Co-Founder, 9/11 Commission Caucus
Co-Chair, Americans Abroad Caucus
Co-Founder/Chair, Census Caucus
Member, Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus
Member, Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
Founder/Co-Chair, Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues
Member, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
Member, Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues
Member, Congressional Human Rights Caucus
Member, Congressional Narcotics Abuse and Control Caucus
Member, Congressional Progressive Caucus, present
Member, Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
Member, Congressional Urban Caucus
Member, Executive Board, Congressional Arts Caucus
Former Member, Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Government Operations Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Chair, House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Homeland Security
Former Member, Joint Economic Committee, United States House of Representatives
Former Chair, Joint Economic Committee, United States House of Representatives
Member, Older Americans Caucus
Former Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, United States House of Representatives
Former Chair, Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets, United States House of Representatives
Member, Task Force for an East Side High School
Former Member, Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Co-Chair, Women's Caucus
Co-Founder, 9/11 Commission Caucus
Co-Chair, Americans Abroad Caucus
Co-Founder/Chair, Census Caucus
Member, Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus
Member, Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
Founder/Co-Chair, Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues
Member, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
Member, Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues
Member, Congressional Human Rights Caucus
Member, Congressional Narcotics Abuse and Control Caucus
Member, Congressional Progressive Caucus, present
Member, Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
Member, Congressional Urban Caucus
Member, Executive Board, Congressional Arts Caucus
Former Member, Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Government Operations Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Chair, House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Homeland Security
Former Chair, Joint Economic Committee, United States House of Representatives
Member, Older Americans Caucus
Member, Task Force for an East Side High School
Former Member, Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Co-Chair, Women's Caucus
Member, Committee on Financial Services
Chair, Committee on Oversight and Reform
Member, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis
Member, Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance
Member, Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets
Astrological Sign:
Aquarius
— Awards:
American Honoree, Friends of the United Nations Population Fund, 2007
Legislative Achievement Award, AARP, 2009
Public Official of the Year Award, Earth Day New York/New York office of the Natural Resources Defense Council, 2011
Names of Grandchildren:
Denis, Grace
— Number of Grandchildren:
1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice
1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes
2. Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare?
- Yes
1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes
1. Do you support the protection of government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability in civil lawsuits concerning alleged misconduct?
- No
Do you support increasing defense spending?
- No
1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes
2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No
3. Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19?
- Yes
1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)?
- Yes
2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes
1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes
1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No
2. Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19?
- Yes
1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No
2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No
1. Should the United States use military force to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a weapon of mass destruction (for example: nuclear, biological, chemical)?
- No
2. Do you support reducing military intervention in Middle East conflicts?
- Yes
Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)?
- Yes
1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer
2. Abortions should always be legal.
- X
3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester.
- No Answer
4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- No Answer
5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- No Answer
6. Dilation and extraction or "partial-birth" abortion procedures should be legal.
- No Answer
7. Medicare, Medicaid, and federal subsidies should be prohibited from being used on abortion procedures.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles.
