Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs, who’s looking for a second two-year time period within the U.S. House of Representatives, is being challenged by Republican small enterprise proprietor Stan Caplan within the redrawn 51st Congressional District that represents central San Diego and components of East County. Election Day is Nov. 8 and voting will start a month earlier.
Here are Jacobs’ full solutions from each candidates to all 16 questions from The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board.
Q: What can be your prime home and worldwide precedence in Congress?
A: When I take into consideration writing coverage, I begin by taking a look at what can have the most important return on funding. That means, for home coverage, I concentrate on insurance policies that alleviate childhood poverty and assist youngsters. If executed proper, these insurance policies assist raise youngsters out of poverty now and preserve them out of poverty over their lifetimes. I used to be proud to guide in passing the expanded and improved Child Tax Credit, which returned $192 million to roughly 129,000 youngsters and 83,000 households within the 53rd Congressional District final yr. I’m persevering with to combat to make it everlasting.
I’m additionally centered on ensuring that our basic rights and our democracy are protected. Reproductive care is my well being care, so the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade is extremely private. Congress must codify the correct to abortion into legislation, be certain that sufferers can obtain the care that’s proper for them and that medical doctors are capable of present it with out concern of prosecution, and make it possible for individuals’s digital footprint — together with a lot of our most personal and intimate data — can’t be used towards us as abortion is criminalized.
Internationally, I’ve prioritized rethinking U.S. overseas coverage to ensure we’re addressing present and future threats, not simply the threats of the previous. I’ve been particularly centered on limiting civilian casualties of battle, ensuring we prioritize and appropriately fund our diplomatic corps, and offering growth help and assist to international locations liable to battle earlier than the conflicts come up.
Q: How do you view the occasions of Jan. 6, 2021, in our nation’s Capitol and what led as much as them? Do these occasions have implications about the way forward for the United States?
A: Jan. 6, 2021, was my fourth day in workplace. I used to be watching the certification of the election outcomes from the House Gallery when the Capitol was breached. After sheltering in place and donning gasoline masks, my colleagues and I escaped — climbing over chairs and beneath railings, down staircases, into the tunnels, and away from the shouting mob — with solely seconds to spare. It was the closest I’ve ever come to shedding my life.
Before Congress, I labored for the United Nations and the State Department in conflict-torn international locations and within the aftermath of violent coups. I do know from that work that political violence usually comes from deep fault strains in society — just like the lengthy historical past of White supremacy within the U.S. — mixed with battle entrepreneurs — like Donald Trump — who mobilize individuals round these fault strains. It’s clear that Jan. 6, 2021, wasn’t a spontaneous act of violence however a concerted effort by Trump to overturn the need of the individuals, even after he knew he’d misplaced. That’s why I’ve been centered on ensuring we’ve accountability, as a result of with out accountability, extra violence will observe.
I’m very nervous in regards to the implications for the way forward for the United States, particularly as we see an inflow of state and native candidates emboldened and actively working to undermine our democracy in additional insidious methods, and as we see election deniers win Republican nominations. But I’ve seen international locations extra torn aside than ours discover methods to place themselves again collectively, so I nonetheless have hope.
Q: Inflation is at 40-year highs within the U.S., inflicting financial hardship for a lot of Americans. What can the federal authorities do about this? What will you do?
A: As (*51*)’s youngest member of Congress, I perceive the deep financial penalties excessive inflation can have on future generations, and I’ve been working with my colleagues to ease these monetary burdens. I’m grateful that the Senate and the House handed — and President Joe Biden signed — the Inflation Reduction Act. This historic package deal will cut back inflation, reduce the deficit, decrease prices, create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and put money into our local weather resilience for the primary time in many years.
It’s additionally essential that we acknowledge that for a lot of San Diegans, this financial strain highlights the already excessive prices of residing right here, together with for well being care, baby care and housing.
