Regardless of our politics, all of us want a strong economy that gives everyone the chance to succeed. Few issues come up as frequently in my interactions across our region as the need to strengthen our economy, expand access to good-paying jobs, and make life more affordable.
Working to guide and strengthen the growth of the U.S. economy is a core focus of my work in Congress. I serve on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, trade, health care, Social Security, and more. I hold a leadership position in the New Democrat Coalition—the largest ideological group of House Democrats—as chair of its Trade Task Force. And I chaired, in the 117th Congress, the Joint Economic Committee, which serves as the economic think tank for both chambers of Congress.
From these posts, I have led the fight against Donald Trump’s illegal and idiotic tariffs, which have drastically raised prices for American families while alienating our allies. Trump’s trade wars are clearly hurting the economy as a whole, slowing growth and killing jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector—the very area Trump claims these tariffs were supposed to help. While Trump claims these tariffs are paid by foreign countries and companies, the simple economic fact is that these costs are ultimately paid by American consumers. I have led the legislative fight against Trump’s tariffs in the House, offering bills to repeal the tariffs and signing onto amicus briefs to support the court battle against them.
Eliminating Trump’s tariffs is one of the most effective steps we can take to make life affordable for the American people, but it’s not the only one. In Congress, I have championed expansion of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit to spur the construction of new homes and bring down housing prices. I’ve helped pass legislation that would extend health care tax credits that make health coverage more affordable and fought legislation that will drive up electricity prices by killing investment in clean energy projects.
I have focused on policy to ensure our economy works for all Americans. I have authored legislation and chaired hearings on expanding universal paid leave, shrinking the gender wage gap and the racial wage gap, expanding and extending the Child Tax Credit, and supporting older workers. And I have introduced broad legislation to make our tax code fairer by requiring wealthy individuals and large corporations to pay their fair share of the tax burden. This is a clear contrast with Republican policies that have continually showered tax breaks on the rich.
One of the great promises of our democracy is the idea that everyone can have access to quality education. Children with special needs or those living in poverty should be able to access the same quality education as those more fortunate and have the chance to develop to their fullest potential. Pandemic schooling has made us all more grateful for public education, especially given the strength of our K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in Northern Virginia.
But today, the goal of offering every American a good public education is being sorely tested. The Trump Administration has sought to illegally eliminate the Department of Education. In particular, Trump and his accomplices have worked to weaken or end IDEA, which supports programs and provides resources for students with special needs. They are also hollowing out the Office of Civil Rights, which works to ensure equal opportunity for all students and to protect them from discrimination. The Trump Administration has weakened Title I, which helps school systems with large percentages of low-income students.
They have also severely undermined efforts to provide current and former post-secondary students with reasonable relief to alleviate the crushing weight of student debt. This Administration has made life worse for educators, schools, and students from kindergarten through the postgraduate level.
I have vigorously opposed these illegal attacks on America’s education system with legislation, my votes, and in person at the Department of Education—where I joined colleagues to bluntly tell Secretary of Education Linda McMahon that her actions are wrong and illegal. I have signed lawsuits opposing a variety of illegal actions by this administration in the area of education, including the mass firings of Department of Education staff and the elimination of key offices that were established in law and funded by Congress. I will continue to do all I can to support students, educators, and schools in Northern Virginia and across America.
From the launch of my first congressional campaign in 2014, the issue at the forefront of my mind has been climate change. It is the most significant existential threat of our time, with a cost in lives and financial loss that grows higher every year. The climate crisis requires comprehensive action on a grand scale. In Congress, I serve as Co-Chair of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus, a group of over 70 Democrats pushing solutions to move the country away from carbon pollution.
Carbon pricing is one of the most important tools available that can help us meet the speed and scale with which we need to respond. For that reason, I am the sponsor of the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act, a carbon cap and dividend bill that would auction carbon pollution credits and return the proceeds electronically every quarter to every American. I also support a Green New Deal.
