Campaign Statement

We can no longer settle for the Status Quo, We can do better.

I believe that all the decisions made in Congress that affect you and every ordinary man or woman in this nation should be decided by ordinary men and women who look and think like you and I, not by those who are being influenced by or sponsored by lobbyist, special interests and big corporations, folks who do not understand the realities of life in our nation, ranging from issues  like Education, Immigration, Seniors, Women, Safety, Jobs, Abortion rights, Regulations, everyone struggling to uplift themselves out of poverty, the middle class, the People not so rich to be worry free but not so poor to be on welfare (Mario Cuomo).

The decisions should not be made by elected officials who have been bought over by Special Interests, dark money PACS, Wall Street Moguls, Lobbyist, big corporations. 

After speaking with thousands of members of our constituents here is what they tell me: 

We can no longer settle for this status quo.
We can do better.

 It is time for a new type of energy, leadership, and a new perspective to fight for working-class families. Like Mario Cuomo says:

“Those people who work for a living because they have to, not because some psychiatrist told them it was a convenient way to fill the interval between birth and eternity.” 

Like teachers who are not getting paid enough. No teacher should buy school supplies with out of pocket money in this country.

The youths who have succumbed to untreated drug dependence and abuse.

The firefighters who work tirelessly for 48 hours despite the high risks and meager pay.

Our healthcare professionals who work for 16 hours straight just to make enough to care for their families and save for retirement.

 Veterans who return from wars with PTSD and are sleeping on city streets and under interstate highways, begging at intersections on hot summers and frigid winters to eat and a place to stay the night.

  Women whose right to choose is increasingly under attack every day by the far right.

  Students who believe that the school system is not preparing or building them for an increasingly competitive global landscape compared to their counterparts from different countries.

 Citizens who do not feel safe in their neighborhoods and their own homes due to the high crime rate in the district.

  Seniors who cannot stay at home and enjoy time off after serving their community for 30 to 40 years because of inflation. 

 Immigrants fleeing from tyranny, hunger, and oppression who risk their lives and travel through unforgiving terrains and rough seas to come to the land of the free to make life better for themselves and their families.

 Children of immigrants who are concerned every day that this nation refuses to enshrine into its governmental commandant “thou shall not sin against immigrants,” something so simple it can be spelled in just four letters: DACA.

 Small business owners who want to contribute in their small way to a free enterprise and the magnificent economy that is America.

 Houseless people who have been forgotten in the cold and the heat because they find themselves in situations none of us  can begin to decipher.

Constituents who want to live in a cleaner and healthier environment. 

All of us who believe that the government has a moral responsibility to step up and protect us from harm on those days when we are not able to help or protect ourselves.

 The preamble of our constitution says that We the people can form a more perfect union.

It does not discriminate.  

 Leaving no one behind, acting with compassion, and exhibiting empathy for one another is what has always determined how far we can go as Americans in this country that we love.

 Understanding that we are each other’s keepers and that we rise and fall as one nation is the core of our American tradition. 

In this district and across our nation:

We need more than just the 209 Public Schools in the County to reduce over crowding  and make the school a good environment for teachers to teach and for students to learn.

We need to give our teachers higher pay.  

We need after school programs like computer programming, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC training.

We need parents to take time to assist their children with their school work. We need fathers and mothers to pay close attention to their children, show them love and care, and compassion especially the black boys who are vulnerable and susceptible to being targets of social problems.

We need to replace all the old pay phone booths hanging around all over the district with charging stations for electric cars.

Create more jobs by hiring more people to pick up trash and debris on our streets.

WE MUST CREATE SAFER & THRIVING NEIGHBORHOODS

We need to knock down all abandoned buildings so we can do economic planning.

We need all street lights turned on and more street lights added. 

We need all the potholes fixed and our streets clean.

We need all the homeless people off the streets, especially our veterans. 

We need two more light rails running between the counties. 

We need more police on our streets.

We need affordable housing.

WE NEED MORE JOBS AND COMPETITIVE WAGES.

We need our brave firefighters to get paid a better wage so they don’t have to depend on donations as if they are running for office. Anyone who sacrifices his or her life to run towards danger like a gun or fire should be paid more and treated with dignity and respect, while they work, when they retire, and when they die. 

We need healthcare professionals to get paid equitably so they do not have to work 16-hour shifts. They need to make time for themselves and their families.

WE NEED TO EMPOWER SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

We need more small businesses to move in and create more streamlined procedures for aspiring entrepreneurs to start.

We need to empower more people of color to become business owners. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that
“the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

We can do better.

It is time we reset the cruise control on MD-04 and take back the gas pedal and steering wheel, and together we can steer this county and country we love, toward a better direction and a better day. We can do better.  

My journey to congress might be one of those arches of history that is long, but it bends towards justice: the justice for Education, for Safety, for the rights of women, for our veterans, police officers, and firefighters, for our healthcare professionals, for the sick and the elderly, and our environment.  

Together we can make the world a fairer, freer, and a more just and better place.

Thank you. God bless America