One technique to deal with inflation is to extend labor pressure participation. Many dad and mom, and significantly girls, had been pushed out of the workforce due to the shortage of kid care throughout the pandemic. By investing in baby care, we will enhance labor pressure participation, deal with one of many highest prices for households, and make an excellent funding in the way forward for our economic system. Nobel Prize-winning analysis exhibits that we save $6 for each $1 we put money into high quality early childhood applications and extra analysis exhibits that the U.S. economic system loses greater than $1 trillion yearly as a result of prices and impacts of childhood poverty. I’ll preserve preventing to ensure the federal authorities makes the investments in baby care that San Diego’s households, and our economic system, desperately want.
Q: Confidence within the Supreme Court is steadily declining. Should justices have time period limits? Should the court docket be expanded? What, if something, ought to change in regards to the excessive court docket?
A: I agree that the Supreme Court has misplaced the religion and confidence of the American public and that it wants severe reform. Whatever avenue we take, an important precedence is to revive the court docket’s legitimacy with the American individuals and ensure we aren’t additional feeding into distrust of our establishments.
I’m open to most of the potential reforms, together with by way of the Judiciary Act of 2021, which might develop the court docket to 13 justices. Other attention-grabbing proposals embrace increasing the court docket to fifteen justices and elevating judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals on a rotating foundation for five-year phrases — or setting 18-year time period limits to take away the overbearing nature of lifetime appointments.
Regardless of the particular resolution, it’s clear we’d like vital, structural court docket reform. Right now, nearly all of our justices had been appointed by presidents who didn’t win the favored vote and confirmed by senators who don’t symbolize nearly all of Americans.
Q: What do you see because the implications of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade?
A: As a younger girl, the Supreme Court’s determination to overturn Roe v. Wade was a intestine punch. Six justices assume they know extra about my physique and my well being care than my physician and I do, and their determination has far-reaching implications for privateness and bodily autonomy.
We even have to acknowledge that the post-Roe period received’t seem like the pre-Roe period. In the 50 years since Roe grew to become the legislation of the land, we’ve seen an unlimited digital surveillance system emerge — one which can be utilized towards people who find themselves looking for abortions and people serving to them. That’s why I launched the My Body, My Data Act — a invoice to create a brand new nationwide commonplace to guard private reproductive and sexual well being knowledge. I’ve heard from buddies, constituents and friends who’re nervous that their reproductive well being knowledge — from interval or fertility monitoring apps, Google searches, location knowledge and extra — might be used towards them. By minimizing the non-public reproductive well being knowledge that’s collected and retained, the invoice would forestall this data from being disclosed or misused.
We noticed in Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring determination that this was solely the start of the court docket’s plan to erode the rights we’ve received, like marriage equality and the correct to contraception. I used to be proud to co-lead the Right to Contraception Act, which might assure the correct to contraception, and to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which might shield marriage equality. Now, we’ve to take these fights to the Senate.
Q: What will you do in Congress to fight local weather change?
A: On Friday, I proudly voted in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest local weather invoice to ever turn out to be legislation. The invoice invests greater than $360 billion to guard our local weather and reduce greenhouse gasoline emissions by 40 % by 2030 — placing the United States again on the trail to fulfilling our dedication to the Paris Agreement. These investments will even decrease vitality costs and assist the U.S. construct a extra dependable and reasonably priced vitality sector for the long run.
As a millennial, I’m proud to symbolize a technology that’s pushing the federal authorities to handle local weather change with the urgency it deserves. This invoice is an enormous deal and can go a good distance in defending our planet for future generations — and I’m so grateful for the younger Americans who’ve fought so arduous to make this progress a actuality.
As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I’m additionally taking a look at ways in which we will lower the Department of Defense’s greenhouse gasoline emissions and use its analysis and innovation to additional our local weather targets.
We can also’t get complacent. Low-income communities and communities of coloration are probably the most weak to pure disasters and emergencies, publicity to pollution and depletion of pure assets. As we make these historic investments, we’ve to make it possible for prioritizing environmental justice is central to that work.
Q: How ought to the U.S. strategy the battle in Ukraine? What ought to its involvement be?
A: President Joe Biden has been masterful in his dealing with of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin thought the West could be divided — that NATO would fracture — however due to the Biden administration’s concentrate on coalition constructing and early public sharing of intelligence, the trans-Atlantic Alliance has remained extremely sturdy. When I traveled to Brussels and Ukraine in January, I noticed this early groundwork firsthand. Our companions and allies in Europe and world wide stay united in our assist of Ukraine’s sovereignty and self-determination.
