Issues
Our economy has not seen such turmoil since the 1930s. As our financial system struggles and our housing markets contract, too many jobs have been lost and too many families are teetering on fiscal calamity. At a time when the private markets are not responding, it is essential that the government aggressively address this problem.
First, we must take swift action to assist families as they work through a difficult financial period. Increases to vital health care programs, food and energy assistance, and unemployment compensation are essential for American families. While temporary assistance is vital, we must also focus on making sure a families’ long-term investment - for many, their home - is protected. This means a partnership between the public and private sector to help families stay in their homes through lower mortgage rates and reasonable monthly payments. By protecting this foundation, we can help ensure this economic downturn doesn’t turn into permanent poverty for today’s middle class families.
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Manufacturing has made the American economy the most vibrant and successful in the world. American manufacturers are known throughout the world to have highest quality goods, made by the best workers. These manufacturing jobs are the back bone of the American middle class, and have provided an economic ladder to millions of American families here in Connecticut.
Since World War II, manufacturing jobs have declined from 40% of domestic employment, to just 11% today. One of the reasons for this decline is the continued reliance on foreign firms, who exploit their workers and destroy the environment in the name of cost-savings. We can not allow the American worker to be caught in a “race-to-the-bottom” where we sacrifice our values and way of life.
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I support health care reform because I believe that quality, affordable health care coverage should be a right, not a privilege available only to those who can afford it. I truly believe that a national system of health care can insure every American and cost us less than our current bloated and inefficient “sick care” system.
As the former Chairman of the Connecticut Public Health Committee, I have made the fight for increased access to health care for the people of Connecticut my defining mission as a public servant. In the State Senate, I wrote and passed legislation banning smoking from the workplace, ending overly aggressive bill collection practices by health care providers, and investing in low cost prescription drug programs. In 2005, I authored Connecticut’s landmark Stem Cell Investment Act, marking the first time a state legislature had invested funds in stem cell research.
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In a time of across-the-board budget cuts, education services for our nation’s youth are at risk, and a college education seems out of reach for more and more Americans. Yet, the economic climate has magnified the importance of access to high quality education in developing a globally competitive, 21st century workforce. That is why I have fought, and will continue to fight, to ensure that young children enter school ready to learn and that our students have the resources, support, and quality education they need to become successful adults.
The Republicans in Congress have made clear with devastating budget proposals that they think deficit reduction should rest of the futures of our children. However, I have voted for lifeline funding like the historic $100 billion investment in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund to help stave off the need for damaging cuts in public education, such as shortening the school week and greatly increasing class sizes, and an 37% increase of the federal Pell Grant over the past four years.
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Despite all the successes achieved by the fight for gender equality during the last 100 years, social conservatives have now renewed their fight to roll back gains made for women’s health and economic equality. The right to choose is under attack, access to affordable quality healthcare and reproductive services is out of reach for a growing number of American women, gender-based violence persists, and women are still paid less than their male counterparts. That is why I have stood up for women and fought to correct injustices that still exist in our society.
With the unwavering belief that our nation’s Constitution protects the right to privacy and a woman’s autonomy over her own body, I have a voting record and moral compass that is unequivocally pro-choice.
In addition to fighting against efforts that chip away at Roe v. Wade and deny access to a safe and legal medical procedure, I also am a firm supporter of comprehensive sex education and family planning services, including for low income women, to help prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place. In the face of the current egregious attacks and misinformation campaigns by the Republicans, my commitment to using my position to stand-up for choice and protect women’s health is as strong as ever.
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Let me be clear and simple: LGBT rights are human rights. Marriage equality and nondiscrimination in the military, workplace, classroom and healthcare system, based on real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, are civil rights that must be protected under law.
In fact, I wear as a kind of badge of honor my inclusion as a member of the so-called, “Terrible Ten” - the first ten Connecticut state legislators to sign on as co-sponsor of the civil union bill that passed through the General Assembly in 2005. I am thrilled that today in Connecticut same-sex couples can legally marry, as they also can in five other states and the District of Columbia.
