Jared Huffman

The Second Congressional District of California is home to world-famous agricultural products, including some of the nation’s best wine grapes, pears and apples, as well as dairy and meats, which create jobs and feed our country. I will keep working to strengthen our local farms and ranches, consumers, and communities.  I will continue to support our agriculture system’s transformation from prioritizing the needs of the largest agribusinesses to ensuring healthy, nutritious, local, and organic produce is available and affordable for all.  

CANNABIS: 

Our region is also at the forefront of the legal cannabis industry. I support legalization for adults, regulation and taxation of this industry, while also supporting greater enforcement against illegal cannabis grows, which cause great environmental damage and perpetuate the black market. I am working in Congress to reform federal law to allow responsible cannabis businesses to be treated as lawful enterprises in California and a growing number of other states that have legalized cannabis. I am also proud to lead legislation that would allow our craft cannabis producers to ship and sell their products directly to consumers. 

It is past time to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. After decades of focusing enormous resources on criminalization, the national conversation about marijuana has finally begun to change. The federal criminalization of marijuana has done more damage than good – ruining lives through mass incarceration (which disproportionately impacts communities of color), establishing a huge, dysfunctional black-market economy and straining limited federal enforcement and judicial resources. I am a cosponsor of several bills to decriminalize cannabis, provide access to banking services, and protect states like California that are now regulating marijuana for adult recreational use. I am also proud to lead legislation that would allow our craft cannabis producers to ship and sell their products directly to consumers.   

As we move toward more rational marijuana policies at the national level, it’s important that we address the immediate threats to our environment and public safety posed by trespass growing operations and other harmful practices. Throughout my district and increasingly throughout the United States, we’re seeing trespass marijuana grows threatening endangered wildlife, contaminating fragile salmon streams, and making forests unsafe for work and recreation. That’s why I introduced the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act, which would restore lands impaired by illegal marijuana growing operations. This bill incorporates community input from public listening sessions and stakeholder meetings on the North Coast. 

As a member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus and Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, animal welfare is an important issue to me. That is why I have supported several bills and funding efforts that will further the goal of healthy and humane treatment of animals and will help prevent animal cruelty and abuse. One example I’m very proud of is my work to end the captivity of marine mammals. Along with Rep. Adam Schiff, I co-led the effort in Congress to urge the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to update protections for captive marine mammals, and introduced the Strengthening Welfare in Marine Settings Act to end the future capture and breeding of whales for public display. Our efforts contributed to the historic announcement by SeaWorld in 2016 that it is phasing out orca captivity. 

When legislating, we must consider the impact on our wildlife. That’s why I’ve advocated for provisions to provide safe wildlife crossings, secure native habitats, promote biodiversity, and prevent extinctions. 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was one of the most significant legislative achievements of the Civil Rights movement. All Americans must have equal access to the polls and an opportunity to have their voices heard. 

As a member of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, I have worked in Congress to help restore protections undermined by the 2013 Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act. I am a cosponsor of the Voting Rights Advancement Act to protect all Americans’ right to vote, and of the Voting Rights Amendment Act, which would require, among other things, jurisdictions with a recent record of repeated Voting Rights Act violations to pre-clear election law changes. These and other important voting rights protections are included in H.R. 1, which I am cosponsoring in the 116th Congress. 

H.R. 1, the For The People Act, is House Democrats’ transformative legislation to restore transparency, ethics, and unity to government, so that we can honor the public’s trust and put the power back in the hands of the people: 

In March 2015 and again in 2019, I traveled with congressional colleagues to Selma, Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama for a civil rights pilgrimage focused on the historical struggle to win voting rights. These inspiring experiences only strengthened my commitment to securing the right to vote for all Americans.  

We are at a crossroads in our country. This can be a moment that brings moral clarity and focus on confronting our country’s original sin – racism – and ending the decades of systemic police abuse.   

In February 2021, I joined over 100 of my colleagues in reintroducing the historic Justice in Policing Act, a comprehensive policing reform bill designed to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement, and build trust between law enforcement and our communities. I voted in support of this bill in March 2021, and will continue supporting reforms to build safer communities and support just policing. 

I am a lifelong advocate of women’s rights, equality, and health, dating back to my work as a civil rights attorney. 

