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Joaquin Castro (I)
DWon the General, 2024 Texas U.S. House District 20
Won the Primary, 2024 Texas U.S. House District 20, Primary Election
Won the General, 2022 Texas U.S. House District 20
Won the Primary, 2022 Texas U.S. House District 20, Primary Election
Assistant Whip, House Democrats, United States House of Representatives (2013 - Present)
To be claimed
Former Member, Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Armed Services Committee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Border & International Affairs Committee
Former Member, Central Intelligence Agency Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Member, Common Ground Caucus
Member, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
Member, Congressional French Caucus
Member, Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus
Member, Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Member, Congressional Morocco Caucus
Member, Congressional Singapore Caucus
Member, Congressional Taiwan Caucus
Member, Congressional United Kingdom Caucus
Former Member, County Affairs Committee
Member, CyberSecurity Caucus
Former Member, Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture, United States House of Representatives
Member, Friends of Switzerland Caucus
Former Vice-Chair, Higher Education Committee
Vice Chair, Higher Education Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee
Former Member, Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee
Member, Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus
Member, New Democrat Coalition
Former Member, Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade, United States House of Representatives
Member, Taskforce on Education, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Former Member, The Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Co-Chair, United States-Japan Caucus
Member, United States-Mexico Friendship Caucus
Member, USO Congressional Caucus
Former Member, Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Armed Services Committee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Border & International Affairs Committee
Former Member, Central Intelligence Agency Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Member, Common Ground Caucus
Member, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
Member, Congressional French Caucus
Member, Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus
Member, Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Member, Congressional Morocco Caucus
Member, Congressional Singapore Caucus
Member, Congressional Taiwan Caucus
Member, Congressional United Kingdom Caucus
Former Member, County Affairs Committee
Member, CyberSecurity Caucus
Former Member, Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture, United States House of Representatives
Member, Friends of Switzerland Caucus
Former Vice-Chair, Higher Education Committee
Vice Chair, Higher Education Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee
Former Member, Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee
Member, Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus
Member, New Democrat Coalition
Former Member, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, United States House of Representatives
Member, Taskforce on Education, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Former Member, The Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Co-Chair, United States-Japan Caucus
Member, United States-Mexico Friendship Caucus
Member, USO Congressional Caucus
Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs
Member, Education & Labor Committee
Member, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Member, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation (C3)
Member, Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment
Member, Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness (INMAR)
Member, Subcommittee on the CIA
Member, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration and International Economic Policy
— Awards:
Honors Graduate, Stanford University, 1996
— Father's Occupation:
— Mother's Name:
— Mother's Occupation:
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?
- Unknown Position
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.
- No Answer
3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
- 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. Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
- No Answer
7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Education (Higher)
- Greatly Increase
2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase
3. Emergency preparedness
- Greatly Increase
4. Environment
- Greatly Increase
5. Health care
- Greatly Increase
6. Law enforcement
- Greatly Increase
7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Slightly Increase
8. Welfare
- Slightly Increase
9. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
10. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase
11. Capital gains taxes
- No Answer
12. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status
13. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status
14. Gasoline taxes
- Greatly Decrease
15. Sales taxes
- Slightly Decrease
16. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status
17. Should the state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
- Undecided
18. Should accounts such as a ?rainy day? fund be used to balance the state budget?
- Yes
19. Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
- Undecided
20. The questions above will require different solutions depending on the fiscal outlook.
- Texas just increased cigarette taxes by $1.00
1. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas governors?
- Yes
2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas state senators and representatives?
- No Answer
3. Individual
- Yes
4. PAC
- Yes
5. Corporate
- Yes
6. Political Parties
- No
7. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes
8. Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns?
- Undecided
9. Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes?
- Yes
10. Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Texas are closed?
- Undecided
11. Should Texas recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- No Answer
12. Should the governor, rather than local authorities, be in charge of ordering emergency evacuations?
- Undecided
13. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
- No Answer
2. Support the death penalty in Texas.
- No Answer
3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X
4. End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- No Answer
5. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- X
6. Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
- No Answer
7. Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- X
8. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- No Answer
9. Require that crimes based on race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation be prosecuted as hate crimes.
- X
10. Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
- X
11. Increase state funding for state and local emergency agencies to prevent or respond to terrorism.
- X
12. Strengthen sex-offender laws.
- X
13. Support the restriction of the sale of products used to make methamphetamine (e.g. tablets containing pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine).
- X
14. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- X
2. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer
3. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer
4. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- X
5. Increase funds for hiring additional teachers.
- X
6. Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
- No Answer
7. Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
- No Answer
8. Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- No Answer
9. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X
10. Increase funding for Head Start programs.
- X
11. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- X
12. Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
- X
13. Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
- No Answer
14. Allow undocumented immigrant high school graduates to pay in-state tuition at Texas public universities.
- X
15. Support Texas' school funding equalization system (share-the-wealth).
- X
16. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that retrain displaced workers and teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- X
2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
- No Answer
3. Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
- X
4. Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X
5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X
6. Include sexual orientation in Texas' anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
7. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
9. Public employment
- Yes
10. State college and university admissions
- Yes
11. State contracting
- Yes
1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X
2. Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, and oil).
