As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the former Chairman of the California State Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, I know firsthand how investment in infrastructure creates jobs and improves our economic performance and our quality of life. Whether it was balancing California’s budget, establishing the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, securing funding for projects like eBART and traffic relief projects like the Highway 4 expansion, or holding government accountable when millions were wasted on the Bay Bridge, I’ve fought for our families and communities. I am continuing to fight for our infrastructure needs in Congress and working on efforts to reduce traffic, improve commute times, and find innovative ways to move people and goods.

Health insurance is a right, not a privilege. I support the Affordable Care Act, and have voted more than 60 times to stop Republicans in Congress from dismantling it and kicking everyday Americans off their health insurance. Trumpcare, which I strongly opposed, would have forced 23 million people to lose their insurance.

I am also an advocate for federal universal health care, which would provide free access to health insurance for all Americans.

The Trump Administration’s drastic and inhumane immigration proposals do nothing to keep us safe and instead attempt to foster fear and hatred across our country. We are a nation founded by immigrants with the Statue of Liberty welcoming the world’s “huddled masses,” and the benefits immigrants bring to our country, both socially and economically, should be embraced.

Any reforms to our immigration system must be done comprehensively to ensure that we hold true to our country’s values while being fair and safe. DACA recipients and their families deserve the respect of having their rights restored and having policymakers find a permanent solution with a pathway to citizenship. I support the Dream Act, to do just that. We must also protect those who have come to the United States fleeing violence, disease, political turmoil, or other unsafe conditions. Refugees, asylum seekers, and people who have been previously granted Temporary Protected Status deserve the full protection of the United States, a respect the Trump Administration has not given them.

The quality of life and dynamic economy of the Bay Area continues to attract new people and new development to our region. If we are to sustain this growth, especially in an era of climate change, we need thoughtful stewardship of our scarce water resources. First, we should be focused on conservation efforts and ways to increase our efficiency of water use. For example, in various parts of the U.S. and around the world, we are seeing an increase in innovative projects for the capture and reuse of wastewater. The government should do more to encourage this kind of innovation, which is why I am a sponsor of legislation to increase federal support for water recycling projects. Next, rather than waiting for severe droughts to compel us to act, we should continue to promote conservation through efficient building and landscape design and irrigation. Finally, we must ensure transparency and accountability in the funding of major, new infrastructure projects. That means fighting back attempts to weaken environmental protections and drown out the public interest.

I believe we need to improve civil discourse in government. In service of this goal, I have hosted more than 60 town halls and mobile district office hours since coming to Congress in 2015 to provide a free and open exchange of ideas, and to answers questions. These town halls, along with my office's work on behalf of Contra Costa residents, led to us being selected as a finalist for a non-partisan Democracy Award for Constituent Service from the Congressional Management Foundation. The American political system only functions well when we all participate. We must also get big money out of politics and make elected officials accountable to the people they represent, not the people who bankroll their campaigns. I am a sponsor of several pieces of legislation to roll back the Citizens United decision and pave the way for public financing of campaigns.

Government should be an honest broker working to enrich citizens and not those of corporate sharks who steal our money at the expense of our communities. We need to stop the illegal/unconstitutional wars we have been in since 2001 along with the bankers from looting us since that time, too, and we will have hundreds of billions of dollars to repair our dilapidated infrastructure and our broken educational system too! McClatchy newspapers reported that Goldman Sachs and other international banks deliberately triggered the 2008 global economic collapse by shorting the derivatives they sold, primarily Collateralized Debt Obligations and Credit Default Swaps: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1339220/Goldman-Sachs-pay-111million-bonuses-despite-taking-billions-bailout-money.html They have been implicated in unprecedented fraud leading to the destruction of the Icelandic and Greek economies. Iceland fought back and jailed their bankers by filing billion-dollar lawsuits. We need to follow Iceland’s lead — the bankers are NOT too big to jail. Our Government's role should only be to work towards a "true" free market system whereby the economy is driven by fair and equitable competition that will ultimately drive supply and demand based on the most innovative ideas along with fair and competitive costs. Also, expose the Federal Reserve for what it is: A Privately Owned Bank which has been stealing our money with total impunity since 1913  through usury schemes designed to compound citizen's debts. Fact: Congress has NO oversight over the Fed. Fact: The Constitution mandates Congress to issue our money not the Fed!