- No Answer
1. Agriculture
- Maintain Status
2. Arts
- Greatly Increase
3. Defense
- Maintain Status
4. Education
- Greatly Increase
5. Environment
- Slightly Increase
6. FEMA
- Slightly Increase
7. Homeland security
- Greatly Increase
8. International aid
- Greatly Increase
9. Law enforcement (Federal)
- Greatly Increase
10. Law enforcement (State)
- Greatly Increase
11. Medical research
- Greatly Increase
12. National parks
- Greatly Increase
13. Public health services
- Greatly Increase
14. Scientific research
- Slightly Increase
15. Space exploration programs
- Slightly Decrease
16. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Greatly Increase
17. United Nations
- Slightly Increase
18. Welfare
- Maintain Status
19. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
20. Armed forces personnel training
- Greatly Increase
21. Intelligence operations
- Slightly Increase
22. Military hardware
- Maintain Status
23. Modernization of weaponry and equipment
- Maintain Status
24. National missile defense
- Greatly Decrease
25. Pay for active duty personnel
- Greatly Increase
26. Programs to improve troop retention rates
- Greatly Increase
27. Research and development of new weapons
- Maintain Status
28. Troop and equipment readiness
- Greatly Increase
29. Less than $12,000
- Eliminate
30. $12,001-$40,000
- Eliminate
31. $40,001-$100,000
- Slightly Decrease
32. $100,001-$180,000
- Slightly Decrease
33. $180,001-$350,000
- Maintain Status
34. $350,001 and above
- Slightly Increase
35. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status
36. Capital gains taxes
- Maintain Status
37. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status
38. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status
39. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status
40. Inheritance taxes
- No Answer
41. Charitable contribution deduction
- Maintain Status
42. Child tax credit
- Greatly Increase
43. Earned income tax credit
- Greatly Increase
44. Medical expense deduction
- Maintain Status
45. Mortgage deduction
- Maintain Status
46. Student loan credit
- Slightly Increase
47. Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
- No
48. Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year?
- No Answer
1. Support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns.
- No Answer
2. Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to candidates for federal office.
- No Answer
3. Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to political parties or committees.
- No Answer
4. Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and parties.
- No Answer
5. Support prohibiting ads containing candidates' name that are paid for by third parties from airing 60 days before a primary and 30 days before a general federal election.
- No Answer
6. Support instant run-off voting (IRV).
- No Answer
7. Support designating Election Day as a national holiday.
- No Answer
8. Support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations.
- No Answer
9. Support limiting the President's use of signing statements in order to prevent an alternative interpretation of the bill.
- X
10. Support a federal shield law to protect reporter-source privilege.
- X
11. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
- No Answer
2. Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
- No Answer
3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X
4. Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
- X
5. Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent crimes.
- No Answer
6. Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs.
- No Answer
7. Support strict penalties for internet crime (e.g. hacking, identity theft, worms/viruses).
- X
8. Require that crimes based on sexual orientation be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
- X
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the federal government funding universal pre-K programs.
- X
2. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer
3. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer
4. Allow teachers and professionals to receive federal funding to establish charter or magnet schools.
- No Answer
5. Increase funding for the Pell Grant program.
- X
6. Decrease interest rates of Stafford Loans.
- X
7. Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.
- X
8. Ban university financial aid officers from owning stock in or accepting gifts from student loan lenders.
- X
9. Require universities to disclose financial relationships with lenders.
- X
10. Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- X
11. Eliminate all federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- No Answer
12. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- X
2. Reduce government regulation of the private sector.
- No Answer
3. Encourage employers to offer child care services, flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
- X
4. Increase the federal minimum wage.
- X
5. Support the right of workers to unionize.
- X
6. Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment.
- No Answer
7. Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.
- X
8. Include gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws.
- X
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
- X
2. Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
- X
3. Support increased development of traditional energy resources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil).
- No Answer
4. Strengthen emission controls on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
- X
5. Strengthen fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
- X
6. Support domestic oil exploration in areas that are currently restricted.
- No Answer
7. Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels.
- X
8. Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
- No Answer
9. Support research and development of nuclear reactors as an alternative energy source.
- No Answer
10. Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits under "cap and trade" laws.
- X
11. Support international mandatory emission targets to limit global warming.
- No Answer
12. Support international voluntary emission targets to limit global warming.
- X
13. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Allow individuals to carry concealed guns.
- No Answer
2. Ban the sale, ownership or possession of handguns except by law enforcement and other government officials.
- No Answer
3. Enforcement of existing restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- Greatly Increase
4. Restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- Greatly Increase
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Implement a universal healthcare program to guarantee coverage to all Americans, regardless of income.
- X
2. Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.
- No Answer
3. Allow the importation of prescription drugs into the United States.
- X
4. Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
- X
5. Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage.
