Choice & Women’s Health

I strongly believe a woman has the right to make decisions about her own reproductive health. And I believe that abortion is a core health service. It’s a right that generations of women and families have relied on to decide when and if to have children. But over the last few years, we’ve seen an unprecedented, coordinated attack on reproductive freedom at all levels of government - including the Supreme Court. 

By stealing two Supreme Court seats, Republicans got their wish when the Court overturned Roe v. Wade, robbing women of the right to make decisions about their own bodies and instead empowering extreme politicians to make some of the most personal and consequential decisions for them. Connecticut has some of the strongest laws in the country protecting access to abortion, but the Court’s decision impacts every person in every state. 

I’m working hard to make sure women - no matter where they live - have access to critical health care services, including abortions and contraception.

I am proud to cosponsor the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would guarantee equal access to abortion, free from restrictions and bans that interfere with a patient’s ability to make personal health decisions without political interference, and the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would protect the rights of Americans to cross state lines to receive reproductive health care. I will stand up to any and all efforts in Congress to defund reproductive health care or restrict patients’ fundamental right to make their own health care decisions. I have also pushed the Biden administration to develop a national plan to defend Americans’ reproductive rights and was glad to see the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services clarify that doctors who provide abortions as part of emergency medical treatment are protected under federal law, even in states criminalizing abortion.

I support the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits insurance companies from discriminating based on gender and provides women in Connecticut with affordable access to contraception. I also fought against the Trump administration’s restrictions to the Title X family planning program, which offers comprehensive reproductive health care to low-income people across the country.

Climate Change & The Environment

As a teenager growing up in Wethersfield, I first became interested in public service after participating in cleanups on the nearby Connecticut River. That passion for environmental stewardship still drives me in the Senate, where I am pushing for strong policies to combat climate change, curb pollution, and invest in renewable energy.

In Congress, I am helping lead the fight to enact aggressive policies to combat climate change. Under President Trump, Republicans in Washington worked to roll back much of the progress we’ve made to reduce carbon emissions - pulling the  United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and ripping up President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Fortunately, President Biden has worked to restore America’s leadership when it comes to tackling the climate crisis, from rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement on the first day of his Administration to setting ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. 

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Biden in 2021 invests heavily in public transit and electric vehicles, expands access to clean drinking water, builds up a clean power grid, and makes the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in our nation’s history. I fought hard to secure funding to improve travel times and rider experience along the Northeast Rail Corridor, to get more commuters on to trains and get cars off the road. 

There’s still much more to do. That’s why I worked across the aisle with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine to co-author one of the only bipartisan climate bills in the Senate, the Super Pollutants Act. Our bill focuses on reducing the outflow of a class of greenhouse pollutants called Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, or SLCPs. These so-called “super pollutants” do much more damage in a shorter amount of time than carbon dioxide. By targeting these pollutants, like methane from landfills and HFCs from air conditioners, we can save millions of lives and prevent irreversible climate damage, all while we work toward a binding international agreement on carbon dioxide emissions.

Finally, we need to be working to preserve open spaces so that future generations can enjoy the awe-inspiring beauty of nature. During my time in the Senate, I have helped secure several changes that will help protect open space in Connecticut. I fought to permanently fund and authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is the main federal program used to preserve, develop, and ensure access to outdoor recreation activities. I spearheaded the effort to provide robust funding for the Highlands Conservation Act—a program that helps fund land conservation projects in the densely populated Highlands region that includes parts of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. I am continuing work to reauthorize the two National Heritage Areas (NHAs) in Connecticut, the Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor and the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area. And finally, after working with the conservation community for years on this effort, in 2015, Congress made permanent the charitable deduction for the donation of conservation easements. This change will allow private landowners to permanently preserve undeveloped land in Connecticut. Changes like these will ensure that our wild and scenic spaces will be preserved for generations to come.

Economic Security for Connecticut Families

One thing I hear regularly from families in Connecticut is that while they are working harder than ever, it is getting more difficult to make ends meet. The people I talk to just want to be able to put food on the table, pay their bills, and have a little left over to save for the future. In the richest country in the world, that shouldn’t be a pipe dream - it should be attainable for everyone. Especially after the unique difficulty families have faced in making ends meet over the past two years, I believe we need to recommit to passing legislation that will significantly improve the economic conditions and kitchen table budgets of every family. 

That’s why I support policies that make it easier for people who work hard to get ahead, like raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, making child care more affordable, and ensuring equal pay for women. Toward these efforts, I’m a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that will guarantee women are paid the same as their male colleagues for equal work. I also want to make sure that when it comes to their careers, workers have a seat at the table and aren’t being taken advantage of by large corporations, which is why I am a cosponsor of the Schedules That Work Act, which would improve working conditions for hourly employees, and I introduced the Workforce Mobility Act to make it easier for workers to pursue new jobs and higher wages without fearing legal action from their former employers. And we simply have to make sure child care is affordable for every family, rather than a necessary service that’s out of reach financially for many families and breaking the budgets of those who can pay for it. That is why I cosponsored the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would ensure families can find and afford high-quality child care by providing financial assistance so no working-class family pays more than seven percent of their income for child care costs, along with expanding access to preschool programs for three- and four-year-olds.  