I will continue to support efforts to make equality the law of the land, and stand up against Republican-led attacks to deny personal civil liberties to members of the LGBT or any other community. It is not the government’s place to tell Americans who they can and cannot love.
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Multinational oil and gas companies are earning record profits while hardworking Americans are struggling to put gas in their tanks. This is unacceptable.
For too long, Washington politicians allowed lobbyists for the major oil and gas companies to write our country’s energy policy. This practice has both hurt the pocketbooks of 5th district residents and prevented America from leading the way on renewable energy development. I am committed to supporting legislation that would provide relief to the countless Americans struggling to cope with runaway energy prices and make long term policy changes to end our harmful dependence on foreign oil.
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It was environmental advocacy that first stimulated my interest in politics. As a teenager, I volunteered to clean up our Connecticut River riverfront, thinking that it was such a shame that our government didn’t do more to prevent that type of pollution. I have carried that belief into government. My first real political battle was over an environmental issue. As a 24-year-old member of my local Planning and Zoning Commission, I became involved in a local movement to oppose the placement of a giant power plant on fragile wetlands. The system, it seemed, was broken. Local residents and town governments were not being given the authority needed to ensure that their precious natural resources would be preserved.
My neighbors and I called on our State Representative to assist us in our fight, but he failed us. So, I decided to run for the General Assembly myself. I challenged that State Representative, and when I won, the first bill I introduced was legislation empowering local governments in protecting delicate wetlands against power plant development.
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Restoring the public’s trust in government was a principal reason I decided to run for Congress in 2006, and it continues to be my driving force as I serve the Fifth Congressional District.
I believe that government can have a positive influence on people’s lives. Unfortunately, the culture of cronyism that prevailed in Washington in recent years alienated many and created a collective skepticism about government. I am committed to shaping a government that all American middle class can believe in again—one that works for them.
That is why I have been a strong advocate for ethics reform in Congress. In May of 2007, I organized 21 freshman members to voice support for an independent, citizens ethics panel to vet, initiate, and conduct investigations. Despite tremendous resistance from the powerful Washington status quo, a bill that I championed establishing an independent ethics panel passed the House on March 11, a major victory in the fight to cleanup Washington.
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The war in Afghanistan has taken a turn for the worse in recent years, largely because of a lack of attention by the previous administration which instead turned its attention to Iraq. Insurgent activity has surged and suicide bombing - a tactic previous unheard of in Afghanistan - have taken its toll on the war effort and the hearts and minds of the Afghani people. Once thought vanquished in the wake of the coalition invasion, the Taliban has since regrouped into a powerful and canny insurgency, launching record numbers of attacks on foreign troops.
I believe we need to refocus our efforts in Afghanistan to stifle the drug trade, work with tribal leaders to suppress the insurgency and help bolster the country’s flagging economy. On a recent trip to Afghanistan, I was told by an Afghani official that a truck transporting agricultural goods from northern Afghanistan to the border with Pakistan will be stopped, on average, 27 times by bandits and government officials seeking bribes. This is unacceptable, and has to change in order for Afghanistan to become stable.
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We have made a promise to our veterans, and I will always uphold my part of fulfilling that promise. This nation has sworn, as Abraham Lincoln said: “to care for him who shall have borne the battle.” Therefore, no veteran should go a night without a bed or a day without the best medical care, and I have spent my time in Congress focusing on exactly that. My office has helped hundreds of Connecticut veterans get the benefits they earned by working diligently with the state and federal Veterans Administrations. Whether it is helping to navigate a disability claim or recover a lost or stolen medal, I am always ready to use my office as an advocate for Connecticut veterans.
One of my first actions in Congress was to reaffirm my commitment to adequate veterans funding. I immediately helped pass the largest funding increase in the 77 year history of the Veterans’ Administration (VA), reflecting our commitment to increasing access to healthcare, improving benefits and streamlining case management.
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