- X
6. Support expanding child healthcare programs.
- X
7. Providing healthcare is not a responsibility of the federal government.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country.
- No Answer
2. Establish English as the official national language.
- No Answer
3. Support a temporary worker program.
- No Answer
4. Support harsher financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- No Answer
5. Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States.
- No Answer
6. Illegal immigrants should have to return to their countries of origin before being considered for citizenship.
- No Answer
7. Illegal immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship.
- X
8. Support merit-based visas over family-based visas.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the United States granting aid to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives.
- X
2. Support the United States granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States.
- X
3. Eliminate United States aid for any nation with documented human rights abuses.
- No Answer
4. Aid granted by the United States should be scaled back and eventually eliminated.
- No Answer
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
6. Should the United States continue to provide leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
- Yes
7. Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state?
- Yes
8. Should the United States impose greater international sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates?
- Yes
9. Should the United States support the Lebanese government against insurgent forces?
- Yes
10. Should the United States maintain its troop levels in Iraq?
- No
11. Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?
- Yes
12. Discuss your proposals for Iraq.
- No Answer
13. Should the United States apply greater economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea if it fails to abide by its agreement to suspend its nuclear program?
- Yes
14. Should the United States increase financial support for Afghanistan?
- Yes
15. Should the United States increase military support for Afghanistan?
- Yes
16. Should the United States trade nuclear fuel to India for civilian purposes?
- Yes
17. Should the United States decrease financial support for Pakistan?
- No
18. Should the United States decrease military support for Pakistan?
- No
19. Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in Darfur, Sudan?
- Yes
20. Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Yes
21. Should the United States provide economic and military support to the Transitional Government of Somalia?
- No
22. Should the United States use sanctions to encourage the government of Zimbabwe to end its human rights abuses?
- No
23. Should the United States support the creation of an independent nation of Kosovo?
- No
24. Do you support the United States imposing economic sanctions on China?
- No
25. Do you support the United States imposing trade sanctions on Venezuela?
- Undecided
26. Do you support the United States involvement in free trade agreements?
- No Answer
27. Do you support the United States involvement in intergovernmental organizations dedicated to trade?
- Yes
1. Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or impractical?
- No
2. Should law enforcement agencies have greater discretion to monitor domestic communications, to prevent future terrorist attacks?
- No
3. Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country?
- Yes
4. Should the federal government increase funding to states and cities for homeland security?
- Yes
5. Do you support pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be a threat to United States national security?
- No
6. Do you support the creation of a federal identification card system?
- No
7. Do you support long-term use of National Guard troops to supplement the armed forces in assignments overseas?
- No
8. Should the United States expand its missile defense shield?
- No
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
- Yes
2. Do you support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman?
- No
3. Do you support federal funding for research on existing embryonic stem cell lines?
- Yes
4. Do you support federal funding to create lines of stem cells from new embryos?
- Yes
5. Should the federal government consider race and gender in government contracting decisions?
- Yes
6. Should the federal government continue affirmative action programs?
- Yes
7. Should the federal government regulate internet gambling?
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts that they manage themselves.
- No Answer
2. Ensure the viability of Social Security by increasing the payroll tax.
- No Answer
3. Decrease benefits paid to retirees.
- No Answer
4. Support proportional increases of Social Security benefits based on the cost of living index.
- X
5. Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive full Social Security benefits.
- No Answer
6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week in a combination of work and training programs.
- No Answer
2. Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants.
