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Standing Up for Women

The Equal Pay Act was passed 52 years ago, yet women still earn only $.78 for each dollar that a man earns for an identical job. That pay gap is even larger for women of color. This is unacceptable, and I will fight every day for pay equity. When women thrive, families thrive.

Moreover, it is long past time that we address the pervasive issue of sexual misconduct and harassment. As we’ve seen, there are not sufficient safeguards in place for women in the workplace. Additionally, we need to fight for fair representation for women in leadership roles in all industries, so that we can truly change the culture of harassment that has gone unchallenged for far too long.

The gender pay gap and workplace harassment aren’t the only issue harming American women’s economic opportunities. Anti-choice ideologues in Washington are fighting to defund Planned Parenthood and write laws that limit women’s reproductive health decisions. I’ll stand up for a woman’s right to choose. I’ll also fight for paid family leave, contraceptive access, and fair workplace protections for the young women throughout this country who are just beginning to pursue their dreams.

Health Care

Health care is an issue that is deeply personal to me. After my father was laid off in his late 50s, my parents struggled after being denied health insurance due to pre-existing conditions. As they entered their senior years, my mother suffered a heart attack and they almost lost their house. We must never go back to the days where pre-existing conditions meant exorbitant premiums or denial of insurance coverage. In Congress, I will work for bipartisan solutions to improve the Affordable Care Act, and fight back against efforts to sabotage it. All Americans should have access to affordable, quality health care.

Instead of playing partisan games with people’s health care, we should work together to address the flaws in our health care system. In Nevada, we need to ensure we are able to attract and retain quality medical providers. I’ll be a strong advocate for decreasing health care costs. For example, Medicare should be able to negotiate prescription drug prices, and we must also take steps to stabilize the health care marketplace to prevent spiraling insurance costs.

Health care needs in 21st century America must also include expanding access to mental health treatment and long-term care. Too many Americans cannot afford or get access to treatment for mental illness. Too often, patients are only first able to access mental health treatment after they have entered our justice system. We must work to expand the availability and accessibility of preventive mental health services.

As our population ages, we must take a proactive approach to expand long-term care options that are cost-effective, dignified and support high-quality end of life services.

Education

I would not be where I am today without the opportunities I had to get a good education. Because of this, I have spent my career working to build a better public education system for children throughout Nevada. I was the Founding Director of After-School All-Stars, a program that provides our most at-risk students with after-school enrichment activities and academic support. As President of Communities in Schools of Nevada for the past six years, I have worked to close achievement gaps, adequately fund education and keep kids on the road to graduation. Under my leadership, CIS has grown to serve 68,000 students in Nevada and dramatically increased graduation rates in the schools we serve.

Education must be a top national priority. We should invest in students and teachers from pre-kindergarten through college. In Congress, I will work to increase funding for early childhood education and programs that assist students living in poverty. I will also fight to ensure that every classroom in America has a great teacher with the resources he or she needs to succeed.

We also need to do more to make college more affordable and reduce the burden of student loans. We should protect and expand programs like the Pell Grant, and others that help students afford college. We tell our students that they need higher education, so we need to make sure that the cost of doing so does not crush them, as they begin their careers.

In addition to college affordability, we need to ensure that people can live a middle class life in this country without a 4-year degree. Congress should help fund training and apprenticeship programs, so that our workforce has the skills needed to compete in the 21st century. Due to our strong union apprenticeship programs, we are well-positioned to benefit from innovative training programs for the careers of the future. For decades, blue-collar workers helped form the backbone of the American middle class. We cannot leave them behind.

Immigration

The U.S. has a proud tradition of opening its doors to immigrants from across the world, who in turn have made immeasurable contributions to our country. We must continue to welcome immigrants, while at the same time reforming our broken immigration system by securing our borders and providing a path to citizenship for the immigrants who strengthen our communities. Congress also must act to protect TPS recipients, and the thousands of Nevada DREAMers who have lived, worked, and studied in the United States since they were children. I will continue to oppose the cruel practice of separating families at the border.

For too long, politicians in Washington have used the issue of immigration as a wedge to divide people and score political points, instead of doing the hard work of fixing the system. While I do not support the abolishment of ICE, which protects communities as a part of the Department of Homeland Security, I believe ICE, like any other federal agency, should be held to a high standard of accountability, and Congress should remain vigilant in its oversight of the federal government. In Congress, I will work to hold our government accountable, make comprehensive immigration reform a top priority, and won’t play partisan games with people’s lives.

