COVID-19 Recovery

Our country is continuing to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. My top priority remains providing Michiganders continued support and relief throughout the public health emergency. I have called on both the Trump and Biden administrations to stand up a more robust national program for testing and masking supplies. Meanwhile, the unemployment, the lack of childcare, the inability of people to work with adequate safety measures and rights to organize, all point to the dire need for comprehensive relief from Congress. That's why I've supported several legislative actions to send critical resources and support working people.

Build Back Better

After months of intense debate, I'm proud that the Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives on November 19. 2021. Throughout tough negotiations over many months, my fellow progressive members of Congress and I stuck together and held the line with unity and strength to fight for major investments in our communities and the planet. The Build Back Better Act will aid our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and puts working families first, reduces poverty, increases funding for workforce training programs, allocates the largest-ever federal investment in housing and makes the biggest investments this country has ever made to combat climate change. I continue to work with colleagues to press for the Senate to move this legislation.

On the Education and Labor Committee, I fought to ensure that in the Build Back Better Act most families pay no more than seven percent of their income on childcare and to provide universal pre-K for three- and four-year-olds. I held a roundtable with local parents and providers to talk about how truly transformative this package will be. The Build Back Better Act will also strengthen protections for workers' safety and ability to form a union and bargain collectively by instituting meaningful fines for unfair labor practices and violations of workforce safety.

American Rescue Plan

In late February 2021, I voted to pass President Biden's American Rescue Plan to deliver long-awaited, comprehensive COVID-19 relief to the American people. The American Rescue Plan marked a turning point away from the public health and economic devastation of 2020 by providing funds to contain the coronavirus, return children safely to the classroom, send lifesaving vaccines to the people, put dollars into families' pockets and get Americans back to work. This bold recovery package also expanded the Child Tax Credit to offer increased support to American families. The benefit was made fully refundable for 2021 and the annual amount increased from the current $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for a child under age 6).

Prior to the tax credit being fully refundable, 27 million American children did not receive the full value of the $2,000 tax credit, as their parents did not earn enough money. Because of President Biden's American Rescue Plan, those families are now able to access to these critical resources. Here in the Ninth District, 114,000 qualifying children benefitted from this program and 69,000 payments were sent to parents totaling $174.2 million.

Fiscal Year 2021 Omnibus Appropriations and Coronavirus Relief Package

In December 2020, Congress passed new legislation to bring additional relief to families grappling with the effects of COVID-19. This aid came far later than it should have—my House colleagues and I voted twice to bring additional aid to Americans in May 2020 and again in October 2020. This aid extended unemployment benefits to folks who need to put food on the table, provided needed stimulus checks to help families stay afloat and ensured the critical COVID-19 vaccine we waited for got to our communities as quickly as possible.

Education

A path to the middle class starts with high quality education and job training. My America's College Promise Act was inspired by the outstanding institutions of Macomb and Oakland Community Colleges in Michigan's Ninth District. I worked with both colleges during my time as Chief Workforce Officer for the State of Michigan, helping underemployed Michiganders go back to school to earn degrees or certificates leading to in-demand jobs during the Great Recession. The America's College Promise Act would provide two years of free community college for everyone so they can do just that. I fought hard for and won the inclusion of the America's College Promise Act in the College Affordability Act, the landmark legislation that would overhaul the higher education system and lower the cost of college for students and families.

I believe education should take place in the workplace as well as the classroom. I worked closely with my colleagues on the Education and Labor Committee to update and reauthorize the National Apprenticeship Act, which would invest more than $3.5 billion over 5 years in expanding opportunities and access to apprenticeships, one of the United States' longest and most successful workforce development programs. The National Apprenticeship Act contains my STANDARDS Act, which streamlines standards for apprenticeships so that all workers receive best-in-class training on their way to good-paying careers. I also contributed an amendment to the bill to ensure organizations that speak for workers and apprentices are at the table when federal funds are used for creating new programs or expanding existing programs.

Fixing our education system will require more than making college affordable for our children. Millions of Americans today are paying off crippling amounts of student loan debt. Reducing and reforming student loan debt is vital to both the health of the economy and the well-being of current and future students. As a member of the Education and Labor Committee, I introduced and cosponsored meaningful legislation that addresses the student loan crisis.

