JACOBS Elected to leadership position

defending democracy around the world, modernizing the social safety net and protecting America’s digital privacy,” she said.

She said she’s working on implementing bipartisan 2019 legislation that directs U.S. military and economic agencies to coordinate peacekeeping efforts in countries at risk of civil conflict.

Last year, lawmakers selected five regions at risk due to economic distress, deteriorating social order and violent extremism: Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea and Coastal West Africa. Now, officials aim to to improve coordination between U.S. foreign assistance agencies and military forces in order to stabilize conditions there and prevent war.

Expansions to military benefits and updates to international policy were among the top legislative efforts on Jacobs’ agenda last year, and in the new Congress, she expects to reintroduce reproductive rights bills that fell short in the last session.

Under the defense spending bill signed into law late last month, Congress authorized investment in child care for military families and boosted the basic needs allowance for junior service members to include those making up to 150 percent of the poverty level, in order to help military members in expensive areas such as San Diego. Jacobs said her office is awaiting information from the Pentagon on how many will qualify.

“We have many service members who are not able to make ends meet, whether because of food or housing insecurity,” she said. “We’ve heard stories of service members who are living in their cars because they can’t find housing they can afford with the basic housing allowance.”

The act also introduces policies to reduce civilian harm from U.S. military activities, as both an ethical and strategic measure, she said.

“In our military operations ... sometimes we can do things that displace, kill or otherwise harm civilians,” Jacobs said. “That’s not only bad for those civilians morally, but it’s very bad for our

national security, because it’s an incredibly powerful recruiting tool for our adversaries.”

The new provisions require officials to report more detailed information on civilian casualties to Congress and develop plans to reduce civilian damages. It also extends a requirement for the U.S. to pay for damage, injury or death to civilians caused by American military operations.

Recognizing the disruption to global food supply caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Jacobs also passed a resolution in December condemning the use of hunger as a weapon of war, a first step toward holding perpetrators accountable for abuses.

Jacobs also plans to reintroduce legislation to codify federal protections for reproductive health services, including abortion and contraception, as well as digital health privacy legislation. That bill, which aimed to limit the collection and storage of reproductive health data on websites and apps, stalled in the House last year.

She said she also aims to protect reproductive rights for service members and their families and to strengthen the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, to protect information related to abortion or pregnancy loss.

After the Supreme Court’s decision last year reversing its landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, House Republicans are unlikely to support any bills securing abortion rights or privacy on reproductive health issues, Jacobs’ office acknowledged. But she will still introduce legislation, including her health data privacy bill, her spokesperson Lauren Mcilvaine said.

“Although it will be an uphill battle for passage, it is something that is important for her to fight for,” Mcilvaine said.

On the local front, Jacobs introduced bipartisan legislation, with the support of all other California congress members, to rename the Rolando post office for former Rep. Susan Davis.

Further afield, last month Jacobs traveled to Ukraine with other lawmakers to discuss military intelligence, special operations and U.S. aid to the embattled nation.

“We’re working to make sure we continue funding and arming the Ukrainians to allow them to fight and defend their democracy,” she said.

deborah.brennan @sduniontribune.com