Fundamental to gender equity is the principle that equal work deserves equal pay, which is why I am a strong supporter of the Paycheck Fairness Act. This bill strengthens and closes loopholes in the nearly 50-year-old Equal Pay Act, providing effective remedies to women who are not being paid equal wages for doing equal work. 

One of the very first bills I cosponsored as a congressman was the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which focuses the response of law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels to domestic violence, and extends vital protections to the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and Native Americans. The Violence Against Women Act, first passed in 1994, has been necessary and effective in protecting women and saving lives, and I will continue pushing to reauthorize and improve this legislation.  

I support the important protections of the Affordable Care Act that ensure that women’s preventative and reproductive services must be covered, and that women are not asked to pay more for their health insurance simply because they’re women. 

I also support a the right to make one’s own reproductive choices and deeply oppose the extreme, out of touch, right-wing Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion – tearing apart decades of legal precedent. This ruling doesn’t change the fact that abortions are health care, and countless people will still need to access it. In California, our rights are still protected – and we will continue to protect and expand access to abortion, so no one is denied the care they need. I will keep fighting in Washington to protect abortion providers, restore the right to reproductive health care, and safeguard the many other rights won based on Roe v. Wade that are now in danger under this abhorrent Supreme Court. 

The House has already taken action: in July 2022, I proudly voted for two bills that protect reproductive freedom, as well as defend the legal rights of both patients and doctors. These bills include the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, which protects the right to travel across state lines to receive reproductive health care, as well as the Women’s Health Protection Act, which codifies the right to abortion into federal law. 

Congress has a responsibility to help bolster our economic recovery, and the federal budget should support investments in transportation infrastructure, research and development, clean energy and climate, and education that create well-paying jobs here at home. That’s why I have supported the Democratic budget proposals that create millions of new jobs by investing in infrastructure, providing businesses with tax credits for creating jobs, supporting our schools and institutions of higher-education, and establishing a Veterans Jobs Corps.  

Many working families – on the North Coast and throughout the nation — still feel they cannot get ahead. Wages are stagnant while the costs of prescription drugs, college, and housing continue to grow. It's no wonder many people feel frustrated and left behind. 

We know many of the things that can help middle class families meet these challenges: keeping health care affordable, making sure more workers have equal protections, raising the minimum wage, and providing paid family leave and child care. However, those tools alone are not enough to combat the broader economic changes that are hurting working families. We also need to ensure that our trade policies support workers and do more to provide the tools people need to succeed in the 21st century global economy. 

In the 117th Congress, I worked with my Democratic colleagues to get several landmark bills signed into law that will boost the economy while creating millions of well-paying jobs. We are rebuilding our nation with our Infrastructure Law, reinvigorating domestic manufacturing with our CHIPS and Science Law, and investing in our clean energy future with our Inflation Reduction Act. 

Small businesses are an integral part of our economy, employing nearly half of America’s workers and creating two-thirds of net new jobs. California’s 2nd District is home to nearly 19,000 small businesses, employing over 160,000 people across the North Coast.  

I have supported several bills to help small businesses, including the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, which have created vital funding programs to help businesses. In California’s 2nd District, entertainment venues received over $35 million in funding through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, and restaurants received over $134 million in funding through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. I will continue working to support our small businesses in Congress. 

Trade agreements must promote strong protections for American consumers, workers, public health, and the environment. 

I opposed the U.S. - Mexico - Canada Agreement, which was a renegotiated version of NAFTA. I was particularly concerned with the weak environmental standards and lack of real climate solutions in the agreements.

America’s future depends on a strong investment in education. Preparing our students to compete in the global economy requires proper funding and resources, a safe learning environment, and a committed local community. We must work on a bipartisan basis to make sure important programs like Head Start receive proper funding, maintain civil rights protections for students, support priorities like environmental education and high-speed broadband infrastructure while also assisting rural schools that have lost property tax revenue due to nearby federal property. 

More than 6.5 million children are eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The federal government has committed to contributing 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure for each special education student, but we have never met this funding target. 

That’s why I’ve introduced the IDEA Full Funding Act every Congress since I was first elected. This bipartisan bill would require regular increases in special education funding to fulfill the government’s commitment. This bill will help ensure students with disabilities receive the support and resources they need to help them prepare for further education, employment, and independent living. 