The College Affordability Act, which I voted to pass, eases the burden of student loans by making existing student loans cheaper and easier to pay off. I also voted to pass President Biden's American Rescue Plan Act, which provides nearly $130 billion to help schools take the steps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure students and educators can return to the classroom safely. The bill also provides nearly $40 billion for institutions of higher education that are struggling to make up for lost revenue following campus closures and $39 billion in assistance to child care providers to stabilize the child care system.

In addition to this work, I have supported legislation that would send billions of dollars to schools serving low-income communities, provide badly needed funding to upgrade school infrastructure through the Rebuild America's Schools Act and lift up our nation's libraries, which are a crucial resource for students and communities, through the Library Stabilization Fund Act.

Environment

Over the past three decades, Michigan has seen unprecedented rises in temperature, heavier rainfalls and more extreme weather events due to climate change.

Climate change is damaging our Great Lakes, forests and farmland, all of which are vital to our Michigan way of life. As a nature lover and committed environmentalist, I cannot overstate how important it is for our nation to protect our environment and address climate change with urgency and creativity. This means investing in green renewable energy resources that will create reliable, good-paying jobs, keeping the commitments our country made in the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce carbon emissions and ensuring full funding for vital conservation programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

In addition to tackling climate change, we must also take action to fight pollutants that plague our air, land and waterways and poison our drinking water. Sadly, Michigan is all too familiar with the dangers that unsafe and polluted drinking water pose for our communities. Dangerous levels of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—man-made chemicals that are used in many consumer products and industrial applications—are consistently being found across our great state. That's why I joined the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, which works urgently to address the public health threat created by these dangerous chemicals, protect our communities and ensure access to safe drinking water.

Climate Change and a Green Economy

I believe there is no way we can move fast enough or comprehensively enough to address climate change unless we unite progressive forces to infuse a commitment to environmentalism, sustainability and equality into the foundation of our economy. That is why I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal resolution. Just as we responded to the Great Depression with the New Deal, today we embark on a journey that will reveal once again the unbounded creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship of the American people as we develop new technology and grow millions of jobs to meet this challenge. My primary concern is and will continue to be that the workers most impacted by this transition, along with frontline and vulnerable communities, are seated at the center of the table as we discuss the resources and policies to effectuate the change we need to save our species and our planet.

To jumpstart this new era of bold, green legislation, I authored the Electric Vehicle (EV) Freedom Act, a bill that would pave the way to a zero-emissions transportation system by creating a national network of publicly available EV charging stations across the U.S. in five years. By expanding and bringing our infrastructure into a sustainable 21st century, we have the tremendous opportunity to supercharge our economy and create the jobs of the future, further unify our country and lead the world in green energy infrastructure.

I am also a proud supporter of the Clean Economy Act, which would set a national goal to achieve a 100 percent clean economy by 2050—the target date for net-zero emissions set in the vitally important Paris Climate Agreement.

Throughout my career as an activist and as a union organizer, I have held to the belief that for us to make the change that this world so desperately needs, working people and frontline communities must be at the forefront. This holds true for our ability to address climate change rapidly and aggressively. To create the sustainable economy our planet requires, we must create a unified coalition of environmental groups, labor organizations and industries that see both the urgency of the present situation and potential for visionary environmental policy.

Conservation

One of my top conservation priorities has been to protect Lake St. Clair and the rest of our Great Lake system. I have cosponsored, supported and amended numerous pieces of legislation that would safeguard the Great Lakes, and I am an active member of the Great Lakes Taskforce. I am an original cosponsor of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act, which extends funding for a program that has cleaned over 4 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and minimized the presence of invasive species in 148,000 acres of Great Lakes territory over the past ten years. I also wrote an amendment to the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act that ensures funding for research on the effects of toxic PFAS chemicals in the Great Lakes.

I voted to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed into law in August of 2020. This legislation permanently reauthorizes crucial programs, including the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Fish and Wildlife program, which protect and restore fish and animal habitats. This legislation also expands eight national parks and historic sites to ensure the conservation of our nation's public lands and permanently funds the LWCF at $900 million annually.

PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of toxic, man-made chemicals used across the United States in many consumer products and industrial applications, notably in firefighting foam used on military bases, in fire stations and at airports. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) links exposure to these dangerous contaminants to adverse health outcomes, including an increased risk of cancer and a negative impact on a woman's chance of becoming pregnant. Unfortunately, under the Trump administration, the EPA neglected these growing threats by failing to pursue needed research or update safe exposure levels. As a member of the Congressional PFAS Taskforce, I have worked hard to minimize the negative impact these chemicals have on the health and wellbeing of our communities.