I also want to make sure that families have the tools they need to balance work with caring for their loved ones. The United States is one of the only developed nations without paid family leave, and that needs to change. That’s why I support the FAMILY Act, a bill that would make sure that new parents and people facing serious personal or family health issues could take the time they need without fear of losing their jobs or coming up short on income.

Finally, thousands of people in Connecticut are already taking time to provide care for a loved one, like an aging parent or a child with special needs. These caregivers often have to step away from their jobs to take care of a family member, jeopardizing not just their income, but also their long-term plans for retirement. I introduced the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act to provide modest retirement compensation to people who had to leave the workforce or reduce their hours to care for a loved one.

Connecticut's Roads & Rails

Proximity to New York and Boston is one of Connecticut’s economic strengths, but the benefits of this proximity are in jeopardy due to years of underinvesting in our transportation systems. As our roads get more and more clogged and our rail lines get slower, Connecticut commuters are getting more and more fed up. One of my top priorities in Congress is dramatically increasing the amount of federal support for transit, rail, and highway funding. 

In 2021, Congress passed a once-in-a-generation investment aimed at fixing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. I fought hard to secure $30 billion in that bill for the Northeast Corridor (NEC), on top of another $66 billion to address Amtrak’s repair backlog. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also included other big wins for Connecticut, including $3.5 billion to fix our state’s highways programs; $561 million over five years for bridge replacement and repairs; $1.3 billion over five years to improve public transportation options; and $53 million over five years to support the expansion of the state’s EV charging network. These are transformational investments in our state that will cut commute times, fight the climate crisis, and spur economic development.

But we can’t stop there. We talk about high speed rail like it’s a pipe dream, but with the right investments, it can be our reality. The CONNECT NEC 2035 plan lays out a series of upgrades and projects that would shave 25 minutes off the commute between New Haven and New York City. The plan lays out smart strategies to get us there.That’s why I fought to secure $15 million for the Walk Bridge in Norwalk, which is a vital link for Amtrak and MetroNorth trains traveling through our state. I’m committed to continuing to fight for the federal support necessary for the NEC’s success.

Traffic means stress. Congestion means being late for work. Delays mean missing dinner with your kids night after night. I want to do whatever I can to make commutes in Connecticut more manageable so that people can spend time with friends and family instead of sitting in traffic or on stalled trains. 

Education

Every student in America should have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, from early childhood through college, regardless of race, zip code, or learning ability. Education is a personal issue for me – my mother was a teacher, my wife works in education, and as a parent of two school-age boys, I spend time helping with homework and attending parent-teacher conferences. And as someone who is still paying off college loans, I know the all-too-familiar feeling that families face when trying to figure out how to make college an affordable reality. That’s why I wanted to be a member of the committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in the Senate – so I could be at the center of debates about our nation’s commitment to education for all.

The past two years have tested our educators as well as students and their families in ways that require us to renew and redouble our efforts to ensure our schools are places where everyone can learn. That’s why I worked to help pass three COVID-19 relief bills that provided more than $280 billion to K-12 schools and higher education institutions, including $166 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act. As part of that effort, led the effort to make sure that part of this money was reserved for summer programming for kids. Both my wife and I work full time, so we know how hard summers are for families to juggle. I will continue to lead efforts to make sure that every family has access to summer care and programming for kids.

I have also championed billions in dedicated funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide the supports and services our students with disabilities desperately need to be successful. And moving forward, I will continue to fight for additional federal resources to get and keep all students on track to meet their educational goals and aspirations.

Along with this work, I believe that we have a responsibility to ensure schools are a safe, nurturing and inclusive learning environment for all students. To this end, I have introduced a suite of bills aimed at moving away from school discipline practices that push kids out of school and invest billions more in federal funding that would help schools implement alternatives that create positive school climates for every kid. This work includes the Keeping All Students Safe Act, which would prohibit the use of dangerous seclusion and restraint practices in schools that disproportionately target students of color and those with disabilities, the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act, which would prohibit the use of corporal punishment in all schools, and the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act, which would divert federal funding away from police in schools and instead provide $5 billion for school districts to hire social workers, psychologists, counselors, nurses, and other support personnel that give students the supports and interventions they need to stay in school and thrive.

I also believe high-quality education for all students means ensuring classrooms are diverse and reflect the variety of backgrounds children see in their own communities. That’s why I introduced the Strength in Diversity Act, which would commit federal resources toward voluntary efforts by school districts and states to desegregate their schools, as well as the Magnet Schools Accessibility, Growth, and Nonexclusionary Enrollment Transformation (MAGNET) Act to improve and expand upon the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) to ensure more kids and families can attend diverse, high-quality magnet schools.

