
U.S. House of Representatives - District 53
District 53 — U.S. House of Representatives
Get the facts on the California candidates running for election to the District 53 — U.S. House of Representatives
Find out their top 3 priorities, their experience, and who supports them.
About this office
News and links
News
Candidates
- Improve the educational system and make college affordable....
- Strengthen the economy and guarantee equal pay for...
- Ensure military families and veterans are receiving...
- Repeal Obamacare and replace it with a healthcare...
- Strong Defense and National Security. It is urgent...
- Reduce taxes and burdensome government regulations....
My Top 3 Priorities
- Improve the educational system and make college affordable.
- Strengthen the economy and guarantee equal pay for equal work for women and everyone in the workplace.
- Ensure military families and veterans are receiving the services, benefits and justice they earned serving our country.
Experience
Experience
Education
Community Activities
Biography
Congresswoman Susan A. Davis has served the heart of San Diego in Congress since 2000, when she was one of only four Democratic challengers in the nation to defeat a Republican incumbent. Since then, she has consistently won re-election with over two thirds of the vote.
The strength of support that Congresswoman Davis enjoys can be attributed to her willingness to stand up for San Diegans, her responsiveness to their concerns, and her ability to solve problems. Susan listens carefully and is known locally and in Washington as a thoughtful, deliberative legislator who works to build consensus with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle, while staying true to her core values.
Listening to San Diego
Susan’s advocacy in Congress stems from her belief that San Diego families must have a strong voice in Washington. She has never forgotten the words: “we the people” and believes her job is to listen to her constituents and take their problems, concerns and good ideas to Congress. Susan brings government to her busy constituents by holding Neighborhood Day listening sessions in each San Diego community, by hosting regular telephone town hall meetings and by responding to hundreds of thousands of constituent letters.
Susan’s legislative priorities reflect San Diego’s priorities: strengthening our local and national economy, improving education, fighting for the military and the families who fight for us and ensuring that San Diego gets its fair share of federal funding.
Getting Our Economy Moving
To get our economy moving again, Susan has called for fiscal responsibility paired with thoughtful job creation. She believes small businesses are the key to creating jobs and has supported tax incentives to help them grow. But Susan also recognizes the need for assistance to those who are still struggling to pay bills and take care of their family while looking for work. She has supported efforts to extend unemployment benefits for those who have been victims of the recession.
Susan has stood up to Wall Street, big corporate special interests and credit companies and supported numerous bills calling for transparency, consumer protection, and equal pay for equal work. Susan strives for an economy that rewards those who work hard and play by the rules.
Susan has also supported pay-as-you-go spending in Congress and a Bipartisan Fiscal Commission to help restore fiscal discipline.
The economy has begun to show signs of renewal. In the past two years, more than 8,000 jobs have been created or saved in San Diego, including 2,900 education jobs, 2,000 jobs for the construction of a new federal courthouse downtown, 1,400 construction jobs for improvements to California State Highway 905, and about 1,800 other jobs around the region. For Susan, this is only the beginning of restoring our economy to what it once was.
Preparing Our Kids for the Global Economy
Susan also serves on the Committee on Education and Labor, where she has been a tireless advocate for improving education at all levels – from early childhood education until the time our students graduate from college. She is working to improve science and math teaching in our schools so our kids get the world-class education they deserve and be better prepared to complete in the global economy. Susan has also fought to improve student loan programs so college can be more affordable for middle class families.
Fighting for Military Families and Veterans
With our region’s large military presence, her work also includes a focus on supporting military families. Susan currently serves on the Armed Services Committee, where she is a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Personnel. In this capacity, her priority has been making sure our soldiers, veterans and their families receive the services, benefits and justice they deserve.
Susan has been a leader in Congress to repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that prohibits gays and lesbians
Improving San Diego’s Infrastructure
Her work on behalf of her constituents has resulted in many local economic development efforts throughout the San Diego region. These include major infrastructure projects and support for our local universities and research facilities. Susan has played a key role in expanding the San Diego Trolley, obtaining a new San Diego Courthouse downtown securing NIH funding of which San Diego biotech companies are the greatest recipients.
A history of service to San Diego
No stranger to service in the community, prior to her election to Congress, Susan began her career as a social worker, after obtaining her undergraduate degree at the University of California at Berkeley, and her Masters in Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1982, she was elected to the San Diego City School Board, where she served for nine years. In 1984, she was selected President of the Board. In addition to her service on the board, Susan proudly served as the Executive Director of the Aaron Price Fellows, a program that brought high school students from various socio-economic backgrounds together to pursue community involvement and leadership skills.
In 1994, Susan continued her legislative service, after being elected to the California State Assembly, where she served for six years, focusing on education, healthcare and consumer protection.
Susan and her husband Steven have lived in San Diego since 1972. Married for over 40 years, they have two children, Jeffrey and Benjamin, and three grandchildren, Henry, Jane and Theo.
Questions & Answers
Questions from The League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and California Counts, a public media collaboration. (4)
America’s success is not in spite of our diversity; it’s a key factor of that success. Immigration has been a conveyor of that diversity. It’s to be celebrated. Of course, we want immigration to be legal. Our current immigration system is not achieving that objective. We need comprehensive immigration reform to encourage legal immigration and humanely address the status of undocumented immigrants already in the country with a focus on keeping families together.
Independent studies show that enacting comprehensive immigration reform will be a boost to the economy, creating job and raising wages. Everyday that goes by without reforming our immigration system our country loses out on the economic benefits that go along with it.
It's my constant interest to facilitate relationships on both sides of the aisle that focus on problem solving. Aside from committee work, I've striven to engage colleagues on following:
· I brought together Democrats and Republicans in support of my bill to protect children and combat sex trafficking.
· Led our bipartisan San Diego congressional delegation to secure $5 million to expand Sweetwater Authority’s ability to process more drinking water.
· Democrats and Republicans are joining my effort in Congress to ensure door delivery of mail.
We have the most powerful and capable military in the world. The all-volunteer force of men and women who dedicate their lives in support of our national defense is proof of our nation’s strength. As recent conflicts have shown us, we must continue to advance our military strategy to protect both our citizens and our national interests. To be clear, there are areas where we must fill in the gaps in order to provide greater global capability to protect the people at home. We need to improve intelligence gathering while building trust with community groups to look for signs of self-radicalization. It will always be hard to anticipate but every effort must be made.
1: The Federal Government plays a part in California water allocation and use through a variety of laws. What, if any, legislation would you support in an effort to handle water shortages caused by the current and any future drought?
Increasing sources of reliable drinking water and our region’s water independence must be a priority. California is in the grips of a historic drought and improving our water infrastructure will be key to surviving this drought and any future water shortages.
I have been leading efforts in San Diego to increase drinking water. I helped to secure over $5 million in federal funding for the Sweetwater Authority to nearly triple the ability of the desalination facility to process drinking water. The water produced by the facility provides drinking water to residents of Bonita, Chula Vista and National City. The City of San Diego is partnering with the Sweetwater Authority in the expansion and will receive half of the water produced.
I am also an original cosponsor of a comprehensive water bill in the House to upgrade California’s water infrastructure. Using the Reclamation Fund, which is flush with a $10 billion surplus, the Drought Relief and Resilience Act would fund wastewater-recycling projects, provide a $2,000 tax credit to homeowners for the purchase and installation of water-capturing systems, increase water use efficiency, and provide relief to farming communities.
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Candidate Contact Info
My Top 3 Priorities
- Repeal Obamacare and replace it with a healthcare law that puts patients and doctors first and not insurance companies.
- Strong Defense and National Security. It is urgent that U.S. armed forces be modernized to meet our security commitments and threats we face.
- Reduce taxes and burdensome government regulations. Congress should ease burden on businesses and thereby encourage growth and more employment.
Experience
Experience
Education
Community Activities
Biography
Dr. Veltmeyer is an Ecuadorian born, legal United States Citizen, and exemplifies the American Dream. Like many Latinos, Dr. Veltmeyer immigrated to the United States through hardship which strengthened his determination to achieve greatness. He has come from humble beginnings, living homeless on the streets of South America, and has a powerful story of success and appreciation of America.
He is currently the Chief of Family Medicine at one of the largest hospitals in San Diego. As a Doctor he cares for the community on a daily basis and he would like to do the same for the constituents of San Diego and America in Washington DC. It is time for a new generation for the American dream and determined leadership - only a Doctor can help remedy San Diego and America.