I would introduce legislation to allow small and medium sized insurance companies to compete for healthcare contracts instead of ONLY the larger insurance companies that have monopolized the industry through Government (local, state & federal) cronyism and quid pro quo's with the help of Big Pharma and lobbyists, etc. By allowing these smaller insurance companies to compete along with stopping the pervasive back-door deals from occurring in the future, we could easily have good, affordable and accessible healthcare for our citizens. Our very healthcare system has been compromised by people and organizations who merely look at profits & not the well-being of our citizens including the elderly. Currently, approx. 440,000 patients a year die due to medical negligence in the U.S. not to mention 4.4 million to 8.8 million being injured while in the care of hospitals. Elder abuses/deaths due to hospital/hospice negligence is rapidly growing, too! This is unforgivable and must be stopped!

Immigration policy is a very tough, emotional and heated issue, no doubt! However, and although I do not want to break up families, common sense laws must be immediately implemented to protect the many "legal" U.S. citizens who are greatly impacted by the constant and unabated influx of illegal immigrants into the U.S. Unfortunately, this issue has currently reached a tipping point where our infrastructure and very way of life is seriously impacted if not irreparably damaged due to overpopulation. Our "legal" citizens should not be made to suffer because of "illegal" citizens that further strain already stressed resources. We have major traffic issues along with medical/emergency services that are overwhelmed due to immigration problems. And why are many illegal immigrants receiving Government subsidies? Sadly, many politicians don't have legal citizens' best interests in mind and subsequently U.S. residents are leaving CA due to very dysfunctional immigration policies. We have no choice but to adopt strict laws to stop addtl. illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. In 1965, Ted Kennedy and others passed the Immigration Reform Act & Americans were told the following: "Our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually and the total number of potential immigrants would not be changed very much." Time has proven otherwise! Average immigration levels before the 1965 amendments took effect were approximately 300K per year. Yet 1,045,000 illegal immigrants flooded our cities in 1996 and millions more have done so since. Kennedy also stated the amendments "will not cause American workers to lose their jobs and immigration will not upset the ethnic mix of our society." Yet, look where we are in 2018! Today's population is the result of yesterday's immigration policy, and that policy is as clearly broken as its backers' assurances today are facetious. A rational policy will only come about when Americans place our national interest above irrational and unsubstantiated cries of "prejudice," "racism" and "xenophobia." It is time we vote out representatives who do not adhere to strict immigration policy and who allow for unabated illegal immigration at the peril of the U.S. and its citizens through the promotion/designation of Sanctuary City/State status without allowing the people of our cities and states to vote on these VERY important issues. It almost appears that many politicians want to give U.S. citizen status to illegal immigrants simply to increase their own voting base, and for this they should be ashamed! I truly believe the only option we have to solve the immigration problem is to build a wall to ensure the security of our nation's borders! If we don't, our very way of life and that of our children will be forever changed and NOT for the better! Let's heed the warnings of London, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, etc. who are experiencing massive crime waves since the introduction of mass immigration/forced multiculturalism. Let's not allow our politicians to continue to take us down this terrible and destructive path before it is too late! 

