California Congressional District 39

If elected, I would vote to support the SAVE America Act. The foundation of democracy is open, fair elections. Only US Citizens should vote in US elections... otherwise, the door opens for elected representatives that do not have the country's best interests at heart. Further, establishing this baseline, common-sense requirement would end the numerous claims of election fraud that has become a popular talking point for losing candidates on all sides. This should be supported in a bi-partisan way.

Reducing the U.S. national deficit will be painful. It will require a combination of eliminating certain tax loopholes, which will disproportionately hurt the wealthy, and spending cuts, which will inevitably hurt the least wealthy... at least initially. Reducing the deficit will strengthen the U.S. economy in the long run. The pain of short term austerity measures will certainly lead to robust economic rewards for all involved, especially as revenue generation is reduced and programs designed to uplift impoverished Americans are reintroduced.

Complicated issue, but to oversimplify, Israel is an ally of the U.S. and should be supported in all ways against the stated goals of certain groups to eliminate its existence. While that support should be conditional and remain more as a supplier of arms and information, there should be no policy created to restrain the potential size of response to threats strictly for militarily strategic purposes.

As a person that has sponsored a legal immigrant from Mexico, has two grandparents buried near Guadalajara, and a number of family members that have immigrated from Mexico, some becoming citizens through amnesty and others that are familiar with border crossings, I have a unique and very well informed perspective on immigration. The Trump Administration has employed very similar enforcement practices as many past presidents, including Obama, GW Bush, and Clinton. The main difference has been in the harsh and direct messaging, which is clearly intended to intimidate, deter, and encourage self-deportation through fear. I'm in favor of mandating body cameras for immigration enforcement officers and funding to provide advanced crowd control training as well as de-escalation tactics. I'm also in favor of harsher penalties for stalking police with the intent to disrupt enforcement actions.

My position is that our governments should not be allowed to sanction marriage or define what is marriage in any way. There should be no governmental rights, laws, or privileges associated with marriage. Marriage pacts are agreements between two (or more) persons and those individuals should be free to live according to their values and beliefs. The First Amendment provides that governments shall make no laws establishing a religion or make any law prohibiting the practice of religion. Yet, in 1913 Congress formally recognized marriage though the Revenue Act. States subsequently began issuing marriage certificates. I'm Catholic. My faith has practiced marriage as a Holy Sacrament for around 2000 years, on par with baptism or communion. That said, I would not expect others to be forced to follow my religious beliefs through force of government or even practice of government. That would be an obvious violation of the First Amendment.

The Constitution and Amendments are silent on the issue of abortion. The decision on Roe v Wade was determined based on an interpretation of several case laws that established precedent to rights to privacy as well as individual liberty stemming from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments respectively. Legislators that authored and adopted these laws could have never foreseen how they would be utilized to authorize such a controversial practice, such as terminating the life of an unborn, human child. All matters not reserved for the federal government are the domain of the states to legislate. A Constitutional Amendment would be required for Congress to legislate on this matter.

If elected, I would author a Parental Rights Act, which would enact a new civil right for parents to be informed about a custodial minor's educational content and medical information. The government should never sanction secrets between adults and children. Sexual abuse of minors is far more common than it should be... it's a serious problem nationwide. To create laws that could easily shield child predators from prosecution simply because they are educators or medical professionals is based on flawed set of priorities. We should not put the vast majority of children at risk to protect a small handful of those with a combination of gender identity crises mixed with difficult parental situations.

The government should never be allowed to require a blanket medical treatment where injury is possible and those responsible for those injuries are immune from all responsibility.