We must facilitate research and innovation to decarbonize sectors and build upon our current successes. My bipartisan SEA FUEL Act to help the military capture carbon and use it to create fuels was signed into law in the previous session of Congress. I am also a co-lead of the ARPA-E Reauthorization Act to develop truly transformational clean energy technologies. I founded the Congressional Fusion Caucus earlier to educate members about the science behind fusion energy, dispel any misconceptions, and advocate for increased funding through private-public partnerships.
My legislation to use tax incentives to spur widespread adoption of mid-size electric vehicles is a key piece of the climate provisions of the Build Back Better Act, President Biden’s signature climate legislation. That bill also contains provisions I led, including the NET Zero Act to scale up the development of direct air capture legislation, which would remove carbon pollution directly from the air, as well as legislation to incentivize the reduction of emissions in commercial buildings, increased production of domestic solar, and green hydrogen.
From the launch of my first congressional campaign in 2014, I have been especially focused on the need to protect our environment and address climate change. Climate change is one of humanity’s most pressing challenges, with direct ties to the rising cost of living. We have the power to overcome it with comprehensive action that will also protect clean air and water while lowering Americans’ energy bills.
In Congress, I serve as Co-Chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), which works to promote environmental protection, supports conservation efforts, and advocates for clean energy solutions that will help lower electricity prices. I am also a co-chair of both the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus and the Endangered Species Caucus.
My legislative efforts in this area have included a number of clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to help lower electricity costs, as well as legislative efforts like the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act, the Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act, the Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity Conservation Act, the Appalachian Trail Centennial Act, and the bipartisan SEA FUEL Act, to name a few. I founded the Congressional Fusion Caucus to educate members of both parties on cutting-edge fusion technology and its ability to provide abundant, safe, clean energy.
I have secured funding for local jurisdictions to purchase electric school buses to mitigate diesel pollution exposure in children, as well as secured funding for upgrades in our local parks. I am focused on helping our local community adapt to climate change. For example, I led the bipartisan National Oceans and Coastal Security Improvements Act, which builds on a program I helped create to ensure coastal resilience and help communities like Alexandria proactively deal with nuisance flooding, and I have secured several community-funded projects for our local communities to directly fund sewer infrastructure improvements to mitigate stress from increases in rainfall.
More recently, I have led Congressional conversations with our regional grid operator, PJM, as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, on solutions to prevent electricity price hikes from data centers and to ensure smarter, cleaner, more cost-effective long-range planning and more effective operations to bring down costs.
Virginia’s 8th congressional district is home to more federal employees than any other congressional district. Federal employees keep this country moving, they are the backbone of national security, safe transportation, safe food, and clean water. In my stints as a federal employee—my first job as a ranger with the National Park Service, my four years as ambassador to Switzerland, and my time since 2015 as a member of Congress—I have been deeply impressed by the intelligence and work ethic of so many of my colleagues and staff. Over the years, I’ve successfully fought to increase federal employees’ pay and expand their paid leave.
But today our federal workforce is under attack by the very people who are supposed to lead and support it. President Trump and his administration have treated civil servants with wanton cruelty, with massive purges aimed at hollowing out or eliminating key federal agencies, often in clear violation of the law.
I’ve been fighting them every step of the way. I’ve organized and spoken at rallies and events at federal agencies to stand up for workers, I’ve joined lawsuits to challenge Trump and Elon Musk’s illegal attacks on federal agencies, I’ve introduced legislation to facilitate the rehiring of federal workers, and I’ve hosted resource fairs, a financial guidance workshop, and a jobs fair to help civil servants and contractors who lost their jobs. While the need has been staggering, it has been heartwarming to see our region step up to support and help those in our community who need it most.
During the 2025 shutdown, the longest in history, I shared resources to assist federal employees and contractors experiencing financial hardship, offered legislation to support furloughed workers, challenged utilities to ensure workers didn’t have services turned off amid the pay lapse, and fought to ensure all furloughed workers received back pay.
