Defending Democracy
Simply put, I am in this race because of the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. As a Marine, I swore an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution, and I am committed to upholding that oath every day in Congress. By contrast, one of my opponent’s first votes as a new Congresswoman was to overturn a free and fair election. This country deserves better.
I will work every day to protect this country, and ensure that my children grow up in a free and fair democracy.
Voting Rights
For too long, elected leaders in Austin and in Washington have made it harder for Americans to vote. In Congress, I will work to make it easier for every Texan to have their voice heard.
Our fundamental rights should not depend on our skin color or our neighborhood, but since the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision to gut the Voting Rights Act, too many Americans of color have seen their rights restricted. We need to restore the VRA by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
The economy & fighting for working families
As the son of a union worker and a dental assistant, and as the first in my family to graduate from college, I know firsthand what the American dream can look like for families when it works. The problem is that for too long, the American dream has been too out of reach for too many families.
In Congress, I will work every day to ensure that our North Texas economy continues to grow – but that it grows in a fair and equitable way, and that it includes protections for workers and for families. I believe in expanding access to paid leave, which should go hand in hand with good paying jobs here in Texas.
And because you can’t grow the economy of tomorrow on crumbling infrastructure, I believe we need to keep investing in our infrastructure, whether that’s roads & bridges or increasing access to high speed, reliable internet.
Healthcare
I believe that Americans, regardless of which job they have or their income, should be entitled to affordable, quality health care – and that includes strong protections for women’s health care.
The first step to fixing our healthcare system should be to lower costs for all Texans, including lowering prescription drug costs for seniors. We also need to ensure that every Texan has access to quality, affordable care where they live, which means we need to support our community health facilities and rural hospitals.
Protecting Seniors
Every senior deserves to retire with dignity. Social Security is a promise we have made to our workers for decades, and we need to make sure it’s still there for future generations.
In Congress, I will never support cuts to Social Security, and I will work to ensure the fund is solvent without hurting workers’ ability to retire in dignity. I will also oppose any cut to Medicare, and will work to lower the eligibility age.
Protecting Choice
Women deserve full access to their reproductive rights and health care, full stop. In DC, I will work every day to ensure we pass the Women’s Health Protection Act into law and ensure that women’s rights are protected.
Education
Our children’s education should not depend on their zip code or on their parents’ income. Every North Texas child deserves a quality education, regardless of where they live. Early education is so critical, and I fully support expanding universal access to pre-K for 3- and 4-year olds.
We also need to stand up for our teachers and make sure they can teach safely and without fear of bullying or violence. The kind of vitriol we have been seeing has no place in our society, and we need to ensure teachers and our children are safe in schools. I believe our kids are best served when parents and teachers work together for the best outcomes for our students, and I will promote that in Congress.
In order to ensure our kids graduate into good paying jobs, I support making technical and trade education more accessible to all who want it.
Environment
I fully believe the science behind climate change and think it is a pressing problem for all of humanity. My military background has also allowed me to see how critical energy is to our national security.
When I was in the Marine Corps, one of my missions in Iraq was to help locate roadside bombs, which were the number one killer of our troops in Iraq. The roadside bombs were largely targeting our slow-moving convoy and these convoys were necessary to transport oil to our fuel-dependent forces. Having a fuel-dependent military made us vulnerable on the battlefield. Because of that, not only do I think that climate change is a pressing problem, I also believe that the technology to solve it can help our military forces be self-reliant and expose themselves to less risk on future battlefields.
Climate change and the environment are national security issues, and I believe that looking at it through that lens will help me make progress on advancing climate legislation in a gridlocked Congress.
Immigration
I believe that we need a secure border, but we need a compassionate immigration system. For centuries, immigrants have made America a better place, and here in North Texas, we know that immigrants are pillars of our economy.
Beyond that, I also believe that we need to address the root causes of mass migration. The United States has a role to play on the world stage, and as someone who served my country for much of my life, I am deeply proud of that role. We must not step back from that role.
Veterans
After our country was attacked on 9/11, I signed up for the Marine Corps on an ROTC Scholarship and spent 13 years in the military until I was medically discharged.
One of my top priorities in Congress will be supporting servicemembers and their families and the veteran community. We owe our veterans quality health care when they come home – which also means ensuring easy access to VA facilities regardless of where our veterans live, and making sure our veterans’ hospitals are well-staffed. The median age of our country’s hospitals in the private sector is 11 years; however, the median age of a VA hospital is 58 years. This is unacceptable. We need to invest in our veterans and ensure we are there for them, as they were there for us.