- X
3. Support housing assistance for welfare recipients.
- X
4. Abolish all federal welfare programs.
- No Answer
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- No Answer
1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice
1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes
2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes
1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes
2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No
1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes
2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes
1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes
1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No
1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No
2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No
Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Yes
1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- No
2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Unknown Position
Latest Action: House - 06/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Tracker:Latest Action: House - 06/13/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Tracker:Latest Action: House - 06/13/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Tracker:By Ayanna Pressley and Carolyn B. Maloney Like many nations across the globe, the U.S. continues to combat the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration's deficient response has elevated the emotional, physical, and economic harm suffered by families in America. As we move through this moment of collective trauma, we must adopt focused, evidence-based approaches to make our country whole again and ensure that these approaches prioritize a precious responsibility -- our children's future. Structural inequities that existed long before the pandemic emerged have caused disproportionate harm to vulnerable Americans, from families of color and frontline workers to teachers and their students. These longstanding inequities led the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, under the leadership of its late chairman, Elijah Cummings, to convene hearings on childhood trauma in 2019. These first-ever congressional hearings focused exclusively on this important topic demonstrated that to end generations of trauma, we must acknowledge and treat childhood trauma as the public health crisis it is. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than two-thirds of children experience at least one seriously traumatic event by age 16. These range from experiencing psychological, physical, or sexual abuse to witnessing domestic violence, losing a loved one to violence, or experiencing neglect. The American Psychological Association states that the lasting consequences of trauma can vary from unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, and strained relationships to physical symptoms such as headaches and nausea. A study by the Center for American Progress reported that even as young as infancy, children of color are twice as likely to experience adverse childhood events as white children. Childhood and adolescent exposure to adversity such as poverty, homelessness, and witnessing violence can lead to complex trauma and toxic stress, which affect brain development. These traumas have damaged children and families for generations and have been linked to several leading causes of death in America, including heart disease, lung disease, substance use, and suicide. During last summer's landmark hearings, Dr. Debra Houry, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified that, "due to the tremendous impact that childhood trauma has on the future health and opportunity of our nation's children, the work towards prevention requires collaboration across all sectors and the federal government." We wholeheartedly agree, which is why we have introduced a pair of bills to do that. The Services and Trauma-informed Research of Outcomes in Neighborhood Grants for Support for Children Act of 2020, also known as the STRONG Support for Children Act, would create two new grant programs within the Department of Health and Human Services to fund reparative, culturally sensitive, trauma-informed, and community-based programs for treating and healing childhood trauma while mitigating the role that centuries of structural racism, bigotry, and discrimination have played in traumatizing children for generations. Under this bill, for example, a local public health department that identifies homelessness or gun violence as the primary contributors to trauma in their community could apply for federal funding to hire more social workers and train its staff in trauma-informed care. The department could also allocate this funding to community-based organizations that provide housing and address gun violence through after school programming. The Children's Protection Act of 2020 would ensure that the federal government is proactive and transparent in its efforts to end childhood trauma and prioritize the health and well-being of children by requiring agencies to analyze and publicly disclose the impact of all proposed federal regulations on children. The Trump administration has consistently demonstrated a reckless disregard for the impact its policies have on children. From cruel immigration practices and social safety net rollbacks to disastrous regulations that threaten food security, a clean environment, climate stability, and civil rights, these damaging changes have far-reaching and dangerous implications for the next generation's health and prosperity. To make matters worse, the coronavirus crisis forced children to transition from going to school to remote learning, losing access to teachers and classmates, school meals, outdoor play, and support staff. Many young people have needed to take on new caregiving roles in their families, while others are supporting their families as frontline workers at grocery stores, markets, and restaurants. Responsive, trauma-informed policies are long overdue. We must support children during this crisis as we all fight to overcome the lasting effects of the pandemic. The anticipated long-term mental health impacts on children demand that we be intentional about addressing childhood trauma in all forms. Our system must prioritize preventing traumatic harms so that every child grows up feeling safe and supported. Together, these historic bills represent a holistic approach to addressing childhood trauma that meets the growing needs in our communities. They depart from a status quo that entrenches cycles of trauma by responding with punishment, criminalization, and surveillance, and instead center trauma-responsive policies that emphasize healing. As we look to build a more resilient and equitable nation, there is no more important place to start than ensuring that our children and families have the resources and safeguards they need to address trauma at its roots.
Tue 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT