The pandemic has increased the urgency of improving health care. I have always fought to ensure health care is affordable, accessible, innovative, steered by science and data, and driven by wellness instead of treatment. This approach can improve quality of life, save lives, and reduce costs in the long term. Never before has this been as clear as it has been during this pandemic. Those without access to care, who are more likely to have pre-existing conditions, are hit hardest by the virus and more likely to fall victim to its worst effects which are more deadly and more expensive to treat. The United States has yet to standardize national, state, county or city-level public reporting on COVID-19, providing experts only a fraction of the data we need to fight the pandemic. Last month, I introduced the Health Statistics Act that will fix detrimental inconsistencies in data collection and reporting, which is essential to effectively combat the coronavirus pandemic.

While the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, I have long supported its goals to deliver affordable, accessible medical care to those who need it. In 2017, I was proud to stand up against Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, including the elimination of protections for people with pre-existing conditions, in first a 27-hour markup in the Energy and Commerce Committee and then again on the floor. Instead of sabotaging healthcare for those who need it most, I believe that Congress should take steps to strengthen the Affordable Care Act to keep premiums down for families in San Diego and around the country. To that end, I introduced legislation to establish dedicated federal funding for reinsurance programs that help states keep premiums down. I have also supported efforts to support advertising around open enrollment periods to get as many healthy people into risk pools as possible and support creating a public option, one in which, for example, people could buy into Medicare. Finally, one of the keys to ensuring that healthcare is affordable is addressing out of pocket costs for the drugs we all need to lead healthy lives. While I am concerned that elements of H.R.3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act would have a chilling effect on innovation, I ultimately supported the bill to help deliver lower drug costs for families. However, recognizing that H.R.3 is unlikely to become law in the current Congressional make up, I am focused on identifying bipartisan solutions to bring down drug prices for families now, because those who are struggling to afford their life-saving medicines can’t afford to wait for Congress. To that end, I have supported measures to speed up bureaucratic approvals of generic drugs, have introduced legislation to create an incentive for doctors to prescribe lower-cost biosimilar drugs under Medicare Part B, and helped pass legislation that would remove roadblocks to the research and development of generic alternatives to some of our costliest medicines.

During my first term in Congress, a bipartisan group of Senators passed S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act out of the Senate and sent it to the House for consideration. Sadly, then-Speaker Boehner refused to allow the House to vote on that measure. That bill would have substantively addressed many of the immigration issues we continue to confront today: lack of status for young people and families who know no other country as their home, concerns over drug smuggling and human trafficking across our southern border, establishing a rigorous pathway to citizenship for those who are currently present in the United States illegally, among many others. I was a cosponsor of the House’s version of that legislation, and wish that we had the opportunity to pass that bill out of the House to send on to President Obama for signature. Today, we continue to need solutions to questions of status for Dreamers and those who are currently present illegally. We need to invest in smart, targeted border security instead of a medieval wall that will do nothing to stem the flow of migrants toward our borders. We need to reform the process for recruiting and retaining highly skilled immigrants, in addition to evaluating the labor needs of all our economic sectors. And, sadly, we now need to address the horrors present in our immigration system established by this Administration—prohibiting the separation of children and families, ending the practice of holding migrants in camps in Mexico, among others. As with any major legislation, if it is to be lasting, it must have bipartisan support, and I would work to ensure that fixing our broken immigration system is a bipartisan process.

There are many potential funding streams for infrastructure projects, but the most important funding stream is the one that can be enacted so that we can begin to make long-needed improvements to our infrastructure. 

In addition to utilizing existing project-specific funding options like the Passenger Facility Charge for airports and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for ports, Congress should evaluate whether current fees associated with power generation are at appropriate levels.

Notably, it is important not only to infrastructure projects, but also to stave off the worst effects of climate change that Congress establish some form of carbon fee. Setting a price on carbon will help increase revenue from power generation that puts carbon into the atmosphere. It could be refundable for families and small businesses, and it could potentially replace the gas tax. 

These types of fees are not a panacea. Congress should debate concepts like establishing fees for vehicle miles traveled, fees on the movement of goods or freight, and even increasing the corporate tax rate.