Issue Position: Keeping Us Safe

Issue Position

We face serious threats both abroad and at home, and nothing is more important than keeping our country safe. Keeping us safe means making smart policy and enforcing it by working with and across our diverse community. It means making sure law enforcement can do its job to keep our communities safe; strengthening our border security by making smart investments in border patrol and new technologies; reforming our immigration laws to protect Dreamers and those who follow the law and contribute to our economy; reducing gun violence; and ensuring our justice system is efficient and fair. It means having leaders who engage in thoughtful foreign policy and diplomacy abroad to help keep us safe at home. In Congress, I will work to:

*Provide law enforcement the resources and training needed to keep our communities safe, develop community-focused programs, engage in relational policing, and prevent terrorism.
*Prioritize support for our military--before, during, and after service. Our troops put their lives on the line every day, and they deserve a government that honors them and the sacrifices they make for us all. We must make sure the military has the resources to defend our country, take all necessary steps to protect them abroad, and make sure that they are supported at home, ensuring their access to quality healthcare, educational opportunities, claim resolution, and housing.
*Reform our immigration system to keep our borders and our neighbors secure. Comprehensive immigration reform will keep us safer by strengthening our border security by making smart investments in our border patrol, identifying ways that enhanced technology can allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol agents to better do their jobs enforcing the laws already in place; developing a pathway to legal status for those who have built a life in the United States, follow the rules, do not have criminal records, and contribute to our economy by working hard and paying taxes; and enforcing the rules on employers who break the law and take advantage of undocumented immigrant labor by holding them accountable for who they hire.
*Reduce gun violence by advocating for common-sense measures that promote gun safety and lower gun-related deaths and injuries while supporting the Second Amendment. Common-sense, bipartisan measures can make us safer, including requiring universal background checks for all gun purchases, a practice that will make all purchases transparent; eliminating bump stocks, devices that convert semi- automatic weapons into fully automatic weapons, and tightening regulations on high-capacity magazines; banning military-style assault weapons; protecting women and families from abusers, closing the "boyfriend loophole" and stopping domestic abusers from owning and buying guns; equipping law enforcement with the tools they need to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who are dangers to themselves and others, including those suffering from mental illness; cracking down on illegal gun trafficking; and funding comprehensive research on gun violence and prevention.
*Promote smart policies that strengthen our national security instead of alienating our allies and abandoning our role as a world leader. We must end isolationist practices and work with our global partners to engage in productive relationships that encourage trade while ensuring protections for workers and the environment and deepen and secure alliances that help stop threats from around the globe.

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