I am working to boost awareness of the dangers of PFAS and garner support for the actions needed to keep our communities safe. I voted to pass the PFAS Action Act, which will regulate PFAS chemicals, clean up contamination and protect public health. Additionally, I authored an amendment included in the bill that would require the EPA to provide a comprehensive report to Congress on the safe cleanup and disposal of PFAS chemicals.

Furthermore, I authored legislation to require the Secretary of Defense to ensure that all incineration of materials containing PFAS is conducted in a manner that eliminates PFAS while ensuring that no PFAS is emitted into the air and further harms our communities. That legislation was signed into law in 2019.

Unprecedented amounts of PFAS have been found in communities across Michigan, including in our own district. Last year, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued guidelines for eating fish from Lake St. Clair due to elevated levels of chemicals, including PFAS. So many people in our district rely on Lake St. Clair as a source of income, food and water. We cannot let these chemicals plague Michiganders' health by taking no action. To protect our children, I have demanded that the EPA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education provide higher safety standards and increased oversight for PFAS chemicals in the drinking water at schools and child care facilities across the country.

Good Jobs

Every policy decision I make as a member of Congress and as a member of the House Education & Labor Committee in the 117th Congress is about raising the standard of living for working people and guaranteeing economic justice for all. Our country, our economy and our education system must work for every American—not just a wealthy few.

A path to the middle class starts with high quality education and job training, a right of every American. My America's College Promise Act was inspired by the outstanding institutions of Macomb and Oakland Community Colleges in Michigan's Ninth District. I worked with both colleges during my time as Chief Workforce Officer for the State of Michigan putting underemployed Michiganders back to school to earn degrees or certificates leading to in-demand jobs during the Great Recession. The America's College Promise Act would provide two years of free community college for everyone. I fought hard for and won the inclusion of the America's College Promise Act in the College Affordability Act, landmark legislation that would overhaul the higher education system and lower the cost of college for students and families.

Alternatives to the classroom are also a necessary part of the equation. That's why I introduced the STANDARDS Act, which ensures that apprenticeships continue to offer Americans reliable opportunities for good-paying jobs. Working closely with Rep. Bobby Scott, Chairman of the House Education & Labor Committee, I included the STANDARDS Act in the National Apprenticeship Act of 2020, which expands and standardizes apprenticeship programs across the country.

As a union organizer whose life's mission is to help workers in this country, I am proud that the Speaker of the House and the Chair of the House Education & Labor Committee selected me to defend the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act on the floor of the House and then to celebrate it in the Democratic Weekly address after we passed it. The PRO Act is the most comprehensive legislation in recent history to strengthen workers' right to form unions and bargain for higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions. I also cosponsored and voted for legislation to raise the minimum wage, close the gender wage gap and reform multiemployer pension plans.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep inequalities in our society's economic, health care and political systems, and I worked hard to write and support legislation that provided working class Americans with tangible economic relief while establishing a robust public health response to the pandemic. I introduced the Coronavirus Containment Corps Act with Senator Elizabeth Warren to stand up a national contact tracing program and employ workers in their own communities who had lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. I also introduced the Relaunching America's Workforce Act to authorize funding to help workers sharpen their skills and quickly re-enter the workforce. Working with House Democratic leadership, I was able to include key provisions of the Coronavirus Containment Corps Act and the Relaunching America's Workforce Act in the original and updated HEROES Act, the comprehensive COVID relief and public health legislation passed by the House of Representatives in May and October of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic not only endangered the health and livelihoods of working Americans, but also led to significant attacks on worker rights. I led efforts to protect workers' freedom to organize unions by introducing the bipartisan SAFE Workers Act to remove a harmful prohibition of electronic voting in union elections and direct funds to the National Labor Relations Board to ensure safe, remote union elections. Key provisions of this bill were passed by the House of Representatives in July 2020 as part of the annual appropriations process.

Health

As a two-time cancer survivor and father of two kids with Crohn's disease, I know that health care must be treated as a human right—not a privilege for those who can afford it.

Right now, we live in a country where pharmaceutical companies make billions in profits while working people have to crowd-source funding to cover their health care costs. And, despite all the money we're spending, Americans still have worse health outcomes compared to other countries. It doesn't have to be this way.