Our nation must be a leader in exemplifying the highest standards of human rights, climate security, election security, and democracy. As a former ambassador, I know the importance of building collaborative international relationships firsthand.
While I believe in maintaining a strong military, I will always see diplomatic engagement as the first, second, and third option, with force as a true last resort. We have been too quick to deploy US troops abroad, often on ill-conceived missions where a lack of strategic planning and clear goals limits their chance of success.
On human rights, we must not only exemplify the highest ideals but also maintain the US legacy of mercy and outreach to the world’s refugees and those who flee danger in their homeland. Foreign assistance should remain a central piece of our foreign policy toolkit, both for its strategic value and because we have a moral imperative to help the less fortunate.
Climate change is another key area of international cooperation, a global crisis, and requires global solutions that will not occur unless the world’s largest economy is fully committed to rising to the challenge. I was proud to represent the United States in 2021 at the United Nations COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
One of the biggest challenges in my first term was helping secure President Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. I was a strong proponent of the Iran deal, working to build support for it in the House. Today, I continue to strongly support renewing the multilateral accord to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
I supported President Biden’s commitment to bring all troops home from Afghanistan, which finally ended our two-decade presence in that country, which cost thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars. I continue to support ending US involvement in the war in Yemen, which has seen horrific losses of civilian lives.
We are beyond a crisis point with guns in America. Mass shootings in Las Vegas, Florida, Virginia Beach, and so many other American communities cause horrific tragedies that we have sadly come to expect. Yet, most gun violence does not get that level of attention. Every day, more than 124 people in the U.S. die by gunshot, totaling over 38,000 a year, many of them by suicide.
Halting gun violence has been a major focus of my work in Congress. I am a lead cosponsor of the bipartisan Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, legislation that would encourage states to temporarily remove access to firearms from people in crisis with a petition from law enforcement or family members.
I proudly voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would expand background checks to cover nearly every gun sale. I also voted for legislation to close the Charleston loophole, which allowed prohibited persons to acquire firearms if their background check is not completed within three days, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which closed the “boyfriend loophole” on gun sales to abusive partners or stalkers. Firm in my belief that weapons of war have no place in American communities, I am a long-time co-sponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban, and of measures to ban high capacity ammunition magazines and bump-stocks.
I have long advocated for health care legislation that makes universal, affordable care a reality. President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, marked the biggest step forward in US health care in decades: tens of millions of uninsured Americans received coverage for the first time. Insurance companies had to accept applicants for health coverage, regardless of preexisting conditions, and they could not charge women more for the same coverage, as had been common practice. More recently, Virginia’s Medicaid expansion, enacted by Democrats in the General Assembly, brought health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of Virginians.
As a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over health care, I am at the heart of the fight to build on that progress and make affordable, accessible health care fully universal. I introduced the Choose Medicare Act to do just that, and am a proud co-sponsor of Medicare for All. I have also championed legislation to lower prescription drug costs and fought as a member of the House Science Committee to ensure that public health measures are based on sound science.
Mental health has been an area of particular focus for my work in Congress, where I lead the House Mental Health Caucus, with a particular legislative focus on reducing the high instance of suicides, which claims tens of thousands of American lives each year. I helped establish 9-8-8 as the 3-digit suicide prevention lifeline phone number and enact legislation to raise awareness about this lifesaving resource. I have introduced the Barriers to Suicide Act to support nets and barriers on bridges to reduce suicide by jumping as well as the Peer to Peer Mental Health Support Act, in which mental health professionals train students in middle schools and high schools to provide mental health education and peer support to their fellow students so they have strategies to be healthy as well as how to access resources and help in a time of crisis.