I also previously introduced the IDEA High Cost Pool Funding Act to support states that set up funding “pools” to help reimburse local schools for special educational services that are three times or more the average per-pupil expenditure. This legislation builds on the historic civil rights law by authorizing additional federal funding to help keep IDEA’s promise that every child with disabilities would have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. 

Addressing climate change is the greatest imperative of our time. The stakes are enormous for our environment, our economy, and our planet. Confronting climate change will require major investments in infrastructure, new technologies, well-paying jobs, and energy independence. Pursuing these projects will not only make progress on climate change- they will also make our country stronger, healthier, and more prosperous. As a climate leader and an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal resolution, these priorities are front and center in all my work for California’s Second District. 

Thankfully, California has already taken bold steps to combat climate change, proving that climate leadership and economic prosperity can go hand in hand. I have worked on these issues since my time in the state legislature and am committed to advancing many of our proven California strategies at the federal level and doing even more. 

In August 2022, Democrats and President Joe Biden had a major victory in the fight against climate change by signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law. This law is by far the most ambitious climate and clean energy legislation in U.S. history, with $370 billion for building a clean energy economy, cutting consumer energy costs, combating the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, and enhancing climate resilience.  This law also leans in on ensuring communities are prepared for climate impacts already here, by funding coastal resilience, drought mitigation, and tools to help communities make science-backed decisions. 

Another transformative win for climate action under Democratic leadership is our Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act. This law delivers record support for upgrading the power grid to transmit more clean energy and withstand extreme weather, building a nationwide network of electric vehicle chargers, expanding public transit and passenger rail, investing in drought and wildfire preparedness, and cleaning up legacy pollution. 

In the 116th and 117th Congresses, I served on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis where my colleagues and I created a comprehensive Climate Crisis Action Plan, informed by years of work. This plan has served as a roadmap for members of Congress across all jurisdictions as we create policy that will build a greener, better future and will continue to be a guidepost in the years to come. To close out the 117th Congress and our work on the committee, we released a final report, which highlights our many wins and gives us a roadmap for the future of climate action in Congress. A two pager on the report can be found here.   

Ensuring a transition to clean energy and getting off the planet-killing fossil fuel roller coaster is one of the most important things we can do to combat climate change. 

I joined Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley in introducing the Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act of 2021, which would tackle the problem of international financial institutions helping to finance fossil fuel projects that are accelerating climate chaos. We also teamed up with Members of the European Parliament in a trans-Atlantic effort to transition to clean energy and prevent new liquified natural gas (LNG) infrastructure.  

Science says that we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground to protect the planet for future generations, which is why I introduced the Keep It in the Ground Act to reduce carbon emissions and break our nation’s addiction to fossil fuels by permanently barring new fossil fuel leases on all federal public lands and in federal waters. 

We are in the midst of a plastic pollution crisis that is fueling climate change and worsening environmental injustice. Plastic production and consumption are on track to double in the next decade if we don’t act now to change this trajectory. Petrochemical, plastic production, and waste incineration facilities, which are disproportionately located in, or near, and low-wealth communities, release harmful air and water pollution that cause increased incidences of asthma, cancers, endocrine disruption, development disorders, and heart disease. Transitioning off fossil fuels only to replace that demand with more fossil-based plastic production is not a sustainable solution and will continue to perpetuate existing climate and environmental justice harms. 

I joined New Jersey’s U.S. Senator Cory Booker in introducing the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act of 2022, which would directly tackle the plastic pollution crisis by cracking down on the plastic production process, addressing the harmful environmental justice impacts of this growing sector, and moving our economy away from an overreliance on single-use plastics. 

I am pushing the Biden administration to hold this polluting industry accountable. In July 2022 I co-led a letter with Sen. Cory Booker to the EPA calling on the agency to fully consider climate and environmental justice impacts of chemical recycling, or “advanced recycling” technologies in its rulemaking on those processes. My push led to Congress including concerns over this technology in the FY23 appropriations bill. I also led letters to President Biden on the importance of the U.S.’s leadership at home and abroad with plastics and to GSA on reducing plastic purchases by the federal government. 