I would introduce legislation to build additional reservoirs and water storage facilities to ensure that California has enough water storage to sustain its residents and its economy in case of future droughts. Wisely, Southern California which is relatively dry compared to Northern California, has been more attentive and diligent regarding protecting itself from future drought or water storage issues than we have in Northern California. They have built new reservoirs and overhauled and expanded old ones along with implementing extensive conservation and reuse programs and just recently, have opened a large desalination plant and are currently in the beginning stages of building at least one more. I would also legislate to STOP Government geoengineering programs that may cause extensive or prolonged droughts. Regarding ensuring public safety in our water supply, I would also introduce legislation to ensure that our water isn't flouridated which has been proven to cause cancer and bone degredation. Dr. William Marcus, the chief toxicologist of the EPA’s Office of Drinking Water, was fired for his refusal to be silent about his work on fluoride. Please read the following quote from 1985 regarding EPA scientist, Dr. Marcus, who won his lawsuit against the EPA for firing him due to his anti-fluoride studies/research: https://healthimpactnews.com/2013/epa-scientists-oppose-water-fluoridation/

"Dr. Marcus was particularly concerned about several studies showing that fluoride causes osteosarcoma (bone cancer), particularly in young men. A 2-year study was conducted by the National Toxicology Program. It documented bone cancer and cancer in other tissues in rats. This coincided with other studies documenting fluoride’s ability to cause cellular mutations, which are associated with cancer, and osteosarcomas in young men in New Jersey."

Furthermore,  I would mandate a program of random independent testing for additives using mass spectroscopy at the outlets of water treatment plants to ensure public safety.

It is not surprising to read that "75% of Americans believe that the U.S. has a civility problem" when our citizens and children are constantly exposed to violence due to both U.S. involvement in foreign wars along with the constant barrage of social degeneracy being fostered and promoted by the following institutions: mainstream media, Hollywood and the music/entertainment industries. In order to rectify these endemic and systemic problems in our society, we must ask politicians, parents, teachers, community and religious leaders to form a coalition to educate their communities to hopefully work towards stopping or atleast mitigating these issues. Also, we as citizens should demand that our federal politicians stop these unconstitutional wars we are involved in and also force the FCC to implement higher ethical and moral standards to ensure they don't allow entertainment mediums to produce offensive and degrading shows which have become the norm. Our communities should also be outraged knowing that 79% of Planned Parenthood facilities are in African American and Hispanic communities. Is it a coincidence that these communities have the highest crime rates in the U.S., too? Also, addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and pornography are growing annually and we have many youngsters addicted to violent video games put out by companies that are knowingly desensitizing our youth to violence. All of these issues contribute to higher crime and suicide rates in our communities. We must also appropriate sufficient funding for mental illness and substance abuse both of which are rapidly increasing in the U.S. Our youth must realize that abstinence, responsibility, morality, ethics/self-worth, dignity and pride are more important than self indulgence. I believe our children deserve better! Please go to my website and view my platform along with extensive information regarding U.S. human/child sex-trafficking which is a focal point of my campaign. Our children need a voice! Why would any of our representatives in Congress vote NO on H.R.1865: The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017. The FBI estimates (2016) that more than 466,677 U.S. children go missing each year, some of which  are in the care of state agencies. Youtube: Conspiracy of Silence. Sex trafficking is now the second most lucrative, illegal business behind illegal drug sales. Also, SB48 mandated public schools to teach gay/transgender history to children K-12 yet, today in the same classrooms, God and church cannot be mentioned without fear of reprisal.  Please read the Communists' Frankfurt School "11-STEP PLAN OF CULTURAL SUBVERSION" written in Germany between 1920-1932: (1)The creation of racism offences,(2)Continual change to create confusion,(3)The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children, (4)The undermining of schools’ and teachers’ authority, (5) Huge immigration to destroy identity, (6) The promotion of excessive drinking, (7)Emptying of churches, (8) An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime, (9)Dependency on the state or state benefits, (10)Control and dumbing down, (11)Encouraging the breakdown of the family. Sound familiar in 2018? Please help me right these wrongs! Thank you!

At the federal level, there are already grant making programs for surface transportation (roads & rails) paid for by the federal gas tax. The federal gas tax is not indexed to inflation and has been gradually going down each year for more than 20 years. It’s time to increase it. Increasing the gas tax is widely supported, even by the conservative US Chamber of Commerce.