Unfortunately, the return of Donald Trump to the White House has been a disaster for the U.S. health care system. Republicans passed legislation in the summer of 2025 that made the biggest health care cuts in American history, including nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. These cuts will be particularly devastating to rural communities, but people all over the country are already seeing skyrocketing health costs and, in many cases, finding that they simply cannot afford coverage at all. Additionally, Trump appointed vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. health system. Kennedy has surrounded himself with a team of quacks, kooks, and loons who are endangering the American public by gutting public health measures and weakening public guidance and support for vaccines, which have saved millions of lives. I have fought these steps with my vote and my voice and am focused on helping build support in Congress and across the country to fight back and undo these terrible actions that will make Americans less healthy.
It’s no secret that there’s an affordable housing crisis in this country, and this is certainly the case in Virginia’s 8th District. In Virginia alone, there is a shortage of 148,720 rental homes that are affordable and available for extremely low-income renters. We know that when people have adequate access to housing, it leads to stronger and more productive communities, greater economic mobility and job growth, and better educational and health outcomes.
I have spearheaded efforts on the federal level to bring down the cost of housing. I am a co-lead of H.R. 2573, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which would build more than two million new affordable housing units nationwide over the next 10 years and better meet the needs of at-risk groups. I also co-led the Save Affordable Housing Act, which would protect the 30-year affordability commitment of housing financed by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. And I have consistently prioritized community project funding to secure more affordable housing in our community.
Now is the time to expand and improve our programs to tackle America’s affordable housing crisis in a meaningful way, and I will continue to work in Congress to better meet the needs of the American people.
Virginia’s 8th congressional district thrives because of its diversity. But this president’s nativism and racist treatment of immigrants and refugees is a national embarrassment, which seeks to rip the very fabric of vibrant communities like ours and turn neighbor against neighbor with policies designed to inflict the maximum amount of cruelty.
Across the country, federal law enforcement officers are being diverted from vital missions that keep Americans safe to enforce Trump’s cruel agenda of mass deportation. We have seen police state tactics and even violence carried out by masked, unidentified agents turned against law-abiding people and, with increasing frequency, U.S. citizens. The Administration has targeted students and academics for detention and deportation simply for voicing their opinions. We’ve seen a near-total assault on legal forms of immigration into the United States by nonwhite people through travel bans, the dismantling of asylum protections, and the intentional breakdown of the citizenship process.
These are not just attacks on immigrants, they are attacks on American values. I have done all I can to oppose the racism and illegal mayhem of this Administration, with legislation like the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would protect schools, churches, and hospitals from immigration enforcement activities, to joining lawsuits challenging the unconstitutional and illegal acts of Trump and his goons in court, to active involvement in individual cases like that of Dr. Badar Khan Suri, who the administration sought – unsuccessfully, so far – to deport for social media posts. I have also led and joined legislation to rein in ICE, like the ICE Visibility Act and the Dignity for Detained Immigrations Act, visited detention facilities in Virginia to conduct oversight and bear witness to the treatment of detained people in person, and continued to be as vocal as I can about the awful things this Administration is doing.
This is not who we are. I’ve met with community leaders, business leaders, and immigration advocates in Northern Virginia. I’ve met with (and fought for) a mother who was separated from her children and deported for a minor infraction, and spoken with tearful fathers who had their children ripped out of their arms at the border. I believe there are better, smarter ways to address immigration that do not betray our core values as Americans.
That is why I support a humane approach to immigration that treats people with dignity while advancing our national interest, as opposed to the viciousness and hate we have seen over and over again from this president and his administration. I still believe that America can be a “shining city on a hill” and a beacon of hope to people around the world who will also have contributions to offer that will make our country stronger.
Congress has a constitutional duty to provide oversight of the Executive Branch, and this role is one of my major priorities.
Donald Trump’s first term was a disaster for the country, and I helped lead a strong response to protect the American people from his greed and corruption, defend our democratic institutions, and hold his administration accountable. This included leading efforts that helped secure the removal of members of Trump’s cabinet, using public messaging to raise awareness of Trump and his cronies’ lawlessness and wrongdoing, and working tirelessly to help flip the House so that we could direct formal oversight efforts with the legal weight of congressional committee powers. I remain proud of my votes to impeach Donald Trump twice.
