Women’s Rights
Whether she is fighting to defend a woman's constitutional right to make decisions about her own body, advocating for access to menstrual products, or addressing the pervasive violence against women and girls, Grace has dedicated her career to empowering women and young girls within Queens and across America.
In a moment where our freedom to access reproductive care, from abortion to contraception to in vitro fertilization (IVF), is under attack, Grace is a strong advocate for our rights. She has never been afraid to stand up to Republicans and far-right special interest groups who continue to gut healthcare services vital to women and restrict access to reproductive care. Grace is also a Task Force Lead on the Pro-Choice Caucus.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, she has fought and will continue to fight, to make sure that federal funding reflects our values and that we invest in women, families, and communities.
While in Congress, Grace has advocated for and passed historic legislation that supports women across the nation. Grace is the national leader on menstrual equity legislation and has authored and introduced legislation to strengthen protections for women and expand menstrual healthcare rights. Grace has also fought in Congress for equal pay for equal work.
Grace is also a strong supporter of paid leave and access to affordable child care, because no one should have to choose between their job and their family. She is proud of her record, and is excited to continue the fight in Washington.
Protecting Social Safety Nets
Social Security and Medicare are some of the most important social safety nets in our country, and Grace is committed to protecting these vital programs. Social Security has helped provide millions of seniors with reliable monthly income and allowed them to enjoy a dignified retirement after decades of working and helping grow our economy. She will continue to oppose any and all efforts to undermine Social Security and Medicare.
Small Businesses and Workers
As a daughter of Queens small business owners, Grace knows firsthand the critical role that small businesses play here in the borough, state, and country. Small businesses bring valuable investment, innovation, and jobs to our communities. Grace is committed to supporting small businesses and creating high-quality, good-paying jobs that can actually support families.
Grace believes that the American Dream can still be achieved in today’s America, but that the odds are currently stacked against today’s average worker. That’s why she helped fund a Small Business Development Center in Queens, supports an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and cosponsors legislation to expand worker protections, making it easier to join a union and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
Health Care
For too long, Americans have struggled to afford health care bills and many have gone financially bankrupt — this must stop. Grace is fighting for all Americans to have access to health care and to trust that when they need coverage, they will not pay outrageous amounts for life-saving medications.
Grace is a founding member of the Medicare for All Congressional Caucus and is a proud original cosponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2019. This life-saving legislation would expand the Medicare program to ensure every American has access to health care with comprehensive benefits. It would reduce our spending on health care while improving patient care.
Grace helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, capped the cost of insulin at $35 for those on Medicare, and made recommended adult vaccines free. She will continue fighting to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for everyone.
Seniors
Grace is committed to standing up for and protecting the rights of senior citizens here in Queens and across the nation. That’s why she’s fighting to safeguard Medicare and Social Security to ensure that seniors are treated with both the dignity and respect they deserve.
She’s also been proactive in combating the rise of scams and fraudulent crimes, which often target our vulnerable senior population and can cause victims to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Grace knows our government must protect those who’ve spent their whole lives helping build this nation.
Defending Against Fraud
The rise in telephone scams is not just jamming up our phone lines but is attacking the hard-earned livelihoods of working families — and targeting our seniors. These scam artists have been able to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting seniors across the nation by ‘spoofing’ them — masking the phone number used to make the scam call look like a local number. As a Member of Congress, Grace is fighting to end this horrible crime and has made strides to find a national solution to this crime.
Grace has been successful by passing her ‘Anti-Spoofing Act’ into law. This important legislation cracks down on those who engage in spoofing.
Additionally, with the increase in mail theft and identity theft incidents in her community, Grace has led efforts to protect her constituents. She remains committed to working with the United States Postal Service to ensure safeguards for the mail and to stop identity and financial fraud.
Gun Violence Prevention
Gun violence is an epidemic that is hurting communities across our country. It seems like no space is safe — not schools, places of worship, concert halls, or homes — yet, Republicans would rather listen to the special interests over the voices of the people they serve and have blocked any meaningful, common-sense gun reform legislation from being enacted into law.
That hasn’t stopped Grace from doing all that she can to fight against the NRA and far-right politicians who are putting politics over people.
In Washington, Grace has:
Funded research to prevent firearm injury and mortality research.
Secured funds for the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to improve the agency’s oversight of gun dealers.
Joined the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force to support and pass common-sense, life-saving gun control reform.
Cosponsored and passed legislation to mandate background checks for all gun sales and close the “Charleston Loophole” — which allows for the sale of a firearm to proceed if the background check can’t be completed within 3 business days.
Introduced the “Responsible Body Armor Possession Act” which would help keep military-grade body armor out of the hands of criminals.
Equal Rights and Standing Against Hate
Since the 2016 Presidential Election, our country has seen a disturbing spike in hate crimes against the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, immigrant communities, and communities of color. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian American, Native Haiwaiian, and Pacific Islander communities saw a shocking rise in hate crimes. In recent years, we have also seen a disturbing increase in activity from white nationalist and white supremacist groups.
Grace has been fighting to stop these acts of violence rooted in hate through efforts to create better opportunities for community dialogue, protect houses of worship, and track more useful hate crime statistics. Grace proudly passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which aims to improve hate crime data collection, reporting, and connection to support services.
