As someone born and raised in Eastern Washington by people who were born and raised in Eastern Washington, wanting a bright future for the next generations of my family, I treasure our home. We are a 75% working class district and a major breadbasket of our nation, and the world. We proudly host Fairchild Air Force Base, and the three top civilian employment sectors are healthcare, education, and retail.
A Congressional representative who listens to the people of this vast and beautiful district is the very least we deserve. Eastern Washington voters deserve a competent, hardworking, well qualified representative who will be accountable to them, and hold the executive branch accountable to Congress.
The mission statement of the federal government is contained in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. It is to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence; promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity[.]”
The Constitution also provides the job descriptions of people serving in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. From the very beginning the Congress was meant to be the first among equals of the three branches of government.
Article 1 explicitly says that the House of Representatives has the lead on raising and spending money. It holds impeachment power, to hold the executive branch accountable. And it is the most directly accountable to the people, with elections every two years.
My parents and my grandparents were farm workers, domestic workers, tradesfolk, railroaders, communication workers, and office workers. To their bewilderment and eventual pride, I set my sights on a legal career. I used my education and developed my skills in the service of the people of Spokane County as a deputy prosecutor, holding accountable violent offenders. Later I served the people of the United States, through six presidential administrations in a dozen or so countries, as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.
Throughout my professional life I have held myself accountable to my family’s values. I’ve always held myself accountable to my oath to the Constitution and responsibilities entrusted to me in every job I had.
If the voters of this district do me the honor of electing me to represent them in Congress 2027-2028, I will continue to hold myself accountable to them and be ambitious in using all available constitutional authority. I will also work to hold the executive and judicial branches accountable to Congress. Specific examples include:
An Economy That Works for Eastern Washington
End the tariff chaos. That will cut prices for consumers and for businesses, both importers and exporters. It may start setting us on the road to normalcy with our trading partners including our nearest neighbors in Canada and in Mexico.
Restore funding for public education, including support for children with special educational needs. Ensure public funds are not used in violation of the separation of church and state.
Pass an inflation-indexed federal minimum wage law with paid time off and paid sick leave. This will counter the practice of major corporations of tempting states to race to the bottom, allowing corporations to privatize profit while socializing risk by paying workers less than they need to live, and weakening environmental protection and workers’ and consumers’ health and safety.
Safe Communities and a Secure Nation
Hold accountable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for border security, defunding any border security assets not immediately redirected to air, land, and seaports and to the borders.
Defund construction and operation of detention centers as fast as humanely possible. Restore funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) so it may respond to weather and other emergencies, and lead the orderly and humane release of anyone detained by other elements of DHS, except for anyone facing criminal charges or subject to the jurisdiction of a criminal court. Those excepted detainees shall be swiftly transferred to the custody of the appropriate federal, state, or local public safety authorities.
Defund aggressive and otherwise illegal military operations, support, and planning. Assess the damage to diplomatic, consular, and intelligence agencies and direct restoration of essential functions including congressionally-required publications like the Human Rights Report and the CIA World Fact Book.
Dignity and Care for All:
Restore funding to Medicare and Medicaid at previous levels and slash the red tape described by 2025’s HR1 to keep people from accessing needed care. These are essential steps to save our rural hospitals and our healthcare education institutions from leaving our communities.
Extend Medicaid coverage to all children from birth to their 19th birthdays. This will correct the five-to-one spending imbalance between seniors and youth and protect families from the prospect of crushing medical debt.
Enable Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans’ Administration, and all other federally-funded health programs to negotiate for lower prices on pharmaceuticals.
Service and Accountability:
Following the Government Accounting Office’s investigation, direct the Department of Justice to take action against the unindicted coconspirators named in the Epstein files.
Hold senior members of the executive branch accountable for any military action that violated or remains in violation of the laws of the United States, including our treaty commitments to intergovernmental bodies and to our allies.
Prohibit members of Congress from stock trading, requiring them to divest individual stocks in favor of mutual funds or other exchange-traded funds as long as they are running for or in office.