As one of the youngest members of the Senate, I spend a lot of time focusing on ways to make it easier for students and families to pay for college, as well as ensure that all students leave post-secondary programs better off than they started. We need to revolutionize the way we think about higher education. I support efforts to lower borrowing costs and allow more students to refinance loans to lower rates. But I also believe that our higher education system is broken at its core. Costs are out of control, and too many colleges – especially for-profit institutions – are handing out degrees that aren’t worth the money students put into them. That’s why I published a groundbreaking policy paper on how the federal government can establish and strengthen broad-based accountability among higher education institutions so that students know the value of the degrees they are pursuing and we hold institutions accountable for poor student outcomes. Along with improving the quality of our higher education system, I believe every student should be able to afford a degree, which is why I am a cosponsor of the College for All Act, which would make public colleges and universities tuition-free for working families and significantly reduce student debt.  

Finally, over the last few years, I’ve become one of Congress’s leading advocates for reforming college sports. Fundamentally, I think there’s something wrong with an industry that makes billions of dollars a year off the labor of athletes who make nothing at all. To fix these inequities, I’ve introduced legislation that would empower college athletes to collectively bargain for better compensation and conditions, the College Athlete Right to Organize Act, and legislation that would grant athletes unrestricted rights to make money off their own name and recognition, the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act.

Election Reform

Our democracy is based on the fundamental principle that all Americans have an equal voice in their government: one person, one vote. But today, due to a series of Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United, a tiny handful of ultra-wealthy donors have an outsized influence on our political system—tipping the scales of democracy away from everyday voters with their checkbooks.

We have to restore the voice of the people, which is why I will continue to fight for a constitutional amendment to repeal the Citizens United decision and fully protect voters’ First Amendment rights. I strongly support public funding of federal campaigns. I am a proud original cosponsor of the Fair Elections Now Act, which would establish a system of public campaign financing like the one we have in Connecticut for state-level elections. Candidates should be able to seek political office without having to turn to big donors, powerful corporations, and lobbyists for funding. I’m also a supporter of the For The People Act – legislation that has already passed the House to end big money in politics, restore ethics in Washington, and protect the right to vote.

The concept of “one person, one vote” has also been threatened by attempts to infringe on voting rights. States across the country have passed voter ID laws, made cuts to early voting and eliminated same-day registration. I‘ll continue to work to ensure that voters across the country, no matter their color or creed, can freely exercise one of our most basic constitutional rights.

Finally, the COVID pandemic has made it even more urgent that we give every American more flexibility in casting their vote—including the ability to vote by mail. I applaud the State of Connecticut for instituting a vote-by-mail system, and I’ve joined my colleagues in the Senate in supporting the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act, which would expand early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail to all states.

Too many citizens today feel like they have lost control of their government. I believe we need fundamental election reform in order to make sure that our democracy is truly representative of the people we serve. After the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, it’s clear that American democracy is more fragile than many of us want to believe. I’m working with a bipartisan group of senators on legislation to reform the antiquated Electoral Count Act of 1887 and guard against future attempts to overturn the results of a presidential election with fraudulent electoral slates.

National Security & Foreign Policy

As it has for decades, the United States today faces a wide array of challenges abroad. Russian aggression in Eastern Europe puts the international order at risk of collapse. In the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda continue to threaten American lives and interests. Threats that don’t respect traditional borders—like pandemic disease or the climate crisis—continue to grow.  New regional powers are emerging in Asia and Latin America, and the United States must find ways to accommodate their rise. 

Four years of the Trump administration weakened our place on the world stage, but thankfully, President Biden has reasserted American leadership in a time of unprecedented global instability. We brought our troops home from Afghanistan, marshaled an unprecedented, coordinated response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with our European allies and other international partners, invested billions in global vaccination against COVID-19, and we are finally treating climate change like the global threat it is. 

We make better national security decisions when Congress has a seat at the table, but over time, presidents of both parties have dramatically expanded the use of executive power. It’s a broken system that breeds endless wars, unlimited arms sales, and ill-advised trade wars that leave America weaker in the world. Congress needs to reclaim its rightful role as a co-equal branch on matters of war and national security. The bipartisan National Security Powers Act I introduced with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Mike Lee of Utah would make sure that there is a full, open and public debate on all major national security decisions, such as war making, arms sales and emergency declarations.

A strong military is the foundation of U.S. national security. And in Connecticut, we build the systems that keep America safe. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have fought to secure tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the construction of Columbia-class submarines, F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and Black Hawk helicopters. All of these state-of-the-art, made-in-Connecticut technologies are designed to achieve our military objectives while keeping our servicemembers safe.

But if the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that the biggest threats posed to our country really aren't foreign armies. In Investing in 21st Century Diplomacy, I outlined a new State Department budget with a $12 billion increase to address three specific challenges: (1) competing with China; (2) preparing for the next pandemic in a post-COVID-19-era; and (3) fighting climate change. We can still maintain the strongest military on the planet while getting smart about the national security challenges that can only be met with non-military solutions.  

