Issue Position: Equality & Justice For All

Issue Position

Empowering Disabled Americans
Pass the Disability Integration Act

Doug will work as a partner to Senator Charles Schumer in the House to ensure passage of the Disability Integration Act. The ADA is a great bill, but we must build on it, and guarantee that people can have access to quality care in their own home to maximize their autonomy.

End Asset Cap Poverty Traps

Doug will strive to end the asset caps that trap disabled Americans in poverty. Every American should have the support they need to deal with unexpected expenses while they strive to earn enough to be able to handle those expenses themselves.

Expanding the ABLE Act

Doug will fight to ensure disabled people of all ages can save more without losing their benefits. The ABLE Act was a good step forward, but we must work to increase the total amount of protected savings people can have at every stage of life.

Improving Medicaid

Doug will fight for higher reimbursement rates to ensure disabled Americans can have access to quality care from a range of providers.
Empowering American Women

Doug is an intersectional feminist who believes every woman and every kind of woman should have her rights respected, and should have her government empowering her to make the choices she feel best serve her interests.

Equal Pay

Doug will fight for equal pay and pay transparency. When workers know what they are all making, it makes it clear whether anyone is getting unfairly underpaid.

Pro-Choice

Doug will fight for contraception coverage and funding for Planned Parenthood. No woman should have her right to make her own reproductive decisions limited by her wealth.

Combatting Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors

Doug will work with sexual assault survivors and their advocates, to push for measures to combat sexual assault and support those who have lived through it. Doug will take an "All of the Above' approach to trying to reduce sexual assault, ending the rape kit backlog to ensuring Title IX is respected on all campuses.

Combatting IPV and Supporting Survivors

Doug will support Senator Patty Murray's Security and Financial Empowerment Act to help survivors of intimate partner violence go about their jobs in peace. When financial independence is so critical to allowing IPV, we must remove every barrier survivors face as they strive to move themselves forward.

Combatting Human Trafficking & Supporting Survivors

Doug is compelled by moral obligation to rescue and defend these victims who are afraid for their lives and the lives of their families. Doug supports investment in medical and economic support to help victims recover and rejoin society at a pace that works for them. Our laws should recognize that human trafficking is a serious crime and its victims are never to blame.

End Workplace Discrimination

Doug will fight to end all forms of hiring, firing, and promotion discrimination against women. Whether it is moving to an accommodation model to end pregnancy discrimination or making it easier to fire class action suits against serial offenders, Doug will ensure every woman is unhindered when she is just trying to do her job.
Empowering LGBTQ Americans
Protecting Students

Doug backs Senator Al Franken's Student Non-Discrimination Act to ensure every child can access an education. No kid should be bullied out of an education because of who they are or who they love.

Total Equality

Doug will fight to end discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and housing by working to pass the Equality Act. Doug knows you can get married on Sunday and fired for being gay on Monday, something is deeply wrong in America.

Trans Rights

Doug will fight to end the horrific physical and structural violence against trans Americans. While trans youth face higher rates of homelessness and trans people of all ages face barriers to basic healthcare, Doug will push for comprehensive anti-discrimination measures and community support to ensure no one in this country is treated worse because of who they are.

FDA Blood Ban

Doug will fight to end the FDA's discriminatory ban on gay men donating blood. In the wake of the Orlando, in was an insult upon grievous injury that the community could not donate to help victims in their own community.
Reforming Our Broken Criminal Justice System
Deschedule Marijuana

Doug will fight to end the war on drugs, starting by descheduling marijuana. The States are already moving forward to find the best way to legalize marijuana, and the DEA must stop interfering in the process.

Fight Opioid Crisis Like A Disease

Doug believes we need to stop criminalizing addiction and provide resources to fight this scourge as the medical problem it is. From expanding availability of Naloxone to expanding rehab capacity, we need to help addicts make their way back to their communities.

Reintegrate Ex-Offenders

Doug believes once you have paid your debt to society, we should provide a path back to society. He will fight to Ban the Box, ensure ex-offenders have access to supportive services, and work to provide expanded employment opportunities to stop the cycle of arrest and re-arrest.

End For-Profit Prisons

Doug will end for-profit prisons, including ICE detention centers. Private prisons are even more abusive of their charges than government run facilities and breaking up families should never turn a profit.

End Civil Asset Forfeiture

Doug will make sure that the government will only be able to seize private property after someone has been convicted of a crime. Letting police officers confiscate citizens money and other valuables without a trial is contrary to American values.

Restore Voting Rights for Felons

Doug will fight to end the discriminatory practice of preventing those who have served their time from exercising their right to vote. The most basic freedom is the freedom to vote.

End Mandatory Minimums

Doug will end mandatory minimums and promote efforts to fight judicial bias. Mandatory minimums have failed to reduce crime or make our justice system fairer. It is time to move on to better ideas.

