Gun Control (click here to read more)

 

Helping Low-Income Americans (click here to read more)

 

Supporting Small Businesses

Small businesses are the backbone of our nation’s economy and the engines of our recovery. As your next Congresswoman, I will work to make the business climate in the 2nd District one that nurtures and supports the entrepreneurial spirit. Whether it’s a small family grocery store like the one my grandparents owned or a budding tech firm, I want our community to be a thriving hub for small businesses, one that supports existing businesses and encourages new businesses to set up shop in the 2nd District.  I will work to help small business owners through programs to assist with access to capital, training, research and development and other initiatives to encourage innovation and job creation. Success for small business is success for us all.

 

Supporting the Middle Class

While our economy is showing signs of recovery due to President Obama’s leadership, these remain challenging times for middle class families. Many are still without work, struggling to make ends meet. Yet as these families work hard to get back on their feet, the Republican Congress is working to pull the rug out from under them by threatening damaging cuts to important programs like Social Security and Medicaid and increasing their taxes while giving the wealthy a pass. As your Congresswoman, I will fight back against the Republicans’ assault on the middle class and work to protect the social safety net that was put in place to help hardworking families in tough times. We cannot allow Congress to make dangerous budget cuts at the expense of the families that can least afford it.

 

Protecting Seniors

The economic downturn hit older Americans particularly hard. Plummeting home values and dwindling savings have left many senior citizens almost completely dependent upon Social Security, Medicare and other social safety net programs to keep themselves afloat. As your Congresswoman, I will fight to prevent cuts to Social Security and Medicare that will leave our seniors financially vulnerable. I will oppose reducing cost-of-living adjustments as well as efforts to raise the eligibility age for receiving benefits, which puts an unfair burden on laboring people whose bodies begin to age sooner. As your Congresswoman, I will work to protect Social Security and Medicare so that our seniors have the support they’ve earned and deserve.

 

Transportation

Improving transportation in the 2nd Congressional District is key to putting our community on the fast track to economic development. And infrastructure improvements are vital to this economic renewal. That’s why I support plans for the South Suburban Airport and the Red Line Expansion to 130th Street as well as the planned construction of the Illiana Expressway.

It’s important to me, however, that these projects be carried out the right way. And that means using homegrown talent to build hometown projects. Quite simply, infrastructure projects in our district should be built by the people they will serve.

I don’t want a replay of the CREATE/Metra Englewood Flyover fiasco in which minority-owned firms were virtually cut out of a multimillion-dollar construction project in their own backyard. Our infrastructure should be built by our hands, from professional services firms in Chicago to small construction firms in the Southland.

As your Congresswoman, I will work to create opportunities for residents and businesses in the 2nd District to participate in infrastructure projects in the district. It’s only right that our residents have a hand in projects that will help shape our future.

 

Women’s Health

I believe in a woman’s right to choose and in her right to make her own decisions about her body and her healthcare. As your Congresswoman, I will work to preserve abortion rights and expand access to birth control as these are essential components of women’s reproductive health. It’s one reason I support the Affordable Care Act, especially the expansion of women’s preventive healthcare services. I believe that women are more than capable of making  our own choices about their healthcare. And as your Congresswoman, I will work to protect our right to do so.

 

Constituent Services

I believe that one of the most important obligations elected officials have is to be accountable and accessible to the people they serve. That’s why as your Congresswoman I pledge to run a fully-engaged constituent services office that is responsive to you. My door will always be open. And when I’m not in Washington, D.C. fighting for you, I’ll be traveling the District meeting with you, hearing your concerns and using them to inform the work I’ll do on your behalf. In this campaign, I’m calling on you for your support, and I pledge that as your next Congresswoman you’ll always be able to call on me for mine.