Also, we should expand the federal government’s loan program for surface transportation – RIFF (Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing) and TIFIA loans (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) – and look for more opportunities for deeper P3’s (public-private partnerships) while still providing robust public financing.

The same goes for other infrastructure generally. Look towards enhancing public revenue sources and matching those to innovative P3 finance and procurement arrangements.

We should have Universal Healthcare that leaves no American uninsured or worried about going into debt and poverty when deciding to get medical treatment.

In a complex federal country of 325 million people there’s more than one way to get to Universal Healthcare. Most of the developed world has single-payer healthcare like the United Kingdom and Canada. Germany mostly has the government pay but also has some private health insurance.

The government already pays for large sectors of the healthcare market: government workers, military retirees, Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for the poor. Those programs could be expanded.

How about Medicare for All? It would expand an already proven program.

Insuring every American would be good for the economy. It would improve health outcomes and put more people into jobs and into the market.

Moreover, it’s just the right thing to do.

First off, we should enshrine DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) into law. President Trump, GOP Senate leader McConnel, and Speaker Ryan repeatedly promised a fix for this but never could deliver. It’s simply the right thing to do to regularize the immigration status of those brought to this country as children through no fault of their own. 

Our immigration policy is among the most successful in the world. We integrate about a million immigrants a year in a country of 325 million people. No other major country does that – not China, France, the United Kingdom, or Japan, for instance. It is our strength as a country and allows us to stay competitive as an economy while other countries face stagnation and population loss. Immigration, immigrants, and Native Americans are at the center of America’s heritage – our DNA. 

My mother immigrated to the US in the early 70’s from the Philippines. My father’s ancestors came to Maryland and New York more than 300 years ago from England and Holland. We all have stories like this. They are immigrant stories. The are all American’s stories. 

I’ll always support robust immigration. 

We also have a special obligation to support refugees from war torn areas. The U.S. has not been taking in it’s fare share of refugees from places like Syria. That got worse after Trump’s horrific and discriminatory Muslim Ban. It’s been a shame on our country and its legacy. 

A nation of laws also gets to have borders and control immigration to be sure. And to keep out potentially dangerous individuals. Apprehensions at the US border with Mexico are the lowest it’s ever been. Our border – by land, sea, and air – is secure. You can thank the Coast Guard and other federal agencies for that. Can we always look to do better? To make a border control more fair, humane, and effective? Of course. But is there some great border security crisis? No. 

Trump’s “Border Wall” has nothing to do with good public policy and is about driving a wedge between different Americans. Americans largely have not been fooled by this fear mongering and division. We will get through this and embrace each other and our diversity as Americans. We’ll keep moving forward as the most dynamic and diverse country on Earth.

California’s experience with water management over the 20^th century has been and exemplar of American ingenuity. Large water projects have brought water from the mountains and Colorado River to population centers throughout the state. The federal government’s role in this is largely to support the policy decisions made by the state legislature and the people when put to the voters. 

Generally, I believe our water policy should: 

• Help the environment – Sometimes the large water projects have wreaked environmental havoc. Mono Lake in eastern California is a prime example. Its water receded after the Los Angeles water project. However, it’s also an example of environmental renewal when efforts to save it in recent decades have largely been successful. We don’t have to make a choice between he environment, water, and economic development. Our American ingenuity demands more of us.
  
  
• Support our growing population and conserve – California is America’s dynamic engine of innovation. People want to be here. We need to accommodate their water needs and continue conservation efforts.
  
  
• Support our important agricultural industry – California is America and the world’s breadbasket. If you eat an almond somewhere in this country or around the world, for instance, it was probably grown in the Central Valley. Our farmers need water in this climate. But we also need to protect the environment, sustain our precious supply of water, and provide for a growing population. Naysayers present this as some zero-sum game, a battle between rural and urban, San Francisco and Bakersfield. I don’t believe that. We can craft a policy that works for all.

One concrete, executable thing we can do to improve civility in our political life is to implement Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).

We mostly elect representatives from single member districts with a simple plurality. You don’t even have to get a majority of the vote to win.

