U.S. House of RepresentativesCandidate for District 1

We must support a federal farm bill which provides increased incentives for development and usage of technology for water conservation and to stem the tide of farm nutrients and waste runoff into streams, putting our drinking water, animals and plant growth at risk. I support the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to install irrigation systems that help prevent groundwater contamination.   

Rather than prioritizing new reservoirs, we must first repair our existing levees and dams, 4,000 of which are considered in disrepair. I will fight for funding to repair aging pipes and faulty meters of our drinking water infrastructure which result in the loss of 2 trillion gallons of treated drinking water each year.        

I would co-sponsor The Rebuild America Act which would invest $12 billion per year to repair dams that provide drinking water, irrigation, hydropower, and flood control. A lack of investment and prioritizing infrastructure repair of our at-risk dams and reservoirs led to the collapse of the Oroville Dam spillway and the subsequent evacuation of 200,000 residents in our district. The Act would also invest $6 billion per year for states to improve our access to clean drinking water and another $6 billion to improve wastewater plants and storm water management.       

Managing our forests is critical to our access to clean water. More than 60% of California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra Nevada where forests play a key role in our water quality. Many of the Sierra forests are overgrown, resulting in high-density, smaller trees and undergrowth which compete for resources, such as water, and pose a risk of increased fires, impacting the quality of our water. Forest thinning is therefore directly related to our access and quality of water. According to the Nature Conservancy, if the current scale of forest restoration is increased three-fold, there could be up to a 6% increase in the mean annual streamflow for individual watersheds.  

In order to ensure that our access to clean water is available to all Californians, not just special interest groups, I oppose any federal regulations, such as H.R. 23, that reverse California state water laws and jeopardize our environment.  

Through increased federal funding, we can improve California’s quality and access to water; from underground basins, by improving the infrastructure of our current reservoirs, and by managing our forests while fighting to protect our environment and the long-term viability of our water supply.

Americans spend more per capita than any other country in the world, amounting to one-sixty of our economy. Yet, despite the hefty price tag, the United States remains the only developed country which does not provide universal healthcare to its citizens.

Americans deserve the right and assurance that regardless of age or the nature of the medical care required, they have access to healthcare, without exclusions and without limits.

Universal healthcare would lower the costs of services and prescription medication through a single payer plan with reduced administrative costs by removing the involvement and interference of private insurance. Although median household incomes have not increased significantly since the 1980’s, healthcare costs have risen exponentially. Business owners and their employees have been shouldering the burden of these high costs. Even for those workers who have insurance through their employers, the costs passed on to workers particularly for coverage of a spouse and children are outpacing increases in a worker’s income.

By lowering healthcare costs, employers will have greater flexibility to raise wages and lower the contributions for healthcare required by employees, resulting in more take-home pay for working families. Americans would no longer need to make the difficult choice between paying for rent and food or paying for healthcare, or filing bankruptcy because a family could not afford the high cost of a medical procedure.

Through universal healthcare, our citizens who have the courage and aspire to start new businesses will have greater flexibility and freedom to ensure that they and their employees have access to healthcare.

The Affordable Care Act significantly expanded access to healthcare for millions of Americans through subsidies, eligibility for Medicaid, and the increased protections against lifetime limits on coverage and exclusions due to pre-existing conditions. Universal healthcare would build further on the achievements of the ACA by ensuring all Americans have access to coverage by putting the interests of our citizens first above the profit interests of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

Rural communities are especially in need of expanded access to medical care and services provided by local clinics. By providing expanded student loan forgiveness to healthcare professionals and promoting communities which are welcoming of new members regardless of their race or religion or who they love, we can attract talented healthcare providers to our rural districts. I support funding to increase access to medical services in rural communities to meet the needs of residents in remote locations and to encourage more families to live in our beautiful region of California.