Environment

After I graduated from college, my first job was as an environmental consultant, handling water management, air quality, and other environmental issues. I have also been a strong advocate for conservation here in Nevada, and have a deep appreciation for the value of Nevada’s natural resources and public lands.

In addition to being a strong voice for conservation, smart environmental protections, animal welfare, and environmental justice, I will be a leader in Congress when it comes to energy independence and combating climate change. I will continue to work to position Nevada as a leader in clean energy, and I will fight back against the damaging policies coming out of Washington that are threatening our environment.

Economic Opportunity

As one of eight kids in a working class family in Ohio’s rust belt, I grew up knowing the value of hard work. When I was young, my parents taught me that if I worked hard and did well in school, I would have a chance to live a better life than they had. And they were right. I started with my first job delivering papers at the age of eight. After high school, I was able to go to college with government aid and by working as many as four jobs at a time. I knew it was worth it, and after years of hard work, I graduated and had doors of opportunity open to me.

For too many Americans, my story is no longer possible. Instead of working for the middle class, our government works only for those who can afford to write the biggest checks to politicians in Washington. Congress needs to do more to focus on expanding economic opportunity for working families. In Congress, I will support real middle class tax relief, invest in our communities so that we can attract good-paying careers to Southern Nevada, and ensure that everyone enjoys the impact of economic growth, not just a privileged few.

Too many Americans are being left behind in today’s economy. The American Dream should be accessible to all. We need job training to equip our workforce for the careers of tomorrow, with or without a 4-year degree. We need to protect service industry employees who rely on tips in addition to their wages, especially here in Nevada. We need to ensure that working class families have health care and can save for retirement. I’ll also fight to ensure that no worker faces discrimination because of their sexual orientation, race, or disability. No American, regardless of their background, should lose out on the chance to live a dignified, secure life. Those are the values I grew up with, and they’re the values I’ll fight for in Congress.

National Security and Veterans

America needs a smart foreign policy that promotes our values and keeps us safe. With so many threats on the global stage, I will work hard to ensure that our military remains the strongest, most well-equipped force in the world. I will also make sure that our State Department and diplomats have the resources they need, because whether it’s in North Korea, Iran, or elsewhere around the globe, we need to keep all of our options on the table, both militarily and diplomatically. I’ll also fight for the security of key allies, including Israel, so that we can promote stability and peace around the globe.

We as a nation need to support our brave men and women in uniform while they serve, but we must not forget about them when they come home. My father was a veteran, and critical veterans’ services were incredibly important to our family, especially in his later years. In Congress, I will fight for a fully funded and functional Veterans Administration that provides returning veterans the care they need and deserve. This care, however, must be extended to mental health services and suicide prevention. Our country’s bravest and finest deserve access to this care if they should need it, and I will push to increase funding for veterans’ mental health programs. I will also be a tireless advocate for training and education programs that ensure that our veterans can smoothly enter the civilian workforce and work with the dignity they deserve.

Gun Safety

On October 1, 2017, our community experienced, in the most horrifying way possible, the traumatic impact of gun violence in our country. For too long, Congress has shamefully failed to act, as tragedy after tragedy unfolds. Shootings are now the 3rd-leading cause of death for children in America, a truly shocking statistic. Some common sense gun safety measures are long overdue. First of all, I will pressure Nevada’s leaders to recognize the will of the people and implement the background check law that was passed by voters in 2016. I’ll also advocate for national background check legislation, and limiting the ability to modify legal firearms with devices like bump stocks that make them military-grade weapons capable of causing the carnage that we witnessed in our community. Congress should also take concrete steps to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, felons, and individuals on the no fly list. We must work to keep guns out of the hands of those who mental health professionals deem to be a risk to themselves or others. Expanding Red Flag laws, as well as access to preventive mental health treatment, will help prevent high-risk individuals from committing acts of mass violence, as well as address the pandemic of gun suicides in this country. Furthermore, we need federal legislation that cracks down on illegal gun trafficking, including stiffer penalties for those who engage in illegal straw purchasing, when prohibited purchasers buy guns by funneling money to a different buyer.^[12]

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