenic and expanding the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I’ve also fought for full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a critical tool for conservation, which was included in the Great American Outdoors Act. This important bill will also help protect and preserve our national parks, including the North Cascades, by addressing the backlog in repairs and maintenance in parks and other public lands.

Immigration

Immigration reform is especially important for the 1st Congressional District. We have a border, a vibrant agricultural industry, world-leading technology and advanced manufacturing businesses and workers, families, students and entrepreneurs who are all hurting because our current system is so dysfunctional.

Infrastructure

Investing in our infrastructure is how we keep our economy moving. Billions of dollars of freight and goods move through our region, as do hundreds of thousands of workers. They all depend on safe roads, bridges and transit. As we saw with the collapse of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River, this infrastructure is fragile and any disruption to it has large, broad consequences to our economy.

Social Security

Social Security has been a building block of our middle class and a secure retirement. It’s created a social safety net and a basic level of financial security for seniors. It’s an investment we’ve all made and a promise I’m committed to protecting and strengthening for all of our seniors.

Education

A well-educated workforce is vital to our economic success. And a quality education system is the key to creating a workforce prepared for the 21st century economy. I will fight for policies that strengthen our education system focused on closing the achievement gap, raising standards and giving our teachers the support they need to help ensure that every child gets the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Digital Privacy

The revelations of secret, government surveillance programs monitoring the communications of millions of law-abiding Americans was deeply troubling, and represented a constitutional violation of the Fourth Amendment. I’ve been a leader in passing bipartisan legislation to restore innocent Americans’ online privacy rights by ending the government’s bulk collection of phone records and requiring greater transparency and oversight of NSA’s surveillance programs.

Agriculture and Food Security

Agriculture represents $49 billion of economic activity and supports 160,000 jobs in Washington state. The 1st Congressional District has an especially vibrant agriculture sector. We are home to thousands of farms that grow everything from seeds that feed the world, to berries, flowers and dairy, providing nutritious food to customers all around the globe. Supporting our farms is critical to ensuring a healthy economy in the 1st District.