Issues

In the Declaration of Independence our nation’s founders set forth one of the earliest promises of our country: that every American would have the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The fact is that none of those rights can exist without access to health care.

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law of the land, millions of American families gained health insurance, many for the first time in their lives. In addition to expanding coverage, the ACA made great strides in transforming our country’s network of doctors, hospitals and clinics from a “sick care” system to a “health care” system, helping hospitals and doctors coordinate care for their patients and deliver better, healthier outcomes.

Helping to pass the ACA was one of my proudest achievements as a senator, but just like Medicare before it, we didn’t get everything right the first time and we need to make it better. We should be working together, Republican and Democrat alike, to continue to improve our health care system and reduce out-of-pocket costs for consumers.

As a recovering governor, I believe that one of the most important roles of government is to create a nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation. How do we do that?

We need to invest in a world-class workforce by making our schools second to none. We need to facilitate commerce with a bold infrastructure plan that would rebuild and maintain our roads, highways, bridges and transit systems, while making key investments that reduce congestion and make it easier for goods and people to travel across this great land.

We need to pursue every opportunity to export American goods by breaking down trade barriers and helping our farmers and manufacturers reach new markets across the globe. And we need to reform our tax code to spark innovation and encourage businesses to expand and create good-paying jobs here in the United States. If we do these things, we will see fortunes rise and communities thrive in every corner of our country.

Every American, no matter where they live, should have clean air to breathe and safe water to drink. Over the last few decades, our country has made significant progress to protect our environment and public health. Unfortunately, the current administration is putting the health of every American at great risk by rolling back common-sense consumer protections that keep families safe, denying the threat of climate change and ignoring the sacred responsibility to pass onto the next generation a healthier, more sustainable environment. It’s up to Congress to fight back.

I’ve long said we don’t have to choose between strong environmental protections and jobs. Moving our country toward a clean energy future goes hand in hand with job creation. By encouraging companies to reduce their carbon footprint and invest in green technology, we can harness American innovation, lead the world in developing new clean energy technologies and create the clean-energy manufacturing jobs of the future.

I believe that the reality of climate change is undeniable. From our coastal communities dealing with rising sea levels to our rural communities faced with more unpredictable growing seasons, the threat of climate change is real and growing. I believe we need to take action on a global scale to curb the human contribution to climate change.

As a U.S. Senator I’ve championed efforts to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government. I authored bills to rein in outsize federal spending and reduce the billions of dollars wasted annually on bad contracts and foolish projects, empowering agency managers to end federal programs that don’t work and rooting out unnecessary earmarks that help members of Congress, not the public good.

More than ever, it’s critical that Congress shines sunlight on the inner workings of our executive branch. I believe that the business of the President of the United States is the business of the people of the United States. That’s why I’ve raised a number of concerns about the lack of transparency, questionable ethics and potential for conflicts of interest within the Trump administration.

Our democracy hinges on public trust in our political institutions, and that trust is eroding. Conducting rigorous oversight is key to restoring public trust in American democracy and holding Washington accountable to taxpayers.