Serving My Community
- 2019 Democracy Awards winner for best constituent services of all 435 members in Congress.
- During my time in Congress, I have held a town hall once a month, every month, honoring the pledge I made when I ran for office. Town Halls are where I am able to discuss what I am doing in the Capitol for my constituents, answer questions the community has for me, and most importantly, receive feedback on how well I am representing the voters of California’s 17th district.
- Worked with the California Delegation to bring over $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to Fremont, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Alviso, Cupertino, Newark and San Jose, as well as Santa Clara and Alameda Counties.
- Hosted a major student reform on gun violence forum with Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr.
- Partnered with San Jose State University and a dozen Silicon Valley tech companies to host the first African-American Jobs fair for SJSU students to connect with employers
- Connected Merritt College cybersecurity students with tech leaders from various cybersecurity companies, creating internships for black and brown students
National Job Creation
Iowa
- Jefferson, Iowa
- Partnered with local education and business leaders to create scholarships and paid digital apprenticeships at the newly opened Forge office
- Secured a $25,000 investment from Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott’s personal foundation for rural scholarships
- Secured a $30,000 investment from Ripple to equip computer lab at the regional career academy
- Facilitated $25,000 grant from Costanoa Ventures to commit to opening an office
- Worked with Tech Interactive to implement a Design Challenge Learning tech program as part of K-12 curriculum for 52 teachers
- Secured commitment from Facebook for $100,000 to fund rural scholarships
- Iowa State University: Facilitated a $1.105 million grant from the Bia-Echo Foundation to Iowa State for regenerative agriculture research
- Des Moines Area Community College: Worked with Ron and Jane Olson to establish $61,200 towards 10 tech scholarships to rural and Latino students
- Rural Journalism: Facilitated a connection between rural newspapers and job creators with the Facebook Journalism Project to grant $165,000 to local newspapers to increase digital subscriptions
South Carolina
- Collaborated with Rep. Clyburn, Zoom, and Claflin University to establish a partnership comprising of $1.2 million in educational and financial investments, paid apprenticeships year-round, and merit and need based scholarships
- Coordinated a partnership between Claflin and Silicon Valley tech company Whiterabbit.ai to grant paid apprenticeships to students and established permanent connection between Whiterabbit and Claflin leading to Whiterabbit serving on Claflin Board as a tech advisor, creating a pipeline between Claflin students and tech jobs
New York
- Facilitated partnership between Charles Schwab Corporation and majority Black university, York College, to give students summer apprenticeships paying $20 per hour working at a billion dollar financial services firm and increase diversity in the financial sector
Mississippi
- Facilitated introduction between Silicon Valley tech executives and Peopleshores, which has two offices in Clarksdale with over 100 high paying digital tech jobs
- Connected Facebook with the Base Camp Coding Academy’s new facility in Water Valley to secure six scholarships over two years providing vocational training in computer programming that lead to tech jobs at local companies
Kentucky
- Achieved bipartisan success with Hal Rogers to spotlight tech jobs in Appalachia with a $2.75 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to TechHire to train app developers, and highlighted Interapt as a model for the country
Ohio
- Organized a trip for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to the Rust Belt with Rep. Tim Ryan to highlight investment opportunities in places like Youngstown and Akron
Michigan
- Facilitated with Rep. Tim Ryan 100K Ventures founder Robert Wolf’s introduction to the Flint incubator, which led to investment in Flint-based company Kalm Clothing
West Virginia
- Connected West Virginia University President Gordon Gee with Silicon Valley leaders to support the Beckley campus
- Worked with Gordon Gee on pathbreaking land grant legislation
Arizona
Legislation Passed
- Veteran Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform (VALOR) Act: Increases labor and apprenticeship opportunities for veterans after completion of their service
- Integrated Digital Experience (IDEA) Act: The IDEA Act modernizes federal agency webpages, making it easier for constituents to request services and bringing government websites into the 21st century
- Identifying Barriers and Best Practices Study Act: Bipartisan bill directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to study disability and pension benefits in response to the rising number of veterans with service-connected disabilities
- Information Technology Modernization Centers of Excellence Program Act: Codifies centers used by the GSA to bring updated technology to the federal government, ensuring the government's IT system is working efficiently and at a low cost to the taxpayers
- Designating the Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson Post Office Building: Bill honoring fallen Navy SEAL Matthew G. Axelson by renaming the post office in Cupertino after him
Landmark Legislation
- Endless Frontier Act: Collaborated with Senator Charles Schumer to introduce bipartisan legislation to invest $100 billion in the National Science Foundation focusing on developing regional technology hubs and research and development funding.
- Yemen War Powers Resolution: Worked with Senators Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee to pass the very first Presidential War Powers Resolution to stop American involvement in the Saudi War in Yemen.
- Grow American Incomes Now (GAIN) Act: Worked with Senator Sherrod Brown to introduce a bill to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for low income families. Expanding the EITC will alleviate the growing cost of living faced by low-income households, especially as the economy recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Stop Cheaters Act: The NYT editorial page supported my legislation to collect $1.4 trillion in unpaid taxes by auditing the ultra wealthy.
- Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (BEZOS) Act: Partnered with Senator Bernie Sanders to hold corporations accountable for paying $15 an hour. This led to Amazon increasing its hourly wage to $15.
- Internet Bill of Rights: At the request of Speaker Pelosi, I crafted an Internet Bill of Rights. The comprehensive set of principles gives individuals greater control over the data they share about themselves online, allowing users to control who has access to their personal data.
- Essential Workers Bill of Rights: Crafted with Senator Elizabeth Warren to provide comprehensive health, safety, and compensation rights to essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Parts of it adopted and passed the House as part of larger HEROES Act.
- State Based Universal Healthcare: Worked with progressives to introduce a bill giving states the authority to implement universal coverage. State-run universal health care can provide a model for the federal government to implement Medicare-for-All.
- 21st Century Jobs Bill: Introduced a 21st Century Jobs Bill calling for the government to invest close to $900 billion in rural and communities of color to create up to 3 million new jobs in science and tech.
- Police Exercising Absolute Care with Everyone (PEACE) Act: Worked with Rep. Lacy Clay to introduce legislation that mandates the use of force by federal law enforcement be an absolute last resort. Passed as part of the larger Justice in Policing Act following the death of George Floyd.
- No War Against Iran Act: Introduced a bipartisan measure to prevent war in Iran.
- TransDigm Price Gouging: Requested Inspector General investigation into defense contractor TransDigm that revealed excessive price gouging. Led an Oversight Committee hearing in response and secured a $16.1 million refund of taxpayer money.