We have the means to streamline our bloated, cumbersome health care system by expanding Medicare—a program that already works—to cover every American. Making Medicare universal and expanding and improving it is the surest way to guarantee health care for all. I think it's hard for people even to imagine removing the whole nightmare of paying for health care and turning it into a public good we all pay for fairly through the tax system, so that everyone can simply go to the doctor, therapist and dentist whenever they need to and obtain any necessary medication, hearing aids, eyeglasses and so forth as a matter of right. That is why I am an original cosponsor of the Medicare for All Act and a proud champion for the cause as a member of the Progressive Caucus, serving as Deputy Whip in the 116th Congress.

At the same time, until we achieve that big picture change, we have to defend and expand the Affordable Care Act to protect people with pre-existing conditions and lower out-of-control drug costs. That's why I introduced the bipartisan STOP GAMES Act, which would prevent drug companies from gaming the system and help cheaper, generic drugs come to market faster.

I have also fought to improve access to mental health services, particularly for veterans. I worked across the aisle to introduce the VA Emergency Department Safety Planning Act, which aims to cut veteran suicides significantly by ensuring that emergency room personnel are effectively implementing safety plans and follow-ups for veterans deemed to be at risk of suicide and address disparities in suicide prevention programs. The president signed the VA Emergency Department Safety Planning Act into law in October 2020 as part of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, a comprehensive mental health care reform bill for United States veterans.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep inequalities in our society's economic, health care and political systems. I believe that Congress must continue to respond to the pandemic with comprehensive legislation that protects the public's health and provides economic relief to families and small businesses.

I called for a bold federal response to COVID-19 from the earliest days of the pandemic. I pressed for the President to invoke the Defense Production Act to facilitate the efficient mass production and allocation of testing materials, personal protective equipment (PPE) and critical medical devices. I voted to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which ensured that all individuals who need a test, including those with Medicare and Medicaid, have access to one at no cost, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which provided economic relief to small businesses and unemployed workers and provided $1,200 in cash assistance to every adult. I hosted virtual calls with community leaders and small businesses to help them understand how to utilize these new funds and took their feedback for future legislation.

After the passage of the CARES Act, I continued to advocate for legislation addressing the pandemic. I introduced the Coronavirus Containment Corps Act with Senator Elizabeth Warren to stand up a national contact tracing program and employ appropriately diverse, local workers to help reduce the spread of the virus in their communities. I also introduced the Relaunching America's Workforce Act to authorize funding to help workers sharpen their skills and quickly re-enter the workforce. To prevent state and local governments from budget shortfalls that could force cuts to critical services, I worked with my colleagues to introduce the Coronavirus Community Relief Act, which would provide $250 billion to state and local governments to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic. I also sponsored the COVID-19 WIC Safety and Modernization Act, my bipartisan legislation to update the WIC program and ensure moms and their babies have safe access to food during the pandemic.

In close partnership with House Democratic leadership, I worked to have key provisions of these bills incorporated into the original and updated HEROES Act, the comprehensive relief legislation passed by the House of Representatives in May and October of 2020.

Early in the pandemic, it became clear that libraries were both providing much-needed services to members of their community and struggling under the weight of the pandemic. In partnership with libraries at the local, state, and national level I introduced the Library Stabilization Fund Act, which creates a $2 billion stabilization fund to bolster library services and address revenue losses. The Library Stabilization Fund Act would keep nearly 370,000 library workers on the job; help libraries purchase cleaning and PPE supplies and train staff for safe re-opening; expand technology and services to keep library users connected; and strengthen collections and programs to address needs such as remote learning, early literacy, job skills and access to government services. I was honored to be named Legislator of the Year by the Michigan Library Association and to accept the award virtually at my hometown library in Bloomfield Township.

Gun Violence

We must treat our nation's gun violence epidemic like the public health crisis that it is. After the Sandy Hook school shooting, we said never again. After the Orlando nightclub shooting, we said never again. After the Parkland, FL shooting, we said never again. Thoughts and prayers are no longer—and have never been—enough.

During my first term I immediately became a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and I voted to pass the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, a bill that addresses the "Charleston Loophole," which currently allows the sale of a firearm to proceed if a background check is not completed within three business days. The Enhanced Background Checks Act included an amendment I wrote to ensure oversight and reporting of the background check program. I also supported legislation that would have expanded research and reporting on firearms, banned bump stocks and provided resources to both the survivors of gun violence and the families of those who have lost loved ones to gun violence.