As the battle continues in its sixth month, I feel it’s clear — as each President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have stated — that there in the end received’t be a army resolution to the battle. The U.S. and our European and NATO allies ought to proceed offering Ukraine with the weapons and help it wants, making certain Ukraine is in the absolute best place to in the end negotiate from when the time is true.
It can also be essential that we proceed to keep away from a wider battle or any direct battle between the U.S. or any of our NATO allies and Russia. Representing a army neighborhood that is aware of the results of battle higher than most, I’m grateful that President Biden has been conscious of escalation and remained dedicated to not sending American troops to Ukraine.
Q: How ought to the U.S. change its immigration insurance policies? What particular modifications would you pursue?
A: Congress is lengthy overdue for a whole overhaul of our immigration system. To begin, we should always prioritize the American Dream and Promise Act — to assist ease the anxiousness, uncertainty and trauma we’ve inflicted on younger individuals who have solely ever recognized the U.S. as their dwelling. The House handed the invoice final March, and the Senate must do the identical.
More broadly, I assist a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people residing within the U.S. and a complete strategy to immigration reform. While that has hit roadblocks in Congress, there are nonetheless vital steps we will take to assist restore our damaged system. First, we’d like a direct enhance within the variety of federal immigration judges. We proceed to have a big backlog of immigration instances, and growing the variety of judges throughout the Executive Office of Immigration Review is an important step to slicing the backlog and getting asylum seekers a everlasting authorized standing in order that they’ll begin their lives right here.
We must also present authorized counsel to these going through immigration proceedings. I’m grateful that San Diego County is offering free authorized illustration to immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers going through elimination and deportation. By offering individuals with authorized illustration, we additionally arrange a extra truthful and environment friendly authorized course of. Congress ought to look to this program as a pilot for increasing authorized illustration nationally, and on the naked minimal, ought to be certain that no minor is with out authorized illustration in immigration proceedings.
Q: What particular points about border life in San Diego and Tijuana will you prioritize?
A: I hear from my constituents on a regular basis about lengthy wait instances on the border. When I final met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, I communicated the necessity to open the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry as quickly as potential, which, as soon as accomplished, is projected to chop wait instances in half and to have a 10-to-1 return on funding for the San Diego area, boosting our economic system by $1.8 billion yearly.
We additionally know that fixing the Tijuana River Valley disaster is vital to enhancing the standard of life for our area. The air pollution and uncooked sewage that circulate into the ocean have been devastating, particularly for our communities closest to the border — closing seashores, impacting companies, damaging our surroundings and hurting our tourism business. Rep. Juan Vargas and I secured language within the fiscal yr 2023 authorities funding invoice to switch $300 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to the International Boundary and Water Commission — to get beforehand secured funds to the suitable company and to restart progress on fixing the disaster.
I’ve additionally been working carefully with Rep. Vargas to induce Customs and Border Protection to revive public entry to Friendship Park. San Diegans know firsthand the worth of Friendship Park — each as a spot for separated households to be collectively once more and as a logo of our vibrant, binational neighborhood.
I’m additionally dedicated to bringing dwelling our deported veterans, a lot of whom now reside in Tijuana and the encompassing communities. If you serve our nation, it is best to have the ability to reside right here.
Q: The nation is experiencing extra mass shootings with larger dying tolls in recent times. How would you deal with this problem?
A: As a millennial and a member of the Columbine technology, I grew up within the shadow of college shootings and lively shooter drills. It’s heartbreaking and outrageous that 15 years after I graduated, we’re nonetheless dealing with the identical downside and children are nonetheless afraid to go to highschool. Americans in every single place ought to have the ability to go about their each day lives with out fearing they’ll be shot — at church, the grocery retailer, faculty, or anyplace.
I used to be proud to assist go the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the primary gun violence laws handed into legislation in practically three many years. I’m particularly proud and grateful that the invoice included a provision to shut the boyfriend loophole, which beforehand meant a home abuser might preserve their gun so long as they weren’t married to or residing with the sufferer. I speak loads in regards to the connection between gun violence and home violence, and shutting the boyfriend loophole will undoubtedly save lives.