- X
3. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- X
4. Increase funding for improvements to Texas' power generating and transmission facilities.
- X
5. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X
6. Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
- No Answer
7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer
2. Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer
3. Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer
4. Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
- No Answer
5. Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
- No Answer
6. Require a license for gun possession.
- No Answer
7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
- X
2. Texas should continue to use the private contractor Accenture to process Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) applications.
- No Answer
3. Transfer current Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
- No Answer
4. Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- No Answer
5. Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
- X
6. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- No Answer
7. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Texas.
- No Answer
8. Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- X
2. Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
- X
3. Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
- X
4. Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
- No Answer
5. Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor.
- X
6. Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients.
- No Answer
7. Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
Please explain in a total of 75 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?
- Unknown Position
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?
- Yes
1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Yes
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?
- Unknown Position
1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Unknown Position
Latest Action: House - 06/20/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Tracker:Latest Action: House - 06/20/2019 Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under Suspension of the Rules.
Tracker:Latest Action: 06/13/2019 On agreeing to the Castro (TX) amendment (A045) Agreed to by recorded vote: 355 - 68 (Roll no. 294).
By Rep. Joaquin Castro I came to Washington to help make the dreams of families like mine real. My grandmother was an orphan who fled a war torn nation after the Mexican Revolution. Julián, my twin brother, and I were raised by her and our mother, a Chicana activist, who raised hell so her sons could have more opportunity than she did. We grew up in a humble community, attended public schools, pursued our higher education dreams and became public servants. Today I have the honor of serving the people of San Antonio, Texas, in Congress and leading the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. My family's progress represents the promise of America--a nation bound together not by race or religion, but by the principle that all people are created equal. Out of many, we become one. While we have not always lived up to the ideals in our founding documents, our democracy is still our best hope for a more perfect union. Yet today, democracy is under assault not only in the United States, but across the world. Authoritarianism is rising. Economic inequality is widening. Climate change is accelerating. Mass migration is increasing. Corruption is undermining the rule of law. Disinformation is dividing open societies. The COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying poverty, hunger and illness worldwide. Overcoming these global challenges will not be easy. U.S. foreign policy has at times made matters worse. Wars of choice have diminished our moral standing, destabilized entire regions--as the Iraq War did to the Middle East--burdened our troops and their families, wasted limited resources, and killed innocent lives. Our network of alliances and multilateral institutions are a unique source of American strength in need of recommitment, renewal and reinvention. A global pandemic is impacting our daily lives, making clear that what happens in other parts of the world affects us here. We need a new generation of foreign policy leadership with a new vision that promotes inclusive prosperity and democracy at home and a more holistic view of security abroad. I believe we must put diplomacy at the center of our strategy and rebuild America's infrastructure of diplomacy to achieve a more open, peaceful and just world. That's why I'm running for Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Now in my eighth year in Congress, I'm the only member of the House of Representatives that has served on the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and Intelligence committees--the nexus of American national security and U.S. foreign policy. Working at the intersection of diplomacy, defense and intelligence, I've come to fully appreciate the power of diplomacy to shape the world as it ought to be. I'm the Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and serve as Vice Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a position created so a new generation could have the opportunity to lead one of the oldest and most powerful Congressional committees. Traditionally, selecting new chairs is a behind-the-scenes process, but at this moment in history, the American people deserve more transparency and accountability. It's time for a more inclusive process that looks beyond solely seniority. This race is an opportunity to democratize foreign policy. Let's have a national conversation about the role of the United States in the world, democracy and human rights, war and peace, and the future of our planet. Let's have a real debate and participate in forums so people know where candidates stand on the issues. Let's include more input from other members on the topics we should cover in the committee, and use our platform to highlight injustice such as the ethic cleansing of Uighurs in western China and movements for universal rights like in Hong Kong. Let's welcome more voices--women, African Americans, Latinos, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and indigenous peoples--at the witness table, as I have done through the CHC-led Tri-Caucus Diversity Initiative. The next chair must take the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a new direction to meet the immense challenges of the 21st century. First and foremost, foreign policy starts at home. Our ability to promote peace and human rights abroad is directly connected to our capacity to advance equality and justice in the United States. From voter suppression and systemic racism to foreign disinformation and the corrupting influence of money in politics, right now our democracy is under attack. American and other free societies are in a competition with oligarchic and authoritarian forces. This is not only an external threat. President Trump has found kindred spirits in authoritarians like Xi Jinping, Tayyip Erdogan, Viktor Orbán, and Vladimir Putin, and has worked with them to undermine the rule of law. As an Intelligence Committee member, I was a part of the investigation into both the Russian 2016 election interference and the Trump impeachment inquiry, and I understand how malicious actors are working to undermine our democracy. U.S. foreign policy needs to confront transnational corruption and complement domestic efforts to ensure our democracy remains a government for, by, and of the people. While it's true our power internationally depends on our strength domestically, we can never lose sight that the purpose of statecraft is not geopolitics--success of U.S. foreign policy is measured by improvements in American lives. Democracy is not just an end, it's a means to make progress. That means advancing the rights of workers and environmental protections. We must rethink trade so globalization benefits workers and the planet, not just corporations and consumers. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) shows that when progressives push back, we can secure better agreements. The next chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee needs to stand up for working people rather than corporate interests and also push climate goals as part of future trade agreements. Our nation's two greatest geopolitical challenges in the 21st century are the climate crisis and competition with China. To overcome these challenges, we will need both skilled diplomacy and robust partnerships with other democratic nations, rooted in shared values and grounded in common challenges to free and open societies. That's why I co-founded the U.S.-Japan Caucus to strengthen our alliance with a democratic ally in the Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN Caucus to recommit the United States to multilateralism. We must work together to strengthen our resilience against internal and external threats to our democracy and freedom, build a fairer economy, and compete with alternative systems of governance. As we preserve and improve ties with long-standing allies, we must not be afraid to seek out new friends in new places, looking West and South to strengthen our relationships with nations where an ever greater number of Americans trace their family roots. I believe America must be a beacon of hope for the oppressed and a place of refuge for the vulnerable. Today almost 80 million people are displaced--the highest number since the Second World War. As Chair, I will put our country's identity as a nation of immigrants at the forefront of our foreign policy. We must also address the fact that too often our foreign policy has been a driver of displacement from Central America to the Middle East, while rising sea levels and extreme weather are creating climate refugees. We need to address the root causes of migration while also doing our part to welcome new Americans. Second, we need to change the way the United States approaches the world. For too long, our foreign policy has been dominated by military and other coercive tools like sanctions. The costs to us have been high and the benefits few. Far too often, the primary victims abroad are civilians whom we should be seeking to empower, not impoverish. We need to move beyond blunt punitive measure and reactive crisis management and recommit to proactive diplomacy to shape a better tomorrow. At a time of immense international challenges such as a global pandemic, we cannot afford to engage productively with our allies alone. Direct dialogue with our competitors and adversaries enables us to promote our values, advance our interests, defuse tensions peacefully, and cooperate on shared priorities. In short, we need a new foreign policy that puts diplomacy at the center of our strategy. That's why we must rebuild America's infrastructure of diplomacy. The U.S. State Department needs the best among us and America's diplomats should reflect the diversity of America. I led the expansion of the Rangel and Pickering fellowships signed into law by President Obama; now as Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I'm holding the Trump administration accountable for its lack of qualified and diverse diplomats. Foggy Bottom needs to be more flexible for American families that look different from decades past, and it needs to be more agile in attracting in different skills--economists, scientists, technologists--and directing them to outposts where they are needed most. Diplomacy is our best tool for managing some of the most serious challenges we face, threats that previous generations of foreign policy leaders have not wrestled with, like corruption, inequality, and the climate crisis. That means doing the hard work of articulating why complex, but successful international agreements such as the Iran Nuclear Deal, Paris Climate Accords, and the opening of diplomatic relations with Cuba are vital to advance our values and interests. Congress should also ensure that targeted sanctions are part of a diplomatic strategy and do not hurt innocent civilians while entrenching authoritarians and fraying alliances. The next Chair of the House Foreign Affairs committee must be a tireless champion for the power of diplomacy and also a potential partner with a new administration--whatever the election outcome, we must be prepared to defend our democratic values. Third, Congress must reassert its role under Article I of the U.S. Constitution to restrain executive power. That's why I proudly led the effort in Congress to reject President Trump's unconstitutional construction of his racist border wall, which passed with bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate. As House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, I will similarly lead Congress in defending its sole authority over the offensive use of force. That means repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that's proliferated U.S military engagements. We must bring the nearly two decade war in Afghanistan to an end. We must end the U.S. government's role in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, doing everything we can to end the severe human suffering exacerbated by the Trump administration's suspension of humanitarian aid. The House Foreign Affairs Committee must take a leading role in reclaiming War Powers from the Executive branch. After years of blood and treasure lost in endless wars, COVID-19's daily death toll is a tragic reminder that our military might alone cannot protect us from global challenges. In this moment of pandemic and protest, we are confronting hard truths about how unequal our nation remains. Our foreign policy is due for a similar reckoning. The challenges of the 21st century are immense, but a new generation of Americans is ready to lead. I've listened and worked with foreign policy professionals, progressive voices, and champions of human rights who are calling for new leadership. Now it is with hope of empowering new voices, as well as optimism in America's capacity to do good in the world, that I seek the Chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Sun 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM CDT
1800 W Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78207-3941, United States
Wed 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM MDT
Sun 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
