Our nation was founded on the principle that everyone is entitled to the same, unalienable rights. Today, our nation continues to adapt as history demands we expand the definition of equal. In my service to San Diego, that means ensuring respect for all. Discrimination has no place in a nation as great as ours. I will continue to oppose policies fueled by hateful rhetoric that marginalize Americans. That means standing up for women in school and in the workplace and ensuring they can make their own health care decisions. It means standing up for our LGBT community, because no one should be targeted for who they are or who they love. It also means ensuring minority communities have a voice and that refugees and immigrants have the same opportunity to build a better life in America― just as our ancestors did. 

Fighting for Equality

Every American is granted the same rights under our Constitution, which says that everyone is created equal. We've come a long way in the fight for equality, but we still have more work to do. I'm fighting to ensure you can marry who you love, that you receive equal pay for equal work, and that survivors of sexual assault and harassment have stronger protections and greater access to legal remedies.

• Introduced an amendment that became law to affirm President Obama’s action to prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees.
• Helped introduce the Equality Act, which would include gender identity and sexual orientation as two identities protected under federal civil rights.
• Cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen the Equal Pay Act.
• Supported reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides for increased protections for victims of domestic violence. The legislation includes expanded protections for Native American women, LGBTQ individuals, students, and immigrant women.
• The Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act, which would establish rights for survivors of sexual assault, including the right to a rape kit, notification prior to the destruction of the rape kit, and be informed of the results of a rape kit. President Obama signed this bill into law last year.
• Cosponsored the  Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2015, which would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Protecting Healthcare

Protecting the health and safety of women and the LGBT community ensure their right to quality, affordable care--just like every other American. As a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, I was on the frontline fighting against the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood.

• The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2017, which would codify Roe v. Wade, preventing states from imposing burdensome restrictions on abortion providers or banning abortion prior to viability or if a doctor believes that continuing pregnancy would harm a woman’s health.
• The Access to Birth Control Act, which would ensure that pharmacies without the prescribed medication in stock must order it in a timely manner, refer the woman to another pharmacy that will fill the prescription, or transfer the prescription so that she can pick it up at a pharmacy confirmed to have the medication in stock.
• The EACH Woman Act, which requires the federal government to ensure coverage for abortion care in public health insurance programs including Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
• The Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal HIV Discrimination Act of 2017, which would review federal and state laws that impose criminal liability on individuals with HIV, to ensure institutions and services do not discriminate against those that are HIV positive.
• The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017, which would prohibit the practice of conversion therapy as a harmful and ineffective treatment.

Expanding Opportunity

• The STEM Opportunities Act, which would promote data-driven research on the participation and trajectories of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM so that policymakers can design more effective policies and practices to reduce barriers for women and minorities in STEM.
• The Women’s Small Business Ownership Act, which would provide access to resources for women entrepreneurs and to simplify grant application processes.

• Voted to strengthen the entrepreneurial programs in the National Science Foundation that support women as well as voted to support NASA initiatives which encourage women and girls to study STEM and pursue careers in space.

Supporting an Inclusive Military

Brave Americans who volunteer to serve our country deserve our gratitude and respect, which means every servicemember--regardless of gender, sexual orientation or race get the benefits they earned through their service. 

• The MARCH for Military Women Act (Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health), which would extend federal health insurance coverage for abortion care to servicewomen who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. It would also lift the current ban on providing abortion care at military facilities.
• The Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2017, which would ensure that if veterans or service members have a spouse of the same sex, their spouse will be afforded the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts.
• Voted to fund enhanced investigation of military sexual assault when he voted to pass an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that provides $10 million in additional funds to increase sexual assault training for investigators.
• Voted to allow World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
• Cosponosred the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2015, which would ensure that if veterans or service members have a spouse of the same sex, then their spouse will be afforded the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts.
• Cosponsored the Restore Honor to Service Members Act of 2015, which would ensure that members of the armed forces who served honorably, but were given a punitive discharge classification solely because of their sexual orientation, have their records corrected to reflect their honorable service.