And whereas I’m pleased with that invoice, it’s not at all sufficient. In the House, we handed a sequence of vitally essential gun violence prevention payments, together with the Assault Weapons Ban, the Protecting Our Kids Act and the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, all of which can save lives and that are ready within the Senate.
Q: What did the U.S. authorities get proper and mistaken in its strategy to the pandemic since its begin in early 2020? How would you will have responded in a different way?
A: I commend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others within the federal authorities for the accelerated launch and distribution of the vaccine — and their continued work to ensure vaccines are updated and match our public well being wants given the evolution of the present strains. I’m extremely grateful that President Biden prioritized getting photographs into arms — and met his very bold however essential aim of administering 200 million doses in his first 100 days in workplace. This pandemic has already been horrific and heartbreaking for therefore many households — and with out sufficient management, it might have been a lot, a lot worse.
The most essential factor in public well being is public belief, and I do assume there have been missteps, particularly within the early days of the pandemic, with out sufficient and clear communications to strengthen that belief. That was true throughout each the Trump and Biden administrations. There had been instances, after changing into a member of Congress, when even I wasn’t certain what steerage we needs to be following round masking, publicity and isolation. The federal authorities ought to have communicated extra clearly and may have been extra sincere about what was recognized and what wasn’t. We ought to have picked up on the aerosol nature of the virus earlier, saving us from the pandemic theater of bleaching counter tops, washing our groceries and altering our garments 3 times a day — and as a substitute centered on issues that basically work in defending individuals from the virus, like enhancing air flow. Government funded the event and distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations at a historic pace. However, having witnessed the pandemic firsthand from the entrance strains, one problem that also must be addressed is making certain that staff who check optimistic for COVID-19 are capable of keep dwelling when they’re sick to keep away from spreading the virus. I’ll assist offering paid sick time so individuals don’t must make the tough alternative between coming to work sick or paying their payments.
Q: How would you deal with the rising value of personal medical health insurance nationwide? Do you assist government-subsidized medical health insurance for all Americans? Why or why not?
A: I’m joyful that the Inflation Reduction Act consists of historic cost-saving measures for well being care and pharmaceuticals — together with extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, enabling Medicare to lastly negotiate drug costs and capping month-to-month insulin prices to $35 and annual out-of-pocket drug prices to $2,000 for Medicare recipients. It’s shameful that Senate Republicans voted down a provision to increase insulin worth caps for the hundreds of thousands of Americans utilizing personal insurance coverage, too.
Health care is a human proper, and we have to do every little thing we will to get common protection. I’ve lived and labored in international locations world wide and have seen firsthand how common protection is achievable, particularly for the wealthiest nation on the planet. Many examples world wide present {that a} sturdy public function in well being care can present reasonably priced, common protection. I assist Medicare for All and am an unique co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act.
So a lot of the dialog round tips on how to pay for common, single-payer well being care neglects to handle how costly and unsustainable our present system is. Families are already paying 1000’s of {dollars} for co-payments, deductibles and exorbitantly costly emergency companies all as a result of they couldn’t afford preventative care within the first place. The actual query we’ve to think about is how a lot Medicare for All prices versus what our present system prices us now.
Fortunately, analysis exhibits that transitioning the U.S. to a single-payer system would save taxpayers $450 billion annually, with the typical household saving about $2,400 yearly.
Q: What can and may the federal authorities do to handle the excessive value of housing?
A: As a third-generation San Diegan, I’ve seen our housing disaster go from dangerous to worse. In February, San Diego was named “the least affordable city” in the whole nation for homebuyers. For so many individuals of my technology, meaning San Diego is just out of attain.
I’ve labored with my colleagues on a number of methods to handle this disaster — together with with House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters to discover methods to safe further funding — and I’ve continued to combat to enhance our current methods. To begin, Section 8 housing vouchers needs to be common, in order that anybody who wants entry to them receives them in a well timed method, as a substitute of the years-long waitlist that’s hurting San Diegans proper now.
Addressing the army housing disaster will even assist alleviate strain on our broader housing market. I secured provisions round army housing previously two National Defense Authorization Acts. And earlier this month, I launched the bipartisan, bicameral Military Housing Readiness Council Act to handle the unacceptable circumstances in army housing.