Whether our ancestors came to America many generations ago or whether we were born overseas and America is now our home, such as for my husband, Vincent, who is originally from a farming community in The Netherlands, we have always been proud of our diversity and ingenuity and the hard work and entrepreneurship of immigrants who have made America the prosperous nation we know today.

When my great grandmother and great grandfather immigrated to northern California, they took in laundry and poured cement to make a living and ensure a stable life for their children. Like my great grandparents, many of our current immigrants and first generation Americans are prepared to perform difficult work harvesting our fields and building our homes and key infrastructure while enriching our communities. For these reasons, I am a fierce advocate for immigration reform, including the “blue card” program supported by Senators Feinstein and Harris to provide a legal pathway for undocumented farm workers to stay in America and eventually obtain citizenship.

For most of the children of undocumented immigrants who came to America while very young, our country is the only country they know. They are our friends and neighbors, fellow students and co-workers. I have had the honor and sincere pleasure to get to know two DREAMers in our district who are leaders in our fight for the rights of all immigrants nationally and by meeting with members of the Silicon Valley business community, including Mark Zuckerberg, and our senator in California, Kamala Harris.

Our nation’s greatest leaders, Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez, fervently fought for our civil rights and the rights of farm workers. And, in decades past, we have made progress against racism and discrimination through the Civil Rights Act and legislation to protect those who perform dangerous and labor-intensive work. Yet, the current administration and attorney general would turn our country back not only to a pre-Obama era but a pre-Civil Rights era. We will not let America slip backwards. We are moving this country forwards, and we are electing members of Congress who firmly condemn white supremacy and neo-Nazism.

We will not stand by silently in the face of injustice. We will continue to rekindle the flame held by the Statute of Liberty and carry the torch for our immigrants and refugees.
America is now and will always remain a land of immigrants.

Managing our forests is critical to our access to clean water. More than 60% of California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra Nevada where forests play a key role in our water quality. Many of the Sierra forests are overgrown, resulting in high-density, smaller trees and undergrowth which compete for resources, such as water, and pose a risk of increased fires, impacting the quality of our water. Forest thinning is therefore directly related to our access and quality of water. According to the Nature Conservancy, if the current scale of forest restoration is increased three-fold, there could be up to a 6% increase in the mean annual streamflow for individual watersheds.  

In order to ensure that our access to clean water is available to all Californians, not just special interest groups, I oppose any federal regulations, such as H.R. 23, that reverse California state water laws and jeopardize our environment.  

Through increased federal funding, we can improve California’s quality and access to water; from underground basins, by improving the infrastructure of our current reservoirs, and by managing our forests while fighting to protect our environment and the long-term viability of our water supply.

A democracy means a chance for all of us to improve our lives, not just the lives of the wealthiest Americans. Yet, since the 1980’s, the lion’s share of opportunities in our nation have remained in the grip of billionaires and multi-millionaires instead of working families. In many of our rural districts, over 50% of households live on an annual income of less than $50,000 – with over 25% living on less than $25,000 a year. In order to truly make America the land of opportunity again, we must provide a living wage of at least $15 per hour to ALL workers and provide our students with access to free public university education and vocational training. 

 

Some of the hardest work in our country is done by the people whose labor ensures we have food on our tables and a roof over our heads – regardless of whether our families came to America in our lifetime or generations ago. My husband immigrated to the US from Holland, and my great-grandparents immigrated here from Slovenia and Croatia. My great-grandmother was a laundress and my great-grandfather poured cement.

 

For years, tax loopholes and low rates have given advantages to corporations, real estate and passive investors – to the detriment of wage earners and working families. This needs to stop NOW.

 

Because of the lobbying power of insurance and pharmaceutical companies, we are the only developed nation that does not provide universal healthcare to its citizens. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it. We must elect members of Congress who place the needs of their voters before those of large corporations. 

 

Roosevelt envisioned four key freedoms for America: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. To these freedoms I would add: the right to know our vote counts. 

 

Let’s take dark money out of our political process.

 

Let’s take America back for the people!