As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I’m focused on making sure U.S. foreign policy reflects our values and takes advantage of every tool at our disposal. That’s why I released Rethinking the Battlefield — a road map for rebuilding our foreign policy toolkit in order to keep pace with the global challenges we face today. My comprehensive plan calls for nearly doubling the U.S. foreign affairs budget – which includes the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other agencies – over a five-year period, with an emphasis on funding for international development, additional foreign service officers, anti-corruption efforts, countering propaganda, crisis response, and humanitarian relief.

U.S. national security and foreign policy still need to catch up to the new set of threats posed to the United States and our allies, and I’ll continue pushing us toward a more modern and progressive foreign policy to better meet these challenges.

Gun Violence

I wish I didn’t see the things I saw at the Sandy Hook firehouse on December 14, 2012, as 26 families were told that their loved ones – 20 children and six educators – lay dead on the floor of their school. I walked away from that day pledging that I would do everything in my power to fight the scourge of gun violence, which – as the parents of slain sons and daughters in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport have reminded me – was a largely ignored crisis in our urban communities long before the Sandy Hook tragedy.

In the years since the tragedy in Sandy Hook, the gun violence epidemic in America has only worsened as countless families and communities continue to be torn apart by violence. The solutions are not a secret; we know that simple and broadly-supported measures like universal background checks, cracking down on straw purchasers and illegal weapon sales, and limiting access to high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons would save countless lives.

That’s why on June 15, 2016, in the wake of another mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, I went to the Senate floor and conducted one of the longest filibusters in Senate history in order to force the Senate to have a debate on measures to end gun violence. While the Senate failed to pass the bill my filibuster forced a vote on, our efforts were successful in jump-starting a national conversation about gun policy change.

Shootings in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, Santa Fe, Dayton, El Paso, Boulder, Atlanta, Oxford and so many other communities drew national attention and spurred calls for action, but still Congress failed to act. Despite countless obstacles and frustrations, the gun violence prevention movement continued growing stronger with every passing day.

On May 24, 2022, a gunman shot and killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. This was barely a week after a gunman motivated by racism and hate killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. That night, I went down to the Senate floor to plead with my colleagues to come to the table and find a path forward on a piece of legislation to make these massacres less likely. Within two days, Senators John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, and Kyrsten Sinema and I started working day and night to draft a bill that would save lives.

Just one month later, we broke a thirty year political logjam and theBipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law by President Biden. This legislation provides support for implementation of state crisis intervention orders, closes the ‘boyfriend loophole’ for individuals convicted of domestic violence crimes,  clarifies the definition of a ‘federally licensed firearms dealer,’ enhances background checks for buyers under 21 years old, and creates federal penalties for straw purchasing and gun traffickers. It also makes historic investments in community violence intervention, children and family mental health services, and keeping communities and schools safe.

Our bill is a compromise that doesn’t do everything I want, but it will save thousands and thousands of lives. It’s just the beginning of what this movement can and will accomplish, and I’ll never stop fighting to get us there.  

And while mass shootings get most of the national attention regarding gun violence, it is just as important to continually call out the gun violence that plagues our cities daily. Community violence intervention (CVI) programs are a proven way to break the cycle of violence by lifting up communities and creating economic opportunities. In Connecticut, we’ve seen the success of CVI, and I’m pushing to make sure these programs get the federal investment they need to expand and reach as many people as possible. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act invests $250 million for community-based violence prevention initiatives.

 Gun deaths are way up across the country since the pandemic began, and I regularly speak on the Senate Floor to profile victims lost to gun violence in the hopes that my colleagues will finally pay attention and work with me to stop this rising carnage. 

There is no one law or regulation that will save every life, but Congress can and must build upon the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to end the scourge of gun violence.

Immigration

The story of America’s greatness is rooted in our immigrant history – our commitment to opening our doors to people from every corner of the world and every walk of life. Over and over again, immigrants like my Polish and Irish relatives came to America with their unique traditions in search of a better life for their families. They started businesses and built communities, fueling America’s growth and economic success. Today, we are a stronger and more prosperous nation because of the diversity of their traditions and their hard work. I am committed to upholding the legacy of this uniquely American story and fighting against those who seek to undermine the value and economic importance of immigrants.

I currently serve as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security. My committee is tasked with providing enough funding to our immigration enforcement agencies to address legimate threats like the drug trade and human smuggling while also ensuring these agencies operate humanely, support the legal immigration system, protect the rights of people seeking refuge, and don’t spend valuable federal dollars targeting undocumented people who are not a threat. During my chairmanship, we have invested millions in agencies like USCIS to decrease backlogs in visa processing, end family detention, and build new processing centers that will help decrease the time immigrants spend in custody.

Yet, the problems in our immigration system extend well beyond the boundaries of my subcommittee. There is no doubt that our immigration system is broken, which is why I supported a comprehensive immigration reform that passed the Senate during my first year in the chamber. While the bill never became law, it did important things like creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already living in the United States and created an improved process to admit foreign workers. This Congress, I am a cosponsor of the US Citizenship Act, which addresses the root causes of migration, provides a pathway to citizenship and prioritizes smart border control investments. 