Cryptomining facilities not only undermine our efforts to fight the climate crisis, but can also create air, waste, and other pollution for nearby communities. Granting this industry impunity to inflict such environment harm runs counter to numerous federal policies, including accelerating energy efficiency, tackling the climate crisis, and reducing e-waste. 

That’s why I have led the charge with Senator Elizabeth Warren to push for oversight into cryptocurrency’s environmental and energy impacts, particularly on communities near crypto mining operations. We’ve gathered a coalition of congressional colleagues to call on EPA Administrator Michael Regan to evaluate these facilities’ compliance with the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, sent letters to OSTP, EPA, and DOE to share our findings on cryptomining’s environmental impacts, and worked to uncover exactly how much crypto is impacting energy consumption, emissions, and costs for Texans. Additionally, Senator Ed Markey and I teamed up to introduce The Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act to require cryptomining facilities to report their carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act, as well as require a detailed interagency study on crypto’s environmental impacts – taking the first step to pull the curtain back on this industry. 

Across the country, the irresponsible exploitation of our natural resources endangers the climate, tribal communities, and local economies. Since joining Congress, I have championed local public lands protections through the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act. I’ve led the fight against the hazardous Pebble Mine proposal in Bristol Bay, Alaska and fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the California coast. Invasive oil and gas extraction is an existential threat to Native Communities and endangered wildlife, prompting me to introduce measures like the Polar Bear Cub Survival Act to safeguard these ecosystems from destruction.  

We have a gun violence epidemic in our country, a crisis that is uniquely American. People from all parties, from all walks of life are desperately calling on Congress to make these reforms that are commonsense and urgently needed. Over 100 people die from firearms every single day, and guns have become the number one cause of death for children. It doesn’t have to be this way. I refuse to accept these atrocities as an unavoidable part of American life. 

I’m incredibly proud to say that after years of unacceptable gridlock, our Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden – the first major gun reform bill signed into law in three decades. But I know this work is nowhere near done. 

Although we’re fortunate that California has strict and sensible gun safety laws, I have continued working to minimize federal loopholes and pass commonsense regulations to protect law-abiding citizens in California and throughout the nation. As a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, this has been a priority of mine year after year. 

In 2016, I joined my Democratic colleagues, led by iconic civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, in a sit-in on the House floor to urge an immediate vote on gun violence prevention legislation that has been stalled for years. Read more about this historic effort HERE. 

House Democrats have voted time and again to pass laws to protect our communities from gun violence, including:  

Rep. Mike Thompson’s H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act to require a background check for every firearm sale; 

The Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which would temporarily remove access to firearms for those deemed a danger to themselves or others by a federal court; 

The Protecting Our Kids Act, a package of commonsense gun violence prevention bills that I co-sponsored; and 

The Active Shooter Alert Act, which would create an amber alert system to notify people when there’s an active shooter. 

I have worked with my colleagues in the House to pass dozens of other measures that will make the bold changes needed to end the gun violence crisis, and we will not relent until the job is done.  

While the Affordable Care Act did not solve all of America’s unique health care challenges, the law made health care far more accessible and affordable for millions of Americans, including thousands right here on the North Coast. 

The mission to bring about universal health care cannot stop with the Affordable Care Act, which is why I am a cosponsor of the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. It is time for the United States to join the standard set by all other industrialized countries and create a universal, single-payer healthcare system. Medicare is a strong, successful healthcare program that delivers quality services. Giving all Americans the option to participate in Medicare would expand access to affordable healthcare. 

In the 117th Congress, Democrats worked hard to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 a month for senior citizens on Medicare. This will make a huge difference for folks who have been price-gouged by Big Pharma and forced to decide between putting food on the table or affording this life-saving drug.  

I also helped pass the Lower Prescription Drug Costs Now Act, which will help bring down the cost of prescription drugs more broadly and level the playing field for patients who are paying more for their medicines than patients in other countries. This bill gives Medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug companies, and the lower prices negotiated by Medicare will be transparent so that private insurance companies can make the same prices available to their consumers. It also creates a new $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries. I have heard from constituents and health providers about patients who are cutting pills in half or foregoing taking life-saving medicine altogether. Having to choose between life-saving medicine and versus meeting basic needs is unacceptable.  

I’ve also been a long-time advocate of increasing access to health care services in rural areas. I’ve led legislation to expand rural veterans’ access to VA health care systems, rural telehealth access, and ensure that rural areas are not forgotten in our health care system.