Website: http://www.VeltmeyerForCongress.com
Email: VeltmeyerForCongress@gmail.com
Twitter: @Veltmeyer53rd
Facebook: www.facebook.com/VeltmeyerForCongress
Who supports this candidate?
Featured Endorsements
Elected Officials (8)
Questions & Answers
Questions from The League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and California Counts, a public media collaboration. (4)
As a sovereign nation with national security and economic requirements, the United States must determine who can enter. Those who enter the country must have permission, whether immigrants or visitors. The federal government has been too lax in allowing entry without permission or permitting people to overstay their visa terms. This has to be fixed.
It is critical for the federal government to increase border security. Maintaining the physical security of our nation is a central responsibility of the national government, and that will mean increased manpower and increase physical barriers along critical portions of both our northern and southern borders.
Immigration to America is a privilege, not a right. The United States needs to overhaul the immigration laws to insure that new immigrants will benefit the country through their skills, knowledge, and desire to assimilate. Sponsors must be legally required to support their immigrants until they are self-sufficient.
The political climate in Washington, D.C. has been extremely partisan in recent years. In that kind of atmosphere, what would you do to get things done while in office?
The U.S. needs to focus on suppressing the expansion of the Islamic State and al-Qaida wherever they exist, either in concert with allied regimes or unilaterally. This should be done as surgically as possible to limit collateral damage. The U.S. should have the smallest footprint in the region that allows the mission to be accomplished. NATO ally Turkey should be encouraged to play a larger role in regional affairs.
Above all, the U.S. needs to consider its national interest first, which is to take whatever action is necessary to bring an end to radical Islamic terrorism which exasperates already difficult regional political transition.
The Iranian government must be held accountable for any effort to build nuclear weapons. Violations must have serious consequences.
The Federal Government plays a part in California water allocation and use through a variety of laws. What, if any, legislation would you support in an effort to handle water shortages caused by the current and any future drought?
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Contributions
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Political Beliefs
Political Philosophy
- Defending Our Nation
To safeguard our nation's security, James feels that Congress must act decisively to ensure that U.S. armed forces be modernized to meet our commitments and threats we face. Critical modernization actions needed are the expansion of our naval forces, upgrades to long-range bombers and fighter jet capabilities and increased funding for conventional forces to ensure that we retain our most experienced and accomplished personnel. - Repeal Affordable Care Act
As a doctor, James knows the endless regulations that the Affordable Care Act forces upon doctors. The Affordable Care Act, has been disruptive, expensive and confusing. The scheme is troubling becuase it is shifting health care decision-making to bureaucrats. Dr. Veltmeyer values the relationship with his patients, and as a Congressman, he will work to restore the strength of that bond. It is time to keep the confidential medical decision-making relationship between the doctor and patient. - No New Taxes
Small business owners cite taxes and excessive government regulations as the impediments to growth of their companies. Congress should ease the burden on those businesses and thereby encourage growth and more employment. James Veltmeyer supports the No New Taxes pledge and as our Congressman, he will fight to roll-back unnecessary regulations. Ensuring a vibrant economy is the surest path back to full employment.
Videos (3)
As the the Chief of Family Medicine Dr. James Veltmeyer would like to help the communities of San Diego and he is currently a Congressional Candidate for the 53rd District. This video captures his outreach in local communities and testimony from doctors who believe Dr. Veltmeyer is the perfect candidate to work for San Diego in Congress.
Dr. James Veltmeyer discusses his humble beginnings from living homeless on the streets of Ecuador to presently being the Chief of Family Medicine at one of San Diego's largest medical facilites, Sharps Grossmont Hospital. Dr. Veltmeyer is an exceptional example of living the American Dream. He running for Congressional District 53rd, he is a fluent in Spanish and a leader in the Latino Community. As a Doctor he opposes the Affordable Care Act, believes that we need to modernize the military for the safety of armed services personnel, and decrease the burden of taxation on small businesses so that more jobs can be created.
Meet Dr. James Veltmeyer Candidate for District 53rd Congressional seat. Dr. Veltmeyer is committed to helping the community and America. Go Veltmeyer!