United States SenateCandidate for Senator

California’s economy will be stronger in the long term by fundamentally adapting to the reality of the drought. California has the tools and resources at our disposal to solve the drought crisis and increase security and prosperity for all of our regions. Constraints force innovation and California must put its greatest minds together to create new technologies and infrastructures to confront the drought. I support immediate desalinization incentives. I support duplicating the water reuse plan that has served my congressional district and OC statewide and I also support Senator Dianne Feinstein's efforts on the  drought relief bill where all stakeholders have a seat at the table. Senator Feinstein’s bill aims to provide short-term drought relief and to increase long-term regional water sustainability.  Investing in common-sense water infrastructure projects, which are best suited for each geographic region of California will benefit our environment and provide long-term savings to California taxpayers.

Over the past several years the EPA has put forward strong standards to protect public health and to regulate pollution, including carbon.  We must support upholding te enforcement of environmental laws that require all polluters, including power plants and factories, to meet stringent standards to reduce carbon, soot, smog, sulfur and other air and water pollution. I believe we must incentivize the production of clean energy. That is whyI co- signed a letter of support for the extension of both Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which provide tax credits to various renewable electricity sources. Today the fossil fuel industry – coal, oil, and natural gas – benefits from numerous direct and indirect subsidies. These loopholes allow them to avoid complying with laws to protect our air and water. Congress needs to end these subsidies and close the loopholes. 

 Gun violence demands a strong response. While I affirm the constitutional right to bear arms, I support reasonable regulation of firearms. I support the proposed ban on high-capacity magazines, child safety locks, waiting periods for gun sales, development of “smart gun” technology, universal background checks for all sales, closing the gun-show loophole and enhanced gun control regulation at the state and federal levels.

Immigration is the moral imperative of our nation and a key issue I want to address in the Senate. Our immigration system is broken, deeply dysfunctional and must be reformed now. I have voted time and time again for the commonsense, bipartisan DREAM Act which would provide millions of young people who grew up in the United States with the opportunity to achieve the American Dream and a chance to contribute to our country's well-being by serving in the Armed Forces or pursuing a higher education. I've continued pushing for this commonsense bipartisan legislation's passage and I've held listening session with local activists to ensure their important voices and perspectives are included. The DREAM Act passed in the House but failed in the Senate, which is why I want to provide a strong voice for passing comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate. 

Legalizing marijuana is a decision that should be left up to the voters of each individual state. The federal government should not step in if a state votes to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, as Washington and Colorado have. Marijuana should be decriminalized and moved from Schedule I to Schedule II. I have always supported access to medical marijuana. I have voted against funding to the DOJ to conduct raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. I have worked to bring this industry out from the black market by supporting efforts to allow banks to hold accounts for medical marijuana businesses. I also supported the move to unionize the first medical marijuana dispensary in California, which occurred in my district.

I have opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and believe any trade agreement must protect American labor, intellectual property rights, and economic interests. We also shouldn't engage in trade deals with countries that have abysmal human rights records and can not be trusted to fix those injustices. American workers should not be forced to compete against the lowest bidder.