We additionally have to make our tax code fairer for renters. I assist making a refundable rental housing tax credit score to assist people who reside in rental housing and pay greater than 30 % of their earnings on hire.
As a member of the Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, I’m significantly within the methods housing and homeownership have contributed to inequality and what extra the federal authorities will be doing to handle housing in an equitable means.
Q: Reducing homelessness has been a spotlight for all ranges of presidency in recent times. What would you do in a different way?
A: In San Diego, questions in regards to the excessive value of housing and about homelessness are two components of the identical query — as a result of we all know that for therefore many in our area, homelessness is instantly associated to the shortage of housing that’s reasonably priced. We additionally know that for too lengthy, San Diego hasn’t been getting our fair proportion of assist from the federal authorities.
San Diego County has the fourth highest homeless inhabitants within the nation however usually is round twentieth in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. I’ve been pushing for HUD to modernize its funding system, which can deliver extra grant funding into our area in assist of confirmed applications to place homeless people into everlasting housing and assist them entry the social companies they want. And I’m persevering with to push for a constant, government-wide definition of homelessness that takes into consideration what we all know homelessness seems like in our neighborhood.
I’ve additionally labored to particularly deal with the intersection of homelessness, housing, and veterans’ points. The Ending Veteran Homelessness Act, which I launched with Rep. Nancy Mace, would examine the effectiveness of the Shallow Subsidy rental help program for veterans and supply Congress with the information essential to completely develop this system. And the HUD-VASH Improvement Act, additionally launched with Rep. Mace, would encourage the Department of Veterans Affairs to search for contractors who’ve expertise offering case administration companies to veterans in administering the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program.
Q: The U.S. nationwide debt has exploded in latest many years. Are you involved about this?
A: I’m excited that President Biden has signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a invoice that can reduce the deficit by $305 billion by way of 2031.
As we take a look at tips on how to additional deal with our nationwide debt, we must be sensible about how we do it. Any enterprise proprietor will let you know that they’d gladly tackle debt within the close to time period to make investments that can notice a revenue sooner or later. That needs to be true for our federal investments, too. We save $6, for instance, for each $1 we put money into high quality early childhood applications, which implies we shouldn’t be shy about funding these applications that can have an infinite return on funding. We see the identical factor once we discuss well being care or local weather investments — the price of inaction is way better than the price of reform.
We additionally must be sincere about what has contributed to our nationwide debt, just like the decades-long wars we entered with out an exit technique and the extremely damaging Trump tax cuts which have allowed the wealthiest Americans and largest companies to keep away from paying their fair proportion in taxes. These errors have value us trillions of {dollars} and pushed us additional into debt, and I reject the concept — as my Republican colleagues would counsel — that the one resolution is to chop the important companies that shield seniors, low-income individuals and dealing households.
Q: Why ought to voters elect you over your opponent?
A: I’ve led in Congress on increasing entry to baby care, addressing childhood poverty, defending reproductive rights, supporting our army households, prioritizing diplomacy and growth world wide and extra. My group and I’ve returned greater than $7.5 million to constituents from federal businesses. Last yr, I secured $3 million in Community Project Funding, and I’m on monitor to safe a further $16 million this yr — by way of tasks that can instantly assist army households, make baby care extra reasonably priced and accessible, assist our area fight wildfires and extra. I’m proud to be an lively and efficient member for my district.
I’m extremely pleased with these successes and I’m particularly proud to be a part of a brand new technology of leaders that’s taking over a few of our most cussed issues with a brand new perspective — and addressing new issues Congress hasn’t even tried to resolve but. I’ve introduced a really completely different perspective to the establishment — as a younger girl, because the third youngest member of the 117th Congress, and because the youngest member representing (*51*). That’s been particularly significant for the reason that Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — as a result of reproductive well being care is my well being care. I exploit a period-tracking app, I exploit an IUD, and I perceive personally what’s at stake.
I’m grateful for the chance to symbolize San Diego and my technology in Congress. I’ve much more work to do, and I’d be honored to proceed serving the neighborhood I really like.