Since his return to office, Trump has been even worse. His renewed attack on federal employees and government agencies, driven by Elon Musk and “DOGE,” led to a mass purge of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors, an economic disaster for our region and a moral disaster for our country and the world. Trump has sent federal agents into major cities to sow division and fear by harassing honest, law-abiding people, resulting in violent incidents and even murder. He signed the biggest health care cut in history to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-rich, enacted tariffs that raised Americans’ prices while alienating our allies, and engaged in illegal and unconstitutional attacks on sovereign countries without congressional authorization. He has renewed his lie that the 2020 election was stolen and pardoned 1,600 criminals who participated in the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. He’s lined his pockets and the pockets of his family members with ill-gotten crypto money as his allies and donors get rich off of his administration’s policies.
I am doing all I can to oppose this would-be dictator and his lawless administration. I have joined legal efforts to fight Trump’s authoritarian takeover in court, many of which have been successful. I’ve fought his overreach via legislation to lower costs, protect Americans’ health care, and stop Trump’s draconian immigration enforcement. Because of my committee assignments and district, my legislative work has taken a particular focus on the federal workforce and on tariffs.
I organized the first of many congressional actions at federal agencies to stand up for federal workers and oppose the illegal attacks on our agencies at USAID on February 3, 2025. I have led or participated in many since and joined people across the country standing up for freedom and justice in rallies like the No Kings rallies. I fought to raise awareness about the case of Dr. Badar Khan Suri and other academics illegally detained without charges by the Trump Administration simply for engaging in protected speech, and I was proud to welcome Dr. Suri back to Northern Virginia after his court-ordered release. I’ve conducted oversight in person, including visits at ICE detention centers in Virginia, after which I continued to press for accountability, humane conditions, and adherence to basic medical and safety standards.
I’ve also done my best to listen to my constituents and to help those hurt by Trump. I’ve held a job fair, financial resource and mental health resource fairs, a know your rights training for dealing with ICE, and other local events to help people fired or targeted by this administration. I’ve held town halls in person and by phone to hear from constituents on all of these topics, so that my actions can reflect your needs. Together with my Democratic colleagues in Congress and with all who value freedom, justice, and democracy, I am working every day to hold this administration accountable, protect the Constitution, and defend our most important values.
The unjustified deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others have brought racial justice to the front of our national political dialogue and sparked nationwide activism. I have twice voted for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which included my legislation, authored with D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, requiring all federal officers to use body and dashboard cameras. This bill was inspired by the killing of Northern Virginian Bijan Ghaisar by US Park Police.
I have also introduced legislation to require cities and counties to disclose the cost of police misconduct, which would mount pressure on police departments to reform their practices. I am a strong proponent of criminal justice reform, including banning the federal death penalty, legalizing cannabis, achieving meaningful sentencing reform, and banning private prisons. I have been a leader on bipartisan efforts to sharply limit the often-abused practice of civil asset forfeiture.
As Virginia reckons with its history of slavery, Jim Crow, and institutional racism, I have been a strong supporter of removing public symbols of white supremacy. In 2021, I announced legislation to end Arlington House’s designation as a memorial to Robert E. Lee, which had previously been enacted by Congress in 1955. I believe that being honest about our past is vital if we are to correct injustices in our present.
I also believe that racial justice cannot just be addressed in racial justice legislation; it must be addressed in all legislation, whether environmental justice, health care, education, or police reform. I am a vocal supporter of equity in health care and am proud of my strong voting record in favor of environmental justice. As Joint Economic Committee Chair, I have held hearings on racial disparities in employment, wealth, income, and health, and on the gender pay gap’s disproportionate impacts on Black women. I introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act to ban seclusion and create federal standards limiting the restraint of students across the country, a major civil rights issue.