A single-member form of RCV is currently used in several Bay Area cities. Voters rank candidates in preference order. If no one gets a majority on the first round then the candidate with the lowest vote total has their votes transferred to each voters’ second choice. This is done in as many rounds as necessary to ensure the winner gets a majority. People can feel free to vote for a minor or 3^rd party candidate know their vote won’t be wasted on the looser. Or worse “spoiled” and help to elect the person they want the least. The 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida and the election of Paul LePage as governor of Maine twice despite most voters rejecting him are but the most prominent examples.

But I think we should go further. HR 3057, the Fair Representation Act, was introduced by Rep Don Beyer (D-VA) last July. The House is currently exclusively elected from single-member districts. The proposal would replace this with multi-member districts elected via RCV.

The system is called Proportional Representation (PR). It’s the system most democracies use. The FairRep Act proposes a form of PR called Multi-Member Ranked Choice Voting (MM-RCV). Voters would rank order their choices for Congress. In a five-person seat, a candidate who gets 16.67% of the vote would be elected. Votes they receive over this amount are proportionately redistributed to other candidates. Here’s a handy YouTube video.

With the “wasted vote” and “spoiler vote” problem largely eliminated, the vast majority of voters would be able to point to one or more of their district’s Congress members and know that they helped elect them. Multi-member districts would be a spectrum of their community’s politics. Because candidates don’t want to alienate voters who may put them as their second or higher choice they’ll tend not to go negative. PR is a better way to deal with diverse, pluralist societies.

Single-member district elections “manufacture” majorities that voters don’t give them. Some of this is due to Gerrymandering no doubt. (The FairRep Act also mandates non-partisan redistricting). But mostly it’s due to the very nature of the single-member district electoral system – literally the math of it.

Third parties would become likely. Green Party, Libertarian Republicans, and breakaway Bernie-crats immediately come to mind as groups that would get representation so long as they don’t alienate voters’ subsequent ballot preferences. Republicans would be elected from urban districts. Democrats from rural conservative areas. Nearly all congressional Districts would now have farms, cities and suburbs. Red District, Blue District distinctions would fade.

A Proportional Representation Congress would have to find consensus. This kind of coalition building is seen all the time in democracies around the world.

To keep it simple, I would ensure that each particular infrastructure system should be self-supported by the end-users that utilize the system.  For example, roads should be paid for through vehicle registration fees based on tracked vehicle mileage and vehicle type/class (passenger cars versus semi-trucks).  Gas taxes can be the continuing means to finance roads, but it does not account for growing number of electric/alternative-fuel vehicles.  Similarly, rail, ports, airports, electrical grid systems can also be supported by end-users, as many other economic-systems follow.

I think Medicaid for all would be worth exploring.  Another route would be to provide public financing (and oversight) of local emergency-room and possibly general preventative care paid for via local property taxes similar to how utility districts operate.  Specialized care and long-term could remain outside the public domain (to keep taxes lower), or added (if the public supports the tax initiative).

I think the "sins" of the (undocumented) parents should not extend to their children.  Any "dreamers" should be afforded an avenue (short track) to become citizens if they have a proven track record of attending public schools and have spent a majority of their life in this Country.  Parents (undocumented) with a clean history (free of criminal history) could be put on a plan to become citizens (longer track) themselves.

International policy is also important to understand in this context.  Providing economic and security support to Country's/areas (mainly Latin America in this context) should be encouraged to ensure there is less need/drive for people to leave their Countries of origin in the first place.  The possibilities here are much greater.  Treat the underlying problem, not just the symptom.

I am not intimately familiar with the status of water supply issues.  However, I believe in the continued pursuit of water efficiency, water storage, prioritization of domestic use, development of smart irrigation systems (agriculture), and system expansion (possibly even desalinization plants if necessary).

The best/only way Civility can "make a comeback" is to act accordingly on an individual level, and inspire others to do the same.  Lead by example.  People must decide for themselves if they truly wish to Act in alignment with their surveyed Beliefs.