Jobs

When I talk to families in Connecticut, the need for more good-paying, secure jobs in our state is a constant topic. While our economy is recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unemployment rate is nearing record lows, far too many Connecticut families still have a hard time making ends meet. I believe strongly that no one working full time in America should be living in poverty. That’s why I’m working to pass legislation that helps workers and provides a living wage. I support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, and I’ve introduced legislation like the Workforce Mobility Act and the Schedules That Work Act that are specifically targeted at improving working conditions for hourly employees.

Connecticut has a long, proud history of manufacturing, and I’m working hard to grow manufacturing jobs. I’ve brought back federal funding for job training programs that provide opportunities for the next generation and older workers looking for new careers. I’m also working to fix our Buy American laws to make sure that when we buy helicopters and fighter jets for the military, those products are made in America, not overseas.

The biggest opportunity for job growth in our state is in the high-tech field – Connecticut is still a high labor-cost state, but our top performing education system and high quality of life make us an attractive landing spot for startup companies that require highly educated workers. 

That’s why I have worked hard to encourage investment in small, start up companies through so-called “angel investing.” Angel investors help fledgling companies with a small amount of startup money at an early stage of development, often with fewer strings and conditions attached than funding from a bigger venture capital firm. I’ve introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation with Republicans John Thune and Pat Toomey, the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act; both will incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies.

Tax policy can also stimulate high tech jobs. For years, I have fought to make permanent a tax credit for research and development that has been used by hundreds of Connecticut companies to defray their tax obligations when they invest in research. In the budget passed at the end of 2015, this Research and Development Tax Credit was finally made a permanent part of our tax code, resulting in tens of thousands of technology jobs being created around the country.

I fought for a seat on the Senate committee that oversees higher education funding because I want to make sure our federal dollars promote science and technology learning in elementary and secondary school. We need more kids who want to make a career in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, and I’m fighting for more federal funding to go into teacher and program development in STEM.

LGBTQ Equality

While Connecticut and the nation have made big strides forward on LGBTQ equality in the last decade, the lack of progress in other states and renewed attacks on the LGBTQ community remind us that the fight is far from over.

In the Senate, I am a cosponsor of the Equality Act, a simple but powerful piece of legislation that would prohibit workplace discrimination against LGBTQ individuals. This is already the law in Connecticut, but in many states, though it is now legal for a same-sex couple to marry, the day after the wedding, one spouse could be legally fired from his or her job for putting a picture of their new spouse up on their desk. This blatant prejudice should not enjoy the protection of our laws, and I will keep fighting to pass this vital protection.

And as we see efforts across state legislatures to target and harass transgender kids and adults with policies that would make gender-affirming treatment more difficult to attain, prevent them from participating in sports, and bar them from using gender-appropriate bathrooms, among other needless attacks on their rights, I have spoken out and will continue to fight against these efforts in every way possible.

Long Island Sound

I visited the Sound every summer as a child, and now my wife Cathy and I bring our two boys there every summer. Like thousands across Connecticut, I know that our state’s health depends on protecting Long Island Sound. From the thousands of species of wildlife the Sound supports, to the fishing and aquaculture industries, to submarine manufacturing and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Long Island Sound is both an ecological treasure and an engine for our state’s economy. But the health of the Sound depends on an alphabet soup of federal and state agencies and programs. That is why I drafted a Long Island Sound Investment Plan – to demystify the complex federal budgeting process and to provide a user-friendly roadmap to keep Long Island Sound a vibrant landmark for generations to come.

Securing funding increases is not always easy in Washington. That’s why I am so proud that the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes $106 million for the EPA’s Long Island Sound Geographic Program to protect the watershed. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have fought to secure millions in federal funding for the Long Island Sound. During my time on the committee, funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound Geographic Program grew by more than 300%. This money will help fund local projects to improve water quality and restore shoreline habitats. In addition, I have worked to increase funding for the National Sea Grant College Program and the Long Island Integrated Coastal Observing System, both located at UConn Avery Point, and aquaculture research at sites like Milford Laboratory. Through the Congressionally Directed Spending process, I secured millions for Connecticut projects, such as $5 million for a new soil survey of Long Island Sound, which will help towns address issues from resiliency to sitting shellfish beds.

As our planet warms and the climate changes, there are new sets of challenges facing the Sound. That is why I introduced the Living Shorelines Act, which provides funding to help communities build environmentally friendly coastal resiliency projects.

Finally, we must acknowledge that the health of Long Island Sound is inextricably linked to the health of our global oceans. In 2015, I helped pass the Microbead-Free Waters Act, which bans polyethylene and polypropylene microbeads that were typically found in personal care products and are proven to harm aquatic life, water quality, and public health. In 2017, I helped pass the Save our Seas Act, which reauthorizes federal programs on marine debris. And in 2020, I led an effort to pass an even more comprehensive ocean conservation policy, the Save our Seas Act 2.0, which invests in domestic infrastructure, marine debris programs, and international engagement to restore our oceans. The bill, which was signed into law in December 2020, included a bipartisan provision I drafted to fund a competition program for research and development projects to replace single-use plastic and innovations that remove and prevent plastic waste from the ocean.