Transportation and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. With policies to decrease traffic and streamline transportation, we can and must address the climate crisis.
The federal government plays a vital role in supporting the Metro system and sustainable transportation options in the Washington, DC area. Metro is key to many Virginians’ commutes each morning: four in every ten riders are federal workers. I have worked hard to secure funding for WMATA to keep Metro stations open and trains running. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which I strongly supported, secured ten years of funding with additional oversight requirements to ensure the service and reliability of this vital artery for years to come.
I have also made it a priority to boost other sustainable transportation options, including bus rapid transit along the Route 1 corridor, HOT lanes, and car-sharing, as well as increases and improvements in bike infrastructure.
During my time in Congress, I have helped secure major investments in surface transportation infrastructure. That includes helping win the funding that renovated Arlington Memorial Bridge, which had been in danger of total closure because of serious structural problems. I have successfully pushed for safety improvements with community input for the southern portion of George Washington Memorial Parkway and a major project to renovate GWP’s northern stretch, which currently has numerous potholes and other structural deficiencies. I also sponsored bipartisan legislation which passed into law, securing the resources necessary for the construction of a new rail bridge across the Potomac, the Long Bridge Project, which recently began construction.
I have also long been vocal about the need to improve aircraft safety in local airports, both before and after the loss of American Airlines Flight 5342. Immediately after the crash, I led the effort that urged the Administration to adopt the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary recommendations, which it has done. I continue to push the FAA to review the total flight volume at DCA, to determine if capacity levels are being pushed too far, which the FAA has agreed to. I continue to seek improvements that reduce congestion and noise while making the skies above our region safer. For example, I also successfully passed my Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act to support research, demonstration, and standards adoption for alternatives to fossil-based jet fuel, more environmentally and economically efficient aircraft, and improvements to address noise pollution.
Our remarkable district, bordering the nation’s capital and the Potomac River, is home to several key military installations, including the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for tens of thousands of men and women who served our country with valor.
I feel personal ties to veterans’ issues. My dad, who lived to be 93, was a West Point graduate who served in Korea and was part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Trieste (where I was born). My father-in-law, who lived to be 92, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded two Purple Hearts. It is extraordinary what their generation gave us and what the military generations following have continued to do.
I lead the Veterans Transition Support Act, which aims to improve the disability claims process for veterans. The bill would expand the Solid Start program to help transitioning service members file claims pre-separation and minimize interruptions in medical care and benefits. We owe our troops and, after their service, our veterans, the best possible care. And when there are problems with accessing that care, we should move in good faith—and without unnecessary partisan rancor—to remedy the situation.
We also must strive to be a nation that engages in foreign conflicts only as a last resort after diplomatic options are exhausted, with deeply thoughtful consideration of all factors.
With the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, we face the most serious threat in decades to women’s reproductive freedom. Gender equality does not exist without bodily autonomy, women must be able to make the family planning decisions that work best for them and their families. Reproductive care and abortion rights are essential health care, and I have voted repeatedly for the Women’s Health Protection Act to enshrine that right in federal law.
I have also been an intentional advocate for economic empowerment of women. Working women make up almost half of the American labor force; yet gender pay gaps remain.Women must be able to make their own economic decisions, including whether and when to have children. This is possible only with affordable child care, workplace flexibility, paid family and medical leave, and reliable health care. Today, the United States is one of only two nations that does not guarantee paid parental leave. It is past time to give working women and families this critical tool, and I have been heavily involved in legislative efforts to guarantee universal paid and family leave to every American worker in federal law.
I introduced the Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act to guarantee 12 weeks of paid family leave for federal employees in all instances covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, and I secured a provision in the most recent defense bill that allowed federal employee veterans to count their years in service towards time in federal employment to avoid delays in eligibility for FMLA.
While progress in this area has been far too slow, I am also proud to have helped pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in 2022. This landmark reform requires employers to provide workers reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