America’s immigration system is broken. 

Comprehensive immigration reform will jump start our economy, lower our deficit, and create jobs.  Currently, more than 11 million undocumented people live and work in the United States, many of whom have lived here their entire lives. We owe it to millions of Americans and aspiring citizens to consider this issue seriously and produce a solution. 

I support DREAMers. They have been raised here, attend our schools, graduate from our universities, and serve in our military. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protected these young people. They deserve to have a chance to earn their way to citizenship, and former President Trump’s decision to terminate DACA was a cruel, broken promise. That’s why I invited Alex DeLeon, a participant in the DACA program, to then President Trump’s 2019 State of the Union Address as my guest. Her story is like that of so many other young, talented, inspiring DREAMers – a stark reminder that Trump’s cruel actions had impacts on millions of people, and that we must keep fighting for solutions to our broken immigration system. 

As a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I work to promote investment in public transportation and the economic vibrancy of rural communities. 

The development of new transportation systems and the protection and enhancement of existing infrastructure are integral components to a successful and stable economy. I worked diligently to defend the SMART Rail Project in Northern California and to maintain the accessibility and functionality of the Petaluma River for commerce and navigation—a fight that continues as we work to secure funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for chronically underfunded shallow dredging projects in the North Bay and other parts of the district. 

America has called for action to fix our crumbling infrastructure, and after years of empty talk from politicians about change, under the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration Democrats have stepped up with the transformative Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. I have spent my career developing legislation to meaningfully invest in infrastructure and make the changes needed to build a clean and resilient future; and I am honored that so many of my bills are included in this historic legislation.  

Our Constitution guarantees equality for all Americans, not just some Americans; we must continue to work toward that goal. I am a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and a member of the  Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.  I am also a cosponsor of the Equality Act, which would add sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to the existing federal protections on race, color, religion, and national origin. 

In the 117th Congress, I helped pass the Respect For Marriage Act to protect marriage equality for the millions of LGBTQ+ people and those in interracial marriages – which is now federal law. Everyone deserves to have certainty that their marriages will continue to be recognized under the law, no matter where they live or travel in the U.S. 

Our seniors work hard all their lives and pay into Social Security and Medicare; when they retire, they deserve to retire with dignity. They should never have to worry about getting the earned benefits they paid for during their working years. I intend to make sure we keep our promise to our seniors, by making sure Social Security and Medicare continue to provide the financial and health protections for a secure and healthy retirement and continue to assist our most vulnerable. 

STRENGTHENING SOCIAL SECURITY AND RETIREMENT SAVINGS: 

To ensure the long-term solvency of the Trust Fund and to improve the Social Security benefits, I am a cosponsor of the Social Security 2100 Act to strengthen our retirement system for current and future seniors. The bill would improve benefits, implement a more accurate cost of living formula known as CPI-E, and provide a tax cut for over 10 million beneficiaries. The legislation is fully funded and is estimated by the independent analysis of the Social Security Administration’s Chief Actuary to keep the system solvent beyond the next 75 years.  

Too many people in America are being left behind by the digital divide that persists in rural America and Native American territories. That’s why I previously introduced the New Deal Rural Broadband Act of 2017, an ambitious plan to connect every home, business, and school to high-speed, reliable broadband internet that is based on Roosevelt’s New Deal rural electrification model. I also have worked to close the digital divide by introducing the Public Lands Telecommunications Act, which aims to expand 21st century broadband infrastructure to every home, school, and business on the North Coast by providing agencies like the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest service with the resources to partner with industry and community leaders to achieve this goal. 

In the 115th Congress, I introduced the Local and Independent Television Protection Act, which would protect local television markets across the country from corporate consolidation by permanently ending the so-called “UHF discount,” an obsolete FCC loophole that the Trump administration attempted to revive to benefit right-wing media conglomerates by dramatically reducing competition among local TV stations across the country. 

The U.S. should be a leader in advancing science and technology. In the 117th Congress, we passed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, which invests in research and development, science and technology, and the workforce of the future to keep the United States the leader in the industries of tomorrow, including nanotechnology, clean energy, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. 

