Donald Trump’s election in 2016 was a turning point for our country. He has lowered our standing around the world, sought to divide us, and inflicted pain on too many Americans— particularly immigrants and children of immigrants. We cannot afford four more years of him in the White House.
We need to elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States.
Kamala would be the first Asian American in history to be elected president. We need her in the White House fighting for the issues that are critical to our community. The power to make change in this election is in our hands: Nevada’s APIA community is the fastest growing demographic in the state and a powerful voting bloc. Groups like One APIA Nevada, Asian Community Development Council, and AAPI Democratic Caucus are funneling this growing strength, and we need to harness it to elect Kamala as our next president.
I’ve known Kamala for many years. During the first Democratic presidential debate, Americans all over the country saw what I’ve always known her to be: tough, smart, compassionate and prepared to take on Trump.
Everyone who tuned in to the debate saw what kind of president she would be. A president who is focused on the real tangible issues on voters’ minds — the things that wake them up at three in the morning. She spoke clearly about the struggle parents across our country face when they have a child burning up with a high fever and have to take them to the emergency room, knowing they’ll incur thousands of dollars in medical bills even if they have insurance.
Kamala will take on these issues through what she calls her 3 a.m. agenda. An agenda that will have a direct and immediate effect on people’s lives, paychecks, and health care. She will reverse the Trump Administration’s trillion-dollar tax cut for big corporations and the top 1%, and pass her LIFT Act to give a tax break of up to $6,000 to working families each year. Education is a key component of Kamala’s agenda and she will make the largest federal investment in teacher pay in U.S. history to fully close the teacher pay gap and give the average Nevada public school teacher a $15,000 raise.
Kamala won’t stop there. She will push to make sure our families are protected, insured, and healthy. As gun violence continues to plague our communities, she will not wait to act. If Congress does not send comprehensive gun safety legislation to Kamala’s desk within her first 100 days as president, she will take executive action to mandate the most comprehensive federal background checks in history, revoke the licenses of gun manufacturers that break the law, keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and ban the importation of AR-15 style assault weapons.
As the child of immigrants, Kamala also deeply understands the pain our communities feel when this administration continues to treat immigrants as less than human — separating families, caging children, and threatening DACA recipients with deportation. For Kamala, protecting our families also means keeping them together.
As president, Kamala will take executive action to keep immigrant families together and eliminate barriers that prevent Dreamers from accessing a path to U.S. citizenship. We still need 21st-century immigration reform, and Kamala will fight to get one passed. Until then, her plan will protect Nevada’s 64,000 immigrants from deportation.
This is the Kamala I know — a tough fighter and a relentless advocate for the people. Her candidacy means so much more than just the plans she will enact. That’s why I’m proud to support Kamala Harris for president and ask that you join me and millions of other Americans to help us win.
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Ted W. Lieu represents California’s 33rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Ted is serving in his third term in Congress and currently sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was also elected by his Democratic Colleagues to serve as a Co-Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.
