Issues

There is no issue more important to me than expanding access to safe and affordable housing. When I was growing up in the Bronx, public housing was a lifeline for my family. My mother struggled everyday to support her 3 children on $4.25 per hour, the minimum wage in the 1990s. I would not be where I am today without the stability affordable housing gave me and my family. I want to ensure every American, no matter their zip code, can say the same.  We need more affordable housing to tackle the homelessness crisis. Every day, I’m fighting for the development of more affordable housing, a universal housing voucher program, a sweeping reinvestment in our existing public housing infrastructure to address billions of dollars of capital needs, and building back our housing infrastructure better, faster, and cheaper. You can count on me to make sure the Bronx gets its fair share.

After the devastation and hardship New Yorkers experienced this past year, a post-COVID world cannot come soon enough. New York City risks becoming a shadow of its former self if we don’t make the right investments to get our economy back on track.  The dual crises of COVID-19 and systemic racism have magnified the economic inequality that plagues our country, and we can’t afford to return to the pre-pandemic status quo. We need to give hard working people a fighting chance at success.  As a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, I’m fighting every day to rebuild a more inclusive middle class. I’m in favor of increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, which would give millions of Americans a fighting chance at a better life by lifting people from poverty, narrowing racial pay gaps, and building a more equitable economy for everyone.  I’m also a strong supporter of the labor movement, which is our best hope to revitalize the middle class. Strengthening unions is a pivotal step towards mitigating growing income inequality and worker safety concerns. Congress needs to significantly expand the rights of workers to unionize and enhance protections for those whose efforts to unionize are impeded by their employers.

There’s nothing more important to me than ensuring that every child in the South Bronx has a safe home, does not go hungry, and receives a good education. I am deeply concerned about how segregated our schools are. Even in New York City, we have an intensely segregated school system that is denying a generation of kids of color a fighting chance at a decent life. As a City Council Member, I introduced a bill to create an Office of School Diversity aimed at tackling deep segregation, and I will continue to fight for our children in Congress. The educational crisis does not stop with our youngest students. The student debt crisis from higher education has grown to an unconscionable extent. Canceling student debt would relieve an unprecedented economic burden on working families, build a stronger bridge to the middle class, and fulfill the people’s right to an accessible, affordable education. I’m in favor of cancelling as much as $50,000 of student debt for federal student loan borrowers as well as extending the interest reduction on student loans as a form of pandemic relief. The cancellation of student debt would dramatically narrow the racial wealth gap, giving millions of families a fighting chance at long-term financial security.