The United States should be a model, leader, and partner in global efforts to combat climate change, prevent international terrorism, and secure human rights. However, protecting our national interests and keeping people in America safe requires that we be smart, not just tough. We must learn from history to avoid repeating past mistakes. 

We can maintain a strong national defense alongside smart reductions in spending that do not compromise the safety of Americans at home or abroad. For instance, our nuclear weapons programs reflect priorities from a bygone Cold War era. I am a member of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, which aims to update our nuclear weapons programs to reflect our 21st century priorities and reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy. It is also long past time to close the shameful Guantanamo Bay Detention Center that has made people in America less safe. 

Congress’ role in authorizing acts of war is not only required by the Constitution, but it’s also necessary to ensure that the President’s proposed military actions are appropriate, legitimate, and narrowly focused to prevent drawing us into a military quagmire, creating or worsening a humanitarian crisis, or escalating sectarian or regional conflict. 

VETERANS:

The people who bravely served our nation in the military deserve our deepest respect. In the same way that we should provide quality equipment and support to our servicemembers in the field, we should provide quality support and benefits when they return home. 

I pushed the Department of Veterans Affairs to adopt the Veterans Choice Program, which allowed thousands of veterans in remote areas of my district to choose a local, private medical provider instead of being mandated to travel long distances to VA clinics. My staff and I continue to work closely with the VA to improve the Veterans Choice Program to make it work better for our vets. 

In 2022, I reintroduced the Recruiting in Underserved Rural Areas and Localities for Veterans (RURAL Veterans) Act. The bill would create an Office of Rural Recruitment in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that would provide a focused and targeted nationwide plan for recruiting VA doctors to rural areas. This office will also be required to submit annual reports on the status of rural VA health care to make sure the department is meeting its goals. Our veterans deserve access to quality medical care that isn’t hours away. 

We owe it to our veterans and their families to protect benefits and maintain strong support for programs that assist with their employment, housing, education, and healthcare. I strongly oppose schemes that would privatize and degrade the quality of care at the VA. 

I have worked throughout my career on California water policy, serving as the Chair of the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee in Sacramento, and on the board of the Marin Municipal Water Board before that. California’s water story is one of feast or famine, with the state experiencing devastating floods following years of drought. This is made worse by a changing climate, which has reduced clean drinking water supplies, put pressure on food producers, driving iconic fish and wildlife to the brink of extinction, and threatened our tourism and recreation industries. 

As the Ranking Member of the Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee, I am working to provide a range of short- and long-term solutions to stretch water supplies and build new clean water infrastructure. I introduced comprehensive drought response legislation, a range of short- and long-term solutions to stretch water supplies and build new clean water infrastructure, creating jobs without undermining environmental protections, preempting state laws, or redirecting impacts from one drought-stricken area to another. This bill passed the House as part of the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act in July 2022.  

I have led the effort in Congress to bring Army Corps reservoir operations in line with modern science, to help save water, and to support communities through extreme weather events. The Army Corps of Engineers operates many of its reservoirs—critical for the water supply of cities and towns throughout the country, including in Sonoma County—on outdated and obsolete water control manuals, some of which are as much as 60 years old. For the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2022, I renewed my dedication to those projects and others that would benefit our community.  

I am the co-chair of the House Wild Salmon Caucus and work to ensure the North Coast’s rivers are healthy enough to uphold all the values they represent, including fishing, tribal trust responsibilities, endangered species and other fish and wildlife, power generation, and recreation. 

In the 115th Congress, I helped protect the iconic Smith River by securing a twenty-year ban on new mining projects in an ecologically and economically critical region in Southwest Oregon, which includes the Smith River headwaters. In the 117th Congress, I introduced legislation to expand the hugely popular Smith River National Recreation Area into Oregon. The people of Del Norte County, the Elk Valley, and Tolowa Dee-ni' tribes, and thousands of other Californians and Oregonians who cherish the Smith River have united in working to secure two decades of protection for this spectacular landscape and its wildlife for future generations. I also introduced the Salmon FISH Act, a bill that identifies critical centers of salmon abundance to ensure these areas receive the protection, support, and funding they need to continue to sustain the healthiest remaining salmon populations. 