Peace and Human Rights

As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and longtime human rights advocate, I am committed to fighting for civil and human rights for all people at home and abroad. Throughout my career I have worked to ensure that peace, justice and respect for human rights are central to United States foreign policy because I know that what we do abroad doesn't just matter "over there;" it has impacts at home too, whether contributing to the fight against climate change, the rights of working people, migration flows, human rights, the treatment of U.S. citizens abroad or where taxpayer dollars are spent. I will continue working towards a more peaceful world in the 117th Congress.

Perhaps my proudest moment in 2021, and throughout my tenure in Congress, was welcoming home journalist and Huntington Woods native Danny Fenster after he was released from Insein Prison in Burma after nearly six months of unjust detention. I worked day in, day out to #BringDannyHome and appreciate deeply the huge number of people who reached out to support the Fenster family and our efforts to free Danny.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, I believe strongly that the U.S. must partner with our neighbors across the globe to maintain national security and peace, fight infectious disease and tackle injustice. We must keep our commitments and continue to invest in foreign assistance, without which we cannot hope to achieve a more peaceful and prosperous world. And we must choose diplomacy and engagement over saber-rattling and war.

Asia

Standing up for human rights and against ethnic cleansing and genocide has been a key component of my work on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation.

I am deeply concerned about the coup in Burma, ongoing repression of ethnic minorities there. My first trip abroad as a member of Congress was to Bangladesh, where I met with Rohingya refugees, as well as garment workers around Dhaka. I heard how desperately Rohingya refugees wished to return to their homes in Burma. Democracy in Burma existed only briefly and only for some, not for disenfranchised and oppressed minorities like the Rohingya, Kachin and Karen people. I reject the notion that democracy is a step-by-step process wherein it is OK for some human rights to be honored but not others, or for the ethnic majority to exercise voice and power but not minority groups.

Following the February 2021 coup, the House overwhelmingly passed my bipartisan resolution, H.Res.134, condemning the coup and the Burmese military's detention of civilian leaders, calling for the release of all those detained and for those elected to serve in Parliament to resume their duties, and for other purposes. I also believe the United States must be clear that the persecution of the Rohingya constitutes a genocide, which is why I sponsored H.R. 8755, a bill to require a genocide determination from the executive branch. The United States must take action to protect democracy and the safety of the ethnic groups who are even more vulnerable because of this coup. I will continue to monitor this issue closely and work to ensure that all Burmese people receive the support they need.

This is perhaps the most troubling time for human rights in China in recent decades. I am committed to doing all that I can to hold the Chinese government and any complicit corporations accountable for the forced labor and genocide of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. That's why I cosponsored and voted to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on December 23, 2021. This bipartisan and bicameral bill shows that the United States will stand up for human rights and take bold action against these abuses.

In Tibet, what the Chinese government is doing is not simply repression of individuals, but a slow extinction of a whole culture through infiltration, surveillance and starving it out of existence. We simply can't let that happen. I was grateful to see the president appoint a Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues after a letter we sent to the administration urging him to do so. I also supported the Tibetan Policy and Support Act, which authorizes funding for the Office of the U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, for activities that preserve Tibet's cultural traditions and language, and other projects. It also instructs the State Department to work to establish a consulate in Lhasa and would bar China from establishing any new consulates in our country until that happens.

Western Hemisphere

During my time in Congress, I have worked hard to protect human rights throughout the Western Hemisphere. Having engaged in Haitian human rights work for more than three decades, including as a Human Rights Watch investigator, I am determined to help craft a foreign policy towards Haiti that is centered on the needs and aspirations of the Haitian people. In May 2021, I founded and co-chair the House Haiti Caucus to organize our efforts in pursuit of a more just U.S. foreign policy that — as we would expect of the policies of our own government — puts the needs and aspirations of the Haitian people first. Over just the past few months, Haiti has battled crises of governance and a presidential assassination, a devastating hurricane and earthquake, migration and COVID-19 vaccine inequities. This is followed by decades of U.S. interventions in Haiti that have undermined the people while propping up the interests of the elite few. Alongside the caucus co-chairs, I have uplifted and listened to the Haitian voices on the ground working to shape a true democratic future for Haiti.

Supporting foreign assistance to our allies in Latin America is also critical. In 2021, I joined 113 of my colleagues to urge the Biden administration to prioritize the well-being of the Cuban people by removing restrictions on travel and remittances and loosening barriers to humanitarian assistance. When the Trump State Department suspended approximately $450 million in foreign assistance that Congress had approved for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, I joined 100 of my colleagues to write to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to restore this critical funding.

