My thoughts on the January 6th anniversary and other updates
Dear Neighbor,
As we begin the new year, I wanted to take a moment and share with you all we’ve accomplished in 2021. I also wanted to say a few words as we reached the one-year anniversary of the attack on our Capitol Building and democracy. Please read on for more.
One Year Anniversary of January 6th Attack
January 6th remains one of the darkest days in American history, and I know we can all recognize our nation is better than that horrific event. We must come together to protect our democracy and uphold our shared values. I'll do everything I can to help bring our country back together.
2021 Progress Report Recap
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Click Here to Read the Full Report
This past year has been a time of incredible progress for our community and our country. We began the year in one of the most challenging phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of COVID hospitalizations was at its highest point ever, and more than 10 million Americans were unemployed.
Since then, more than 200 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, we’ve added nearly six million jobs, and the number of Americans filing for unemployment reached its lowest point since 1969.
We still have more work to do to put COVID-19 behind us, but we’ve made a lot of progress thanks to the American Rescue Plan, a historic piece of legislation that provided relief to struggling families, frontline workers, and local schools and businesses. In fact, families and organizations in California’s 49th District received more than $350 million in federal relief from that bill.
My colleagues and I also passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Along with the Build Back Better Act, this legislation would create 1.5 million good-paying American jobs each year while also lowering costs for working families. I’ll keep fighting to reach an agreement on many of the policies included in the Build Back Better Act.
We have much more work to do ahead, but first, I want to share a few other highlights.
As a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Natural Resources Committee, and Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, I worked with members of both parties to introduce 31 pieces of legislation last year, including seven bills or amendments that passed the House of Representatives, and two that were signed into law. That’s on top of the 16 bills that I introduced and had signed into law during the 116th Congress.
Also last year, my staff and I responded to more than 58,000 constituent messages and helped more than 1,100 constituents with issues involving federal agencies, saving them more than $13,400,000 total. Institutions in our District received more than $240 million in federal grants this year, and local small businesses received $9.5 million in federal aid.
I know there is much more to do in 2022, and I look forward to building on this progress.
A Few More Updates:
- Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the new California Mortgage Relief Program is now accepting applications! Homeowners who experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic may be eligible for financial assistance. Learn more on how to apply here.
- I visited local infrastructure projects with local leaders to highlight how the bipartisan infrastructure law could help. Watch our recent videos in Vista at Civic Center Drive, Lemon Drive and Nevada, and the transit station.