Manufacturing

My grandfather and great-grandfather worked in the ball bearing factories of New Britain. Today, though those jobs are gone, manufacturing is coming back in Connecticut, and the federal government can play a leading role in giving this renaissance a boost. 

Here in Connecticut, manufacturing is driven by our defense and aerospace sectors. That’s the main reason I fought for a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee – the first Connecticut Senator on this powerful committee in over 30 years. During my time in Congress, I have been a strong voice for Connecticut manufacturers and have supported Connecticut companies like Pratt and Whitney (East Hartford and Middletown), Electric Boat (Groton), and Sikorsky (Stratford). In the past few years, these companies have been awarded new contracts for jet engines, helicopters, and submarines, which have created new jobs with those companies as well as new jobs with their thousands of suppliers across the state.

I am one of the Senate’s leading proponents of fixing our Buy American laws, and back in days in the House of Representatives I founded a bipartisan group dedicated to strengthening these laws. My goal has always been to make sure government contracts result in work for the thousands of smaller factories and machine shops in our state. I’ve long been critical of the loopholes that allow federal agencies to skirt the law and give federal contracts to foreign companies instead of U.S. manufacturers. I’ve written multiple bills to help change that, including the American Jobs Matter Act, the 21st Century Buy American Act, and the BuyAmerican.gov Act, which was signed into law in 2021 as a part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act.

My bills would make commonsense changes like ensuring all requests for waivers to the Buy American Act are made publicly available, and requiring the Department of Defense to measure, for the first time, U.S. job creation as a factor in awarding a government contract. They would eliminate automatic waivers that allow for U.S. jobs to be outsourced without any way for domestic manufacturers to compete – which the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute estimates would create an estimated 100,000 American jobs. 

Since coming to the Senate, I’ve achieved some victories on my Buy American crusade. The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act included my “Buy American” provision, which requires increased transparency when the Department of Defense buys goods overseas. Also, I am so proud that the BuyAmerican.Gov Act was signed into law as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, establishing a central hub to ensure federal agencies prioritize the purchase of American-made goods.  

My other priority for Connecticut manufacturing is increasing the training opportunities for our prospective manufacturing workforce. With all this defense work coming to our state, the only thing that can stop us from adding thousands of new manufacturing jobs is not having the workers ready to fill them. That’s why I have secured several major federal grants for new training programs in Connecticut, including funding for the Eastern Connecticut Manufacturing Pipeline that has helped train and find jobs for 1,000 workers at Electric Boat and submarine suppliers. Federal funding has also helped the state open new manufacturing training programs at almost a dozen community-technical colleges across the state. That’s fantastic news for Connecticut residents looking for a career in manufacturing.

Mental Health & Addiction

I have made it my mission in the Senate to improve our nation’s broken mental health system. Too many children and adults in our country do not get the timely, high-quality care they need to live healthy and productive lives.

I worked with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy to pass legislation in 2020 that gave federal and state insurance regulators with new tools to monitor and assure compliance with mental health parity laws. This already is resulting in additional oversight and actions to expand private health insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorder.

I also worked for two years with Senator Cassidy to write and pass the bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act. I held over a dozen roundtables across the state with mental health advocates and providers to ensure that Connecticut’s priorities were reflected in the bill. In 2016, President Obama signed the Mental Health Reform Act into law.

The law requires insurers to drop the red tape and bureaucratic hurdles put in front of families who want to access their mental health benefits. It promotes integration of the physical and primary health systems with the behavioral health system, so that families can access coordinated, integrated care. It also funds more resources to support early identification of the first signs of mental illness in kids and young adults to promote early interventions. And the legislation reformed the federal agency that funds mental illness so that more of their money is targeted toward evidence-based programs that will have the strongest impact.

While the passage of our bill was a big step forward, there is more work to be done to ensure that it is implemented correctly and can make a difference for people struggling with mental illness. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our nation’s mental health, particularly among our children. As we work to update and reauthorize the Mental Health Reform Act, these concerns are top of mind.

I have also worked closely with clinicians, addiction specialists, law enforcement and families to address the opioid epidemic in Connecticut. The need for action is clear - in 2021 alone, more than 1,300 people died from an opioid overdose in Connecticut. As a member of the Senate’s key Health and Appropriations committees, I shaped the opioid relief package that was signed into law in 2018 and have fought vigorously to secure emergency funding to address the crisis in our state. I worked across the aisle with Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia to include the Recovery COACH Act in the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which was signed into law in 2018. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, Connecticut has received nearly $15 million to fund substance use disorder block grant programs.

While we have made progress, we have a long way to go to fully address this epidemic. We need more money for crisis intervention, long-term treatment, medication therapy, and community interventions.

Retirement Security

My grandfather didn’t have it easy – he moved from job to job throughout his life trying to make ends meet. He was employed as a factory worker, a security guard, and even ran a convenience store in New Britain for a while. When he retired, he had saved as much as he could, but he needed Social Security to survive. And when my grandmother got really sick, it was Medicare that paid the bills and kept them out of bankruptcy. My grandparents are simply representative of the millions of seniors who rely on federal programs like Social Security to help pay bills, Medicare to keep them well, and Medicaid to help them if they run out of money to pay for their needs.

