An Attitude of Cooperation

December 29, 2013

As seen in UCCA December Newsletter - http://www.universitycitynews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Dec-Jan-201314.pdf

During my time on the San Diego City Council and as a Commissioner for the Port of San Diego, I was proud to work with members of both parties to address difficult problems facing the region. We worked with the mentality that while we wouldn’t always agree on every issue, we would put the interests of constituents above all else to reform our local government.

Since taking office in January to represent San Diego in the U.S. House of Representatives, I have worked to bring that same attitude of cooperation to Washington to cut through gridlock, change the culture of dysfunction, and reform Congress.

One major change that needs to be made in Congress is making our representatives live by the same rules as everyone else. That’s why one of the first pieces of legislation I supported was ‘No Budget No Pay,’ a bill that applies the commonsense concept that if members of Congress don’t do their job and pass a budget, they don’t get paid.

To help fix Congress, I also became a member of the ‘No Labels Problem Solvers’ coalition made up of more than 80 Republican, Democrat, and Independent members of the House and Senate. I also joined the bipartisan United Solutions Caucus made up of newly elected House members. These groups are working to build the kind of bipartisan coalitions we expect in San Diego and need in Washington.