One of the most important river restoration projects throughout the nation is the effort to remove the four dams on the Klamath River, which will rebuild the river’s salmon runs. After decades of work, this is finally happening. This is going to be the largest river restoration in American history. I am immensely proud to have been an active partner in these efforts, working alongside steadfast advocates to right this wrong and restore balance to the river.    

The San Francisco Bay Delta is the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, sustaining countless migratory birds and an economically vital salmon fishery, recreational opportunities, and improved quality of life for residents and tourists alike. Unfortunately, centuries of development, pollution, and water diversions have constricted the amount of water that flows naturally through the Bay-Delta and starved its wetlands and rivers. Current environmental standards are protecting an ecosystem on life support and are insufficient for a full and vibrant recovery. 

Dating back to my time in the state legislature, where I played a leading role in crafting and passing a historic package of water reforms in 2009, I have fought to forge consensus around effective science-based environmental and clean water protections so that we can meet California’s water needs without sacrificing the salmon industry or the environmental values that make California great. 

We are already living out the alarming impacts of climate change on land, including catastrophic wildfires and drought. We should be just as concerned about ocean impacts: major declines in biodiversity, rapidly shifting fish stocks, sea level rise, and widespread losses of our world’s most important coastal habitats. On the North Coast of California in my district, and across the country, coastal communities are all too familiar with these consequences.  

One of my many efforts to include ocean-based solutions in climate crisis legislation has been advocating for the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act. This bill would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by prohibiting oil and gas leasing in the outer continental shelf, conserve blue carbon ecosystems, promote coastal resiliency, improve ocean protection, support climate-ready fisheries, tackle ocean health challenges, and restore U.S. leadership in international ocean governance.  

I am also proud to co-chair the bipartisan National Marine Sanctuaries Caucus with Rep. Garret Graves. Protecting treasured ecosystems throughout the oceans and Great Lakes is essential not only for the historical and cultural value, but also for the significant benefits sanctuaries have on biodiversity, tourism and recreation, and scientific research. As a co-chair, I will continue to raise awareness and understanding of national marine sanctuaries and their role in sustaining healthy ecosystems.  

People coast-to-coast depend on healthy oceans and fisheries, whether it’s the seafood we eat, time spent on the water as recreational anglers, or the economic engine supporting working waterfronts and coastal communities. That’s why I introduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act, legislation to update and reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the primary law governing federal fisheries management and conservation that has made the U.S. a global leader in sustainable fisheries. 

This legislation is the culmination of a two year-long process I led to get stakeholder input, including a nationwide listening tour and release of a discussion draft for feedback – part of an ongoing effort to foster a uniquely transparent, inclusive, science-based approach to updating this important law governing fisheries in American waters. As part of this process, I held eight listening sessions and covered seven management regions on a nationwide fisheries listening tour. Thanks to this process, we have crafted legislation that rises to the challenges of the 21st Century and includes critical updates to this landmark law. 

Across the country, fishermen, tribes, and coastal communities depend on productive fisheries. However, far too many suffer while waiting for federal relief after unexpected disasters. On the North Coast of California, we’ve seen how ocean heat waves, domoic acid blooms, and drought have led to devastating consequences for our most important fisheries. As climate change impacts increase, it is more important than ever that we make sure fishing communities are as resilient as possible. I am pleased to share that I secured legislation in the 2023 funding package to improve the federal disaster relief process, making it more efficient and ensuring funds are provided in a timely manner to those impacted by a fishery disaster. This law will help make federal agencies more responsive to communities who have suffered a fishery disaster, while we continue to work in Congress to deliver the needed funds.  The Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act, a bill that I introduced that has become law, sets a timeline for the federal government to respond to a fishery disaster request, and sets a timeline for disbursal of funds following a disaster. It also clarifies the disaster request process, including by allowing direct payments to be made to affected members of fishing communities as an eligible use of relief funds. I will continue working with federal agencies to oversee the implementation of this law so that North Coast communities, and communities across the country, see fishery disaster relief in a timely manner.  

Internationally, I’ve been working hard to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and ensure that IUU fishing products stay out of U.S. markets. On the high seas where no one is watching, nefarious fishing activities can have a massive impact on fish populations, and crews can easily be exploited. Major provisions of my bill, the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, became law as part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. I’ll continue advocating to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program to cover all species, ensuring that we have full traceability throughout our seafood supply chain for all types of seafood.