Throughout the 116th Congress, I fought back against the Trump administration's militaristic belligerence around the globe. I was a proud original cosponsor of the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act, which would forbid a President from authorizing the use of military force against Venezuela without Congress's approval, and I spoke out against the militaristic posturing of the Trump administration towards Venezuela repeatedly. It is up to Congress to decide how, when and where the U.S. military is engaged around the world, and I believe American military intervention in Venezuela is not an option. I also remain gravely concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. We must ensure that U.S. aid is there to ease the suffering of the Venezuelan people—not turn them into political pawns.

Middle East

In 2021, we witnessed horrific violence erupt between Israel and Gaza, killing and injuring hundreds, destroying homes and critical infrastructure, and worsening Gaza's humanitarian crisis. This war, sadly, was the latest in a cycle of violence that has now continued for decades and followed a U.S. presidency that pushed peace even further out of reach. The United States has, under Democratic and Republican administrations since 2002, supported a two-state solution. In the wake of last year's deadly conflict, we must move beyond professing support for such a solution—we must act to make it so. Only a two-state solution can both ensure Israel's survival as a democratic state and a national home for the Jewish people and fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own. In September 2021, I introduced my Two-State Solution Act which defines the United States' role in making meaningful progress towards peace in Israel and Palestine and discourages steps that push this out of reach. This bill helps both parties move down the path of peace and coexistence.

I have used my position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to advocate for diplomacy and avoid more needless war. When it became clear that the Trump administration was considering a war with Iran, I introduced the bipartisan Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) Clarification Act, a bill to reaffirm that the Trump administration would have to receive an explicit authorization from Congress before engaging in military action against Iran. At the same time, I have been a vocal proponent of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—often called the Iran nuclear deal – to ensure that Iran cannot build nuclear weapons. Former President Trump's decision to abandon that deal has brought Iran closer to a nuclear weapon and made a military confrontation more likely. I strongly support the Biden administration's efforts to reconstitute the JCPOA, a step that would promote not just U.S. and Israeli security, but global security.

The Saudi-led war in Yemen has led to a staggering crisis, and it's happening on our watch. Yemen's health infrastructure has crumbled, leaving many without access to life-saving medicine. It is past time to bring all U.S. military involvement in this calamity to an end, and in hearings held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee I challenged Trump administration officials who argued it was justifiable to continue arms sales to Saudi Arabia given the horrific Saudi-led war in Yemen. I proudly cosponsored and voted for H.J.Res.37, a resolution directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress. I have spoken out against further arms sales to Saudi Arabia, proposed by the Biden administration, which would only further prolong this conflict.

Armenia

As a member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, I was pleased to write to the Biden administration in February 2021 to express my strong support for closer U.S.-Armenia relations and urge aid to Artsakh. In the 116th Congress, I was an original cosponsor of H.Res.1165, which condemned Azerbaijan's military operation in Artsakh and denounced Turkish interference in the conflict. I was also an original cosponsor of H.Res 296, a resolution affirming the United States record on the Armenian genocide.

Ukraine

I am also a strong supporter of Ukraine and its independence and sovereignty and am a proud and active member of the Ukraine Caucus. In the face of increased Russian aggression beginning in late 2021, I joined my colleagues in calling on the Biden administration to provide additional defensive assistance to the Ukrainian government. I have urged parties to find a diplomatic solution and to avoid further civilian suffering.

Foreign Aid

Foreign assistance is an important tool for peace-oriented U.S. foreign policy. As we have seen with the global public health and economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have an obligation to help vulnerable populations not only at home but also abroad, because global health security is crucial for our national security. That's why we must partner with our neighbors—on a bilateral and multilateral basis—to maintain national security and peace, fight infectious diseases and tackle injustice.

In the 117th Congress, I have worked to ensure that U.S. sanctions do not undermine the provision of life-saving foreign aid to vulnerable populations. I proudly partnered with Senator Ed Markey to reintroduce H.R. 1504, the Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act, to allow aid workers to provide vital humanitarian assistance to the North Korean people and ensure sanctions are not standing in the way of their work.

In the 116th Congress, I vocally opposed former President Trump's proposed cuts to the foreign assistance budget and will continue to support critical programs that help us ensure a safer, more prosperous world, an issue near to many of the hearts of the new Americans who call Oakland and Macomb Counties home.