That’s why I strongly oppose turning Social Security and Medicare over to the private sector.

We can start real reform of Social Security by raising the cap on income that is taxable for Social Security. The way we fund Social Security now hurts the very workers who rely on the program for retirement. While a worker making $118,000 will pay 6.2% of their income into Social Security, a person making $100 million a year pays just .0073% of theirs. This is wrong. By raising the cap on income that is taxable for Social Security – we can ensure Social Security remains on stable footing for decades. In the short term, we need to ensure that Social Security keeps pace with the cost of living and that seniors are given a raise each year.

Many Connecticut families rely on their pensions when planning for retirement and shouldn’t have to worry about greedy corporations playing games with their hard-earned savings. I introduced the Pension Risk Transfer Accountability Act to make sure the Department of Labor reviews their outdated guidance, which currently allows private equity firms to buy out pension liabilities and move assets from traditional, secure investments to potentially riskier ones.

We also need to make sure that we’re providing adequate resources for people caring for a loved one. In Connecticut, 1 in 6 residents are providing care for a relative, and 70 percent believe they will at some point. There is a caregiving crisis in America, as millions of Americans often have to leave the workforce entirely or reduce their hours significantly to care for loved ones at some point in their career.

Unfortunately, this lowers their future Social Security benefit, threatening their own retirement. That’s why I introduced the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act, which would allow caregivers to continue to get credit toward Social Security eligibility. By creating a Social Security Caregiver credit, caregivers who had to leave the workforce entirely, or continue to work with significantly reduced hours, would receive modest retirement compensation. There must be a shift in how we define work in America. Taking care of loved ones is work, and it’s past time that we acknowledge it. 

Veterans

Soon after I was sent to Congress, I made it a top priority to help the homeless Connecticut veterans living on our streets. I brought the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Connecticut to hear the heart-wrenching stories of our homeless veterans, and to urge the administration to help us tackle this problem. In the months and years that followed, I was able to bring back historic amounts of new funding for veterans’ housing, doubling the number of federal housing vouchers Connecticut receives for homeless veterans. Today, I’m proud to say that our state is leading the country in reducing veterans’ homelessness.

To me, it’s simple: the brave men and women of our armed forces serve our country selflessly, and we have a responsibility to provide them with timely care and assistance the minute they come home. From quality affordable housing to better access to health care, our veterans deserve the absolute best resources available. I’ve supported and introduced legislation to improve VA medical facilities, expand access to traumatic brain injury and mental health treatment, increase employment opportunities for veterans entering civilian life, and cover the costs of veterans’ tuition. I have also been working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to find ways to reduce the enormous VA claims backlog. It's unacceptable that veterans and their spouses have to wait hundreds of days to have claims processed and get the care they need. 

I have been leading the fight in Congress to help veterans who have been discharged from the military due to PTSD or brain injuries received during their service. When I learned of the disturbing results of an investigation that revealed that thousands of veterans with PTSD had been pushed out of the military with less than an honorable discharge, often rendering them ineligible for the mental health services they so badly need, I led an effort to push the Department of Defense and the VA to change this policy. I wrote and introduced the Honor Our Commitment Act to ensure veterans with so-called ‘bad paper’ discharges have access to the mental health care they deserve, and I am proud that the bill was signed into law by the President.

If you or someone you know is having difficulty getting the veterans’ services they need, my office is here to help. Click here to get connected with one of our caseworkers.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Here’s my simple belief – in the most powerful, affluent country in the world, nobody should die or go bankrupt simply because they have the misfortune of getting sick and not having enough money to see a doctor. Today, America spends twice as much on health care, per capita, as any other country in the world, and we get results that simply don’t warrant all that extra expenditure.

The Affordable Care Act is a first step toward fixing this broken system. It’s no secret that health care costs have been increasing at an unsustainable rate in our country, and skyrocketing prices mean that fewer Americans receive the care and services they need. But in the years since the law’s passage, the Affordable Care Act has worked to bring down costs and help millions of Americans get covered. To date, the law has enabled 20 million Americans to get health insurance – including more than 115,000 in Connecticut.  The law also requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of all premium dollars on patient care rather than administrative or marketing costs. In addition, the Affordable Care Act has improved Medicare for the nearly 600,000 beneficiaries in Connecticut, provided free preventive and wellness care to all Americans, and allowed young people to stay on their parents’ health care plan until age 26.

Will Congress need to make further reforms and improvements moving forward?  Of course. It’s up to all of us to work together to improve the law and make it better. But make no mistake – the Affordable Care Act has made our health care system more affordable and has tilted the balance of health care power away from insurers and toward patients and providers. I believe that quality, affordable health coverage should be a right in America, not a privilege reserved for those with a lot of money. The Affordable Care Act is already improving health care in our country, and I’ll continue to work with my colleagues to improve the law so it works even better for people and businesses across Connecticut.

JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM

Part of this job is sticking up for populations that have no voice in the political process, no lobbyists pushing their agenda, and no seat at the governing table in places like Washington and Hartford. For me, I believe that it is simply unacceptable for a country with 5% of the world’s population to hold 25% of the world’s prison population. We lock up too many people, wasting lives and taxpayer money. And the most egregious policy is to lock up kids, sometimes no older than 11 or 12, when better alternatives exist to address their delinquent behavior.

I am working to dramatically change our juvenile justice policies so that more states enact reforms like we have in Connecticut. Our state has made significant progress in diverting more kids away from prison and into community services when they get in trouble with the law, and uses evidence-based rehabilitation strategies for the small subset of children who do have to be incarcerated.

Over the past few years I’ve worked to introduce legislation focused on at-risk youth. My Better Options for Kids Act would incentivize states to replace overly harsh school disciplinary actions and juvenile court punishment with bipartisan, evidence-based solutions that save money, enhance public safety, and improve outcomes for youth.

In the recently reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act – the law that governs education policy in our elementary, middle, and high schools - I fought to ensure states can use measures of school climate and safety, including rates of suspension and expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and school-based arrests, in their accountability systems. States now must also develop plans to reduce the use of aversive behavioral interventions, like seclusion and restraint, which pose a risk to student health and safety.

TAX REFORM

Our current federal tax system simply does not work any longer, for individuals, businesses, or for the interests of long term economic growth. I believe that any effort to reform the tax code should be built around a few relatively simple principles.

First, any changes in the code must protect poor families and the middle class. I fully support the goal of broadening the tax base and lowering rates, but it should go without saying that this process cannot result in an increase in the tax burden for lower and middle-income Americans. Our end goal should be to ensure that tax reform does not result in big tax increases for middle and lower income families, and protects beneficial provisions such as the mortgage interest deduction, the state and local tax deduction, and the earned income tax credit.

Second, tax reform must raise revenue. Our budget deficit is simply too large to be closed through spending cuts alone. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, have acknowledged the fact that without revenue as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product eclipsing the 20% mark, we can never fairly balance our budget.

Third, tax reform should simplify the code, and tax incentives that no longer serve the initial intended policy goal should be the first to go. For instance, high oil prices mean that tax breaks for production are totally unnecessary. Similarly, the large gap between rates on capital gains and ordinary income can no longer be justified when capital gains rates are applied equally for investment in both domestic and foreign markets.

CONNECTICUT FAMILIES

One thing I hear regularly from families in Connecticut is that while they are working harder than ever, it is getting more difficult to make ends meet. The people I talk to just want to be able to put food on the table, pay their bills and have a little left over to save for the future. In the richest country in the world, that shouldn’t be a pipe dream - it should be attainable for everyone.

That’s why I support policies that make it easier for people who work hard to get ahead, like raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and ensuring equal pay for women. I’m a co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that will guarantee women are paid the same as their male colleagues for equal work. I also want to make sure that when it comes to their careers, workers have a seat at the table and aren’t being taken advantage of by large corporations. I introduced the Schedules That Work Act in order to improve working conditions for hourly employees, and I introduced the Workforce Mobility Act on to make it easier for workers to pursue new jobs and higher wages without fearing legal action from their former employers. 

I also want to make sure that families have the tools they need to balance work with caring for their loved ones. The United States is one of the only developed nations without paid family leave, and that needs to change. That’s why I support the FAMILY Act, a bill that would make sure that new parents and people facing serious personal or family health issues could take the time they need without fear of losing their jobs or coming up short on income.

Finally, thousands of people in Connecticut are already taking time to provide care for a loved one, like an aging parent or a child with special needs. These caregivers often have to step away from their jobs to take care of a family member, jeopardizing not just their income, but also their long-term plans for retirement. I introduced the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act to provide modest retirement compensation to people who had to leave the workforce or reduce their hours to care for a loved one.

CONNECTICUT FARMS

Small farms are the lifeblood of Connecticut agriculture, contributing a whopping $2 billion to the state’s economy each year. Since I was elected to the Senate, I’ve set about listening to our state’s farmers about what matters most to them and fighting for these priorities in Washington.

When the state’s dairy farmers complained about the high cost of shipping milk across state lines, I fought successfully to change federal regulations on milk trucking to allow bigger, less-costly milk transports to pick up milk from farms across Connecticut. It was a small change, but it will mean tens of thousands of dollars in savings to small dairy producers, and that’s a big deal for their bottom line. As Congress considered the budget for 2018, I continued to fight for Connecticut’s dairy farmers, helping to secure $1 billion in relief to dairy producers by making improvements to the Margin Protection Program and other insurance products like LGM-Dairy. 

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I also want to make sure that new farmers have the resources they need to be successful in our state. That is why I worked to help Connecticut receive a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Grant. UCONN is using this grant to provide training and technical assistance to beginning farmers across Connecticut. I also introduced legislation, called the Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act, which creates a student loan forgiveness program for beginning farmers and ranchers with less than 10 years of experience. The program would also be available to veteran, women, socially-disadvantaged, and minority farmers.