Press Release

While I supported the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act when it passed the House today, I share many of the Obama Administration’s concerns as well as those of House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith that this bill does not reflect the hard choices necessary to achieve fiscal sustainability.

Fired up? What we don’t want is our globe fired up. We want to be fired up so that it will not be fired up.

While we opposed the establishment of a Select Committee in the first place, I support Leader Pelosi’s decision to appoint these five Democratic Members to participate on the panel.

The announcement of up to $50 million in humanitarian assistance pledged by the Obama Administration for refugees from South Sudan reaffirms our country’s commitment to the cause of peace, economic development, and human rights in the region and across the continent of Africa.

For twenty years, CAPAC has been a leading voice within the Democratic Caucus for equal opportunity, civil rights, and economic growth, and I have been as proud to work closely with its Members in the 113^th Congress as I was to partner with former Rep. Norman Mineta and CAPAC’s original founding Members in 1994.

Sixty years ago tomorrow, the Supreme Court issued its historic, unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, ending the shameful practice of legal segregation in schools throughout our country.

Promoting the growth of U.S. exports remains one of the core components of the Make It in America plan for jobs and competitiveness, and I welcome the Administration’s announcement today of a new phase in the National Export Initiative.

I was proud to vote for H.R. 10, the Success and Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act, which passed the House today with a bipartisan vote of 360-45.  This legislation ensures quality, equity, and transparency in the federal Charter School Program.