Immigration

There is no doubt that our immigration system needs comprehensive reform that strengthens our economy, keeps families together and enhances safety for all of our communities. I began fighting for immigrants and refugees way back in the 1980s, when as a union organizer, I co-founded a new nonprofit to help local unions negotiate contract language to protect their undocumented members from exploitation. When I was a law student, I coordinated the Harvard Immigration Clinic's work to assist scores of Haitians seeking asylum in the U.S. after the overthrow of Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991.

This is deeply personal to me, as my great-grandparents came to Oakland County, Michigan in the late 1800s from places where Jews fled to escape persecution. Simply stated, those who enter our country in search of safety, security and a brighter future deserve an empathetic, not militarized or carceral, response.

Immigrants in our communities also deserve not to be treated as a monolith, but to have their cases heard individually in immigration courts. That is why I introduced the bipartisan Deferred Removal for Iraqi Nationals Including Minorities Act to protect Iraqi nationals—including Chaldean Christians—who will face persecution for their religion, ethnicity or ties to America if they are forced back to Iraq against their will.

Death Penalty

I support abolishing the death penalty and believe it to be both a racial justice and human rights issue. The modern death penalty has startling remnants of the practices of slavery wherein capital punishment was used to instill fear in Black people and curb potential slave rebellions. Furthermore, people of color have accounted for a disproportionate 43 percent of executions since 1976 and 55 percent of those currently awaiting execution. It is my sincere belief that the death penalty is a barbaric punishment that strips rehabilitated citizens of dignity, humanity and a chance to reintegrate into society, and must be abolished. I am a strong supporter of the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act, which would abolish the death penalty under federal law. In the 117th Congress, I will continue to work collaboratively with my colleagues in the House to ensure the Biden administration sees through its promise to end the death penalty.

Pentagon Spending

We are still grappling with a pandemic and economic upheaval that has shaken our country to its core. I support having by far the strongest military in the world and the good-paying defense jobs in my district, but I cannot support ever-increasing military spending in the face of so much human need across our country. Proponents of more a higher Pentagon budget argue that the burden of cuts would fall on servicemembers and their families. That is simply and definitively untrue. In fact, far too many of our rank-and-file active duty servicemembers qualify for SNAP benefits because their salaries are too low. The bloat in military involves not wages and benefits for our troops but unnecessary weapons systems, nuclear expansionism, and waste, fraud and abuse. In the 117th Congress, I voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which supports a topline of $778 billion in military spending. By comparison, the estimated cost to fund 12 weeks of paid family leave for one year is $22.5 billion, which would enable all American workers to manage the demands of their jobs while also caring for their families and their personal health ⁠— like all other developed nations. Yet, 12 weeks paid leave has been deemed too costly by Republicans and conservative Democrats and was whittled down to four weeks in the Build Back Better Act passed by the House on November 19, 2021.

My number one priority—during this pandemic and throughout my tenure in the House—is to raise the standard of living for the working people of Oakland and Macomb Counties. To do that, we must invest in solutions to the urgent problems facing working families today while avoiding investments that cause undue harm to people abroad and at home. I will continue to push for a responsible Pentagon budget that elevates diplomacy and peace, not war.

Standard of Living

Every policy decision I make as a Member of Congress and as the vice chair of the Education and Labor Committee is about raising the standard of living for working people and guaranteeing economic justice for all. Our country, our economy and our education system must work for every American—not just a wealthy few.

As we work to restore economic mobility and rebuild the middle class in America, we must make sure that that a full-time job guarantees the ability to live with dignity. This means restoring the freedom to form unions and organize collectively, raising the minimum wage, establishing a national paid leave insurance program so everyone can afford to take necessary time off to care for themselves and their loved ones, and ensuring strong workplace protections so that no one has to face discrimination, harassment or unsafe conditions on the job. In fact, the first bill I introduced as a Member of Congress, H.J. Res. 44, would reverse a Trump administration rule that eliminated certain protections for workers in cases of workplace injuries.

We must also ensure all children and Americans, regardless of their zip code, have access to a safe place to live and a high-quality education that provides them with the resources and support necessary to reach their full potential. Investing in universal public education from pre-school to college and enhancing our trade school programs and workplace training will build a strong future for Michigan’s kids and workers.

Affordable housing, an equitable education system, effective worker training programs and strong worker protections lift all working families and will help build a stronger economy for Michigan and our nation.