GÓMEZ: I TAKE ON TOUGH FIGHTS AND DELIVER RESULTS
What will be your top domestic and international priority in Congress? We have to help people recover from this pandemic and ensure that no one is left behind. The top focus must be to control the spread of the coronavirus, see through the development and distribution of a vaccine, and provide economic relief to working families and small businesses. We also know that the climate crisis exacerbated the effects of this pandemic for certain communities. That’s why any solutions proposed to help our country move forward must include action to combat climate change. And I will fight to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare and oppose any privatization efforts. As gridlock in Washington prevents progress on more coronavirus relief packages, I have taken action as president of the San Diego City Council to help families in San Diego. I took early and decisive action and passed an eviction moratorium, rent relief for working families, support for small businesses and extended pay sick leave protections for workers at large companies. I’ve led during this crisis and delivered results for San Diego families. California’s 53rd District is unique because we’re a community that shares an economy with our neighbors in Mexico. During the Trump Administration, we have seen our binational relationship weakened. To ensure that our communities continue to thrive, I will keep working to develop strong binational cooperation with our partners in Mexico, which is key to our regional success. I’ve led on these issues as president of the City Council and I will continue to do the same in Congress.
Has the pandemic changed your approach to health care? If so, how? The pandemic has exposed how broken our current health care system is and why we must move to universal health care. Millions of people lost their jobs during this crisis, and as a result, they also lost their health insurance. As the virus spread across the country and people got sick, families faced expensive medical bills. To think that some people may have chosen to forego seeking medical help if they had symptoms of coronavirus because they feared going to the doctor due to high costs is simply unconscionable. This is a reality I’ve faced in my own life. My mom had to make hard decisions when we got sick because we didn’t have health insurance — sometimes she had to decide whether to take us to the doctor or not. This is wrong. No one should fear going to the doctor because they can’t afford it. This should not be happening in the richest country in the world. I have always been a supporter of quality, affordable and accessible health care for everyone, and this crisis has only strengthened my commitment to make universal health care a reality in the United States. We must work to lower the costs of prescription drugs by holding pharmaceutical companies accountable, and protect people with pre-existing conditions. I’m committed to fighting for this in Congress because no one should go bankrupt seeking life-saving care or skip going to the doctor because they can’t afford it. Lives are at stake and changes must be made.
What more could Congress do to combat climate change? Wildfires are taking lives and destroying people’s livelihoods, heat waves are endangering the most vulnerable in our communities, and the smoke from the fires is worsening our air quality, making our air even more toxic and dangerous to breathe. We need to take bold action and make bold federal investments to fight climate change. Congress needs to treat the climate crisis with the urgency it demands and pass meaningful legislation before more irreversible damage is caused. By making the federal investments needed to combat climate change, we can create good-paying jobs, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, modernize our transportation system, and move toward 100 percent clean energy. We have to think big and act with urgency. Inaction is deadly and more costly than the cost of taking bold action to fight climate change. Before serving on the City Council, I was a community organizer for environmental justice for more than 20 years. I fought to keep polluters out of residential communities to prevent more damage to our public health. I have a deep commitment to this issue. I know that action is needed and that change is possible when you engage with communities that are affected most and take their needs into account. I’m prepared to lead on a just transition to 100 percent clean energy in Congress.
What changes would you make to U.S. immigration policy?
As a first-generation American and daughter of Mexican immigrants, I know firsthand how broken our current immigration system is. President Trump’s extreme anti-immigrant policies have only made it worse. Fixing our broken system is going to require undoing the damage done by Trump and his administration and moving bold legislation forward to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. As president of the City Council, I led an effort to add the city of San Diego to a lawsuit against Trump’s shameful decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In Congress, I will support the Dream and Promise Act to protect DACA recipients from deportation and give them a pathway to citizenship. In San Diego, we are uniquely aware of how Trump’s changes to U.S. asylum laws have hurt the most vulnerable who are fleeing danger and persecution. Asylum seekers are finding themselves stuck at the border, unable to seek refuge in the United States and waiting weeks to hear back about their cases, only to hear their asylum claims be denied. We need to fix our asylum laws to live up to our founding principles and give refuge to those who need it. We also need to repeal Trump’s shameful Muslim ban. And we must stop family separations. No child should ever be separated from their family at the border when they come here seeking refuge. This is inhumane, and it should never be happening in the United States.
How would you address the massive national debt hanging over America’s future?
In 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Trump tax cuts will add $1.9 trillion dollars to the deficit over the next 10 years. I support reversing the Trump tax cuts that gave massive tax giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations in order to address the damage that they have caused to the national debt. Corporations are profiting at record levels, even during this economic crisis, and we have seen too many corporations take advantage of loopholes to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Some corporations have even reported paying zero dollars in federal taxes. This corporate greed is unacceptable and it shouldn’t be permitted. It is also critical for Congress to close the tax loopholes that allow millionaires and billionaires to exploit the tax code to avoid paying the taxes they owe. I support reversing the Trump tax scam and closing tax loopholes so that the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share of taxes and stop abusing the system to enrich themselves at the expense of our communities. The wealthy and corporations should be expected to pay their fair share of taxes, just like everyone else. This is an immediate first step you can take to address the national debt.
Why should voters choose you over your opponent in this election?
As we face a public health crisis, an economic crisis, a climate crisis, and a reckoning on racial justice, we have learned that having leaders with proven records of leadership and of getting things done makes a difference. I am the only candidate in this race who has taken on tough fights and delivered results for the people of San Diego, and I will bring this type of leadership to Congress. At the beginning of this crisis, I listened to experts and took decisive action to protect families and support small businesses. I led the City Council in passing an eviction moratorium, expanded access to testing, worked to secure personal protective equipment for first responders, established a rental assistance program, and expanded paid sick leave protections for workers. As president of the City Council, I have worked to expand affordable housing and strengthen protections for low-income renters, I led the implementation of the city’s landmark Climate Action Plan, and we led in the nation by banning the use of chokeholds. That’s why I’m the only candidate in this race to have been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the California Democratic Party and the essential workers on the front-lines of the pandemic. Residents of California’s 53rd District deserve a leader who will put people first and deliver results for San Diego. I will always fight for what’s right for San Diegans, and I’m committed to getting things done for them in Congress.