Enhanced prison oversight

Doug will fight to end sexual misconduct of the guards, overcrowding, and other abuses in our prison system. Those convicted of a crime should be subjected to the punishment set by law and no more.

Community OversightEmpowering Disabled Americans
Pass the Disability Integration Act

Doug will work as a partner to Senator Charles Schumer in the House to ensure passage of the Disability Integration Act. The ADA is a great bill, but we must build on it, and guarantee that people can have access to quality care in their own home to maximize their autonomy.

End Asset Cap Poverty Traps

Doug will strive to end the asset caps that trap disabled Americans in poverty. Every American should have the support they need to deal with unexpected expenses while they strive to earn enough to be able to handle those expenses themselves.

Expanding the ABLE Act

Doug will fight to ensure disabled people of all ages can save more without losing their benefits. The ABLE Act was a good step forward, but we must work to increase the total amount of protected savings people can have at every stage of life.

Improving Medicaid

Doug will fight for higher reimbursement rates to ensure disabled Americans can have access to quality care from a range of providers.
Empowering American Women

Doug is an intersectional feminist who believes every woman and every kind of woman should have her rights respected, and should have her government empowering her to make the choices she feel best serve her interests.

Equal Pay

Doug will fight for equal pay and pay transparency. When workers know what they are all making, it makes it clear whether anyone is getting unfairly underpaid.

Pro-Choice

Doug will fight for contraception coverage and funding for Planned Parenthood. No woman should have her right to make her own reproductive decisions limited by her wealth.

Combatting Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors

Doug will work with sexual assault survivors and their advocates, to push for measures to combat sexual assault and support those who have lived through it. Doug will take an "All of the Above' approach to trying to reduce sexual assault, ending the rape kit backlog to ensuring Title IX is respected on all campuses.

Combatting IPV and Supporting Survivors

Doug will support Senator Patty Murray's Security and Financial Empowerment Act to help survivors of intimate partner violence go about their jobs in peace. When financial independence is so critical to allowing IPV, we must remove every barrier survivors face as they strive to move themselves forward.

Combatting Human Trafficking & Supporting Survivors

Doug is compelled by moral obligation to rescue and defend these victims who are afraid for their lives and the lives of their families. Doug supports investment in medical and economic support to help victims recover and rejoin society at a pace that works for them. Our laws should recognize that human trafficking is a serious crime and its victims are never to blame.

End Workplace Discrimination

Doug will fight to end all forms of hiring, firing, and promotion discrimination against women. Whether it is moving to an accommodation model to end pregnancy discrimination or making it easier to fire class action suits against serial offenders, Doug will ensure every woman is unhindered when she is just trying to do her job.
Empowering LGBTQ Americans
Protecting Students

Doug backs Senator Al Franken's Student Non-Discrimination Act to ensure every child can access an education. No kid should be bullied out of an education because of who they are or who they love.

Total Equality

Doug will fight to end discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and housing by working to pass the Equality Act. Doug knows you can get married on Sunday and fired for being gay on Monday, something is deeply wrong in America.

Trans Rights

Doug will fight to end the horrific physical and structural violence against trans Americans. While trans youth face higher rates of homelessness and trans people of all ages face barriers to basic healthcare, Doug will push for comprehensive anti-discrimination measures and community support to ensure no one in this country is treated worse because of who they are.

FDA Blood Ban

Doug will fight to end the FDA's discriminatory ban on gay men donating blood. In the wake of the Orlando, in was an insult upon grievous injury that the community could not donate to help victims in their own community.
Reforming Our Broken Criminal Justice System
Deschedule Marijuana

Doug will fight to end the war on drugs, starting by descheduling marijuana. The States are already moving forward to find the best way to legalize marijuana, and the DEA must stop interfering in the process.

Fight Opioid Crisis Like A Disease

Doug believes we need to stop criminalizing addiction and provide resources to fight this scourge as the medical problem it is. From expanding availability of Naloxone to expanding rehab capacity, we need to help addicts make their way back to their communities.

Reintegrate Ex-Offenders

Doug believes once you have paid your debt to society, we should provide a path back to society. He will fight to Ban the Box, ensure ex-offenders have access to supportive services, and work to provide expanded employment opportunities to stop the cycle of arrest and re-arrest.

End For-Profit Prisons

Doug will end for-profit prisons, including ICE detention centers. Private prisons are even more abusive of their charges than government run facilities and breaking up families should never turn a profit.

End Civil Asset Forfeiture

Doug will make sure that the government will only be able to seize private property after someone has been convicted of a crime. Letting police officers confiscate citizens money and other valuables without a trial is contrary to American values.