Grace also understands that civil rights go much further than protecting communities from hate crimes and that many communities, especially communities of color, disproportionately face systemic hurdles in their everyday life, especially within our criminal justice system. Grace has advocated for criminal justice reform, specifically to change the system to become more restorative and humane, rather than punitive.
Equality and justice are pillars of our country, and Grace is committed to fighting for equal rights and protections for all.
Foreign Policy
Grace serves on the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies Subcommittee (SFOPS) on the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees USAID, the Department of State, the Peace Corps, and other foreign-related agencies. Grace is a fierce advocate for human rights and works together with our allies to address international issues. Representing the World’s Borough, she understands the importance of U.S. foreign policy and how U.S. humanitarian aid abroad makes a real difference.
Safeguarding the safety and well-being of women and children is paramount. To combat gender-based violence, Grace introduced the Safe from the Start Act, which would codify a program to prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence from the onset of humanitarian emergencies.
Climate and Environment
The number one existential threat to humankind and our planet is climate disaster. Unfortunately, we are already seeing climate change’s effects, and we must take action.
Grace understands these issues, and her leadership is guided by facts and scientists. It’s why she’s a supporter of the Green New Deal, which will revolutionize our nation’s approach to the climate crisis while also addressing many intersecting issues like infrastructure, jobs, and housing.
Grace was proud to help pass the historic Inflation Reduction Act, which invests $369 billion in Energy Security and Climate Change. Passed by Democrats and signed into law by President Biden, this law is the largest investment in clean energy and climate action in U.S. history.
Grace is also an original Co-Sponsor of Protecting Moms and Babies Against Climate Change Act, which aims to establish a grant program to protect vulnerable mothers and babies from climate change risks.
Education
Good education is a human right and everyone should have access to a quality, affordable education from early childhood to college. Education empowers our youth to have a more prosperous future and economy than we have today. Grace has fought to secure the strongest possible funding for public education, as well as advocate for policies that address the crippling student loan crisis, address college affordability, and support college-to-career programs.
As a parent of two boys, and as a graduate of public schools herself, Grace understands just how important access to affordable higher education can be in achieving both economic and personal success.
Grace is committed to empowering our students. She has secured tens of billions of dollars for federal student aid programs, led efforts to improve student success at community colleges, and is working to fix our nation’s student debt burden. Grace has also been a leader in making sure FAFSA applications are accessible to non-English-speaking families.
Grace is also a tireless advocate for access to affordable internet. She has championed the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and the Emergency Connectivity Fund. The ACP was enacted in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and provides discounts on internet bills and tablets, laptops, and computers for eligible households. Since its launch, more than 62,000 households in her district have participated, saving roughly $27.4 million for residents a year. Grace also helped secure $7.1 billion for the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which helped schools and libraries close the homework gap by providing devices and connectivity to the Queens community.
Immigration
The United States of America is built on the backs of immigrants from around the world. This has always been the story of our country since its founding.
Queens is home to more cultures and languages than any other place in the world and has been rightfully dubbed “the world’s borough.” Grace believes that whoever comes to our nation, regardless of immigration status, should be treated with both dignity and respect.
As the daughter of immigrants, Grace understands how difficult life can be for immigrant communities and that these communities are critical for our collective success. That is why she just introduced the New Deal for New Americans Act. This legislation creates a national office for new Americans and will provide opportunities for immigrants to succeed and contribute to the growth of our economy.
It’s time for Congress to pass meaningful and comprehensive immigration reform. Grace stands ready to work with her colleagues to fix our broken immigration system.
Housing
Grace is fighting for housing justice for everyone in Queens, because she believes everyone deserves affordable, clean, and safe housing. Our city is in the midst of a housing crisis and we’re desperately in need of affordable housing units in all five boroughs. It’s unconscionable to house New Yorkers in conditions that could be potentially harmful to their health, yet that’s the reality for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. From a lack of hot water and heat to lead poisoning to broken elevators and lighting, it’s inhumane to house people in these crumbling conditions.
Grace has introduced the Pathway to Stable and Affordable Housing for All Act which would effectively end homelessness and housing poverty. In addition to this bold effort, Grace has also introduced the Housing is a Human Right Act which would authorize $300 billion over the next decade for crucial housing infrastructure that would help families in Queens. She has passed laws to help keep public housing units warm in the winter, and championed lead test and removal. Grace supports billions in federal funds to fix the conditions at NYCHA housing.
Veterans
Grace knows that our nation would not be where we are without the bravery and sacrifices of our servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Grace will always ensure our veterans’ health, stability and well-being are top priorities. She is fighting for critical funding and programs to provide the necessary support and care our veterans deserve. From ensuring education and work opportunities to addressing the opioid epidemic; from ensuring women veterans receive the specific care they require to ending homelessness — addressing these issues is the least we can do for our veterans for their service to our nation.
Grace helped pass the largest single expansion of veterans’ health care benefits in the last decade, the Honoring our PACT Act. She has also spearheaded efforts to expand veteran’s access to infertility services. Grace continues to lead and support efforts to give all of our veterans coverage for all service-connected injuries. She has also demanded the Department of Veterans Affairs end any delay in housing and education benefits that veterans receive under the GI Bill.