Restore Voting Rights for Felons

Doug will fight to end the discriminatory practice of preventing those who have served their time from exercising their right to vote. The most basic freedom is the freedom to vote.

End Mandatory Minimums

Doug will end mandatory minimums and promote efforts to fight judicial bias. Mandatory minimums have failed to reduce crime or make our justice system fairer. It is time to move on to better ideas.

Enhanced prison oversight

Doug will fight to end sexual misconduct of the guards, overcrowding, and other abuses in our prison system. Those convicted of a crime should be subjected to the punishment set by law and no more.

Community Oversight

Doug will work with the Department of Justice to create public neighborhood oversight boards for police complaints. Rebuilding trust between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve requires clear and transparent systems of local control.

Ending Debtors Prisons

Doug will fight to end money bail and move to pre-trial services for all. Money bail privileges the rich over the poor and has lead to the creation of unconstitutional debtor's prisons. Pre-trial services allow us to make sure people show up to trial on time and saves money, while also being fair and equal.

Demilitarize Law Enforcement

Doug supports bipartisan legislation to demilitarize our police. Representative Henry Johnson's Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act will ensure our law enforcement officers should not look like an invading army. These weapons of war only encourage distrust and excessive use of force.
Reforming Our Broken Immigration System

America's symbol is the Statue of Liberty, not the barbed-wire fence.

Pathway to Citizenship

Doug backs comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship. We should work to help 11 million people who have lived and worked here for years to come out of the shadows.

Defend DREAMers, DACA & DAPA

Doug will defend children who have only ever known America as their home and parents of American citizens. He will work to open the doors to higher education and end ICE raids that tear mothers from their kids.

Naturalization Subsidies

Doug believes it should be easier, not harder, to become an American. He backs fee waivers and sliding scale fees for immigrants who want to become naturalized citizens.

End Veteran Deportations

Doug believes those who put on the uniform to take a bullet for this country should never be kicked out of it. Doug will ensure we can track servicemembers and veterans immigration applications and guarantee no one is kicked out because of a bureaucratic mistake again.

End ICE Detention

Doug believes strongly in the Flores decision that protects immigrant children from being held in detainment camps and will act to all immigrant detention. When we can use pre-trial services to evaluate flight risks and use in-home monitoring, there is no excuse for this backward system any more.

Gideon for Immigration Courts

Doug will expand Gideon protections to immigration courts to ensure justice for all. When government lawyers are arguing a 3-year-old can defend themselves, our system is deeply broken, and we know we must provide legal counsel for all.

Health-Insurance For All

Doug will fight to allow immigrants to purchase health insurance here. The more people we have paying into the insurance system, the lower premiums are for everyone. Fairness pays.

Doug will work with the Department of Justice to create public neighborhood oversight boards for police complaints. Rebuilding trust between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve requires clear and transparent systems of local control.

Ending Debtors Prisons

Doug will fight to end money bail and move to pre-trial services for all. Money bail privileges the rich over the poor and has lead to the creation of unconstitutional debtor's prisons. Pre-trial services allow us to make sure people show up to trial on time and saves money, while also being fair and equal.

Demilitarize Law Enforcement

Doug supports bipartisan legislation to demilitarize our police. Representative Henry Johnson's Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act will ensure our law enforcement officers should not look like an invading army. These weapons of war only encourage distrust and excessive use of force.
Reforming Our Broken Immigration System

America's symbol is the Statue of Liberty, not the barbed-wire fence.

Pathway to Citizenship

Doug backs comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship. We should work to help 11 million people who have lived and worked here for years to come out of the shadows.

Defend DREAMers, DACA & DAPA

Doug will defend children who have only ever known America as their home and parents of American citizens. He will work to open the doors to higher education and end ICE raids that tear mothers from their kids.

Naturalization Subsidies

Doug believes it should be easier, not harder, to become an American. He backs fee waivers and sliding scale fees for immigrants who want to become naturalized citizens.

End Veteran Deportations

Doug believes those who put on the uniform to take a bullet for this country should never be kicked out of it. Doug will ensure we can track servicemembers and veterans immigration applications and guarantee no one is kicked out because of a bureaucratic mistake again.

End ICE Detention

Doug believes strongly in the Flores decision that protects immigrant children from being held in detainment camps and will act to all immigrant detention. When we can use pre-trial services to evaluate flight risks and use in-home monitoring, there is no excuse for this backward system any more.

Gideon for Immigration Courts

Doug will expand Gideon protections to immigration courts to ensure justice for all. When government lawyers are arguing a 3-year-old can defend themselves, our system is deeply broken, and we know we must provide legal counsel for all.

Health-Insurance For All

Doug will fight to allow immigrants to purchase health insurance here. The more people we have paying into the insurance system, the lower premiums are for everyone. Fairness pays.

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