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Katie Porter's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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Issue Positions

For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2024.

  • "Out-of-touch politicians have no business telling women what we can or can't do. It's been one year since #Dobbs, and I'm continuing to fight like hell to restore Americans’ freedom to choose if and when to have a family." (twitter.com)
  • "On June 24th, the Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade, removing a fundamental constitutional right from half of all Americans. As states move to ban abortion services outright or severely restrict these services, funding for contraception and family planning services offered by trusted providers is more crucial than ever. While no level of funding for contraception will ever obviate the need for abortion services, we know that people across the country will turn to family planning providers for more accessible contraceptive options in the wake of this decision." (None)
  • "On this #RoevWade anniversary—the 2nd since its elimination—21 states limit or ban abortion in ways that were unconstitutional under Roe. To restore abortion rights, we need to shake up our institutions to work for us, including abolishing the filibuster and expanding the Court." (twitter.com)
  • "Today marks the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which affirmed that we should all have the right to make our own healthcare decisions. Today and every day, we must remember that reproductive justice is not just essential to gender equity, but to economic security." (twitter.com)
  • "Social Security has been a lifeline for families ever since the first check was issued 82 years ago today. This vital program has helped millions retire with dignity and boosted local economies. We must protect future generations by strengthening Social Security." (twitter.com)
  • "As we push for Medicare for All in the long term, we should make changes to Medicare to help older Americans get the care they need in the short term. I support expanding the program to cover vision and hearing services, lowering the eligibility age to 50, and empowering Medicare to negotiate the prices of all prescription drugs. As a consumer protection attorney, I’m leading efforts to bolster the Senior Medicare Patrol program, which better protects older Americans and taxpayers from scammers targeting Medicare. I’m also fighting efforts to privatize Medicare. Recently, I successfully pushed the Biden Administration to scale back a Trump-era program that moved patients on Traditional Medicare to private plans, often without their knowledge or consent." (katieporter.com)
  • "Millions of families count on Social Security to help them make ends meet. I'm urging my colleagues to pass the Social Security 2100 Act, which would put more money in Americans' pockets, eliminate waiting periods for people with disabilities, and prevent benefit cuts in 2024." (twitter.com)
  • "We must strengthen Social Security, not slash it. I am strongly opposed to privatization and have actively fought to shore up the program for the millions of families who depend on it. I’m backing legislation to require the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share into Social Security so that we can prevent upcoming budget cuts and provide more resources to those who need them most. I’m also working to close loopholes that penalize retirees who draw on the benefits they earned while working in public service." (katieporter.com)
  • Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
  • Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
  • "Our laws shouldn’t be bought and paid for. But right now, Washington helps mega corporations and billionaire CEOs line their pockets – all at our expense. Time and again, we see Washington politicians advance policies that cater to Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Insurance – and stick everyday families with the bill." (katieporter.com)
  • "I’m proud to be the only candidate in this race who has never taken corporate PAC money, refuses federal lobbyist money, and hasn’t funded their campaign with donations from Big Oil, Big Pharma, or Big Banks. Because what happens when politicians get too cozy with lobbyists and powerful corporations? Corruption. We don’t need another career politician who will protect the status quo. Californians deserve a leader who will shake up the Senate and get Washington working for all of us, delivering an economy that lifts up families and a society that protects the rights of all." (katieporter.com)
  • "Multinational corporations unfairly dominate Washington and our legal system. Billion-dollar businesses should not be able to drown out the voice of everyday Americans by making campaign donations to politicians. Corporate cash should not infect our politics. I’ve led the fight to ban it, not only with legislation but with my own actions. California’s next Senator should be committed to funding their campaign with grassroots donations. I strongly support a ban on corporations giving donations to politicians." (katieporter.com)
  • "We need to ban Senators from taking donations from registered lobbyists, get dark money out of politics, and overturn Citizens United. Californians deserve to have confidence their lawmakers are working for them, not for their donors." (katieporter.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 1280 "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021" (None)
  • "At the same time, I’m pushing to boost accountability and transparency within police departments and their budgets, recognizing the undeniable truth that unchecked, excessive policing has cost too many innocent Americans – particularly Americans of color – their lives and decimated entire communities." (katieporter.com)
  • "Working across the aisle, I've signed on to co-sponsor the Ending Qualified Immunity Act by @justinamash and @RepPressley. This bill removes a major barrier for victims seeking justice and holds police officers accountable to the people they serve." (twitter.com)
  • Voted in favor of S 4003 "Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act of 2022" (None)
  • Voted against HR 7900 "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023" (None)
  • "America can only be successful as a world leader if we act following our values. I’ve fought ferociously for more accountability and transparency in spending dollars abroad, whether we’re talking about the State Department, the Pentagon, or any other federal agency that has a role in advancing and protecting human rights worldwide." (katieporter.com)
  • Voted against HR 2670 "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024" (None)
  • Voted against HR 4365 "Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2024" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 2 "Moving Forward Act" (None)
  • "Congresswoman Porter was also proud to vote for the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is going to give our economy the edge it needs to remain globally competitive. New investments into roads, bridges, and renewable energy will create good-paying jobs, boost our national gross domestic product (GDP), and help keep our economy moving. Congresswoman Porter also Voted in favor of the America COMPETES Act so that American businesses and workers can continue to lead the global economy in excellence and product." (porter.house.gov)
  • "To unrig the American economy, once and for all, we will have to make historic investments in housing, climate action, education, and health care and take on the corporate consolidation that’s leading to higher consumer prices. With millions of California families living paycheck to paycheck, the federal government must act to alleviate our state’s growing affordability crisis." (katieporter.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 3684 "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" (None)
  • "The affordable housing crisis was created by decades of failed policy; Californians can’t afford to wait decades more for it to end. Republicans and Democrats agree on a solution, but leaders in Congress won't prioritize a vote. There is no excuse for Washington's inaction." (twitter.com)
  • "I reject the Republican-manufactured dilemma that Congress must choose between default or slashing veterans' health care, food assistance for hungry kids, and affordable housing investments." (twitter.com)
  • "Rising housing costs are a major contributor to inflation, making up ~1/3 of costs in October’s Consumer Price Index. As Congress considers government funding legislation, we should prioritize strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to create more affordable housing." (twitter.com)
  • "To unrig the American economy, once and for all, we will have to make historic investments in housing, climate action, education, and health care and take on the corporate consolidation that’s leading to higher consumer prices. With millions of California families living paycheck to paycheck, the federal government must act to alleviate our state’s growing affordability crisis." (katieporter.com)
  • "The economy that best adopts sustainable technology will dominate for decades to come. I’m proud the Inflation Reduction Act sets the U.S. up to win the clean manufacturing jobs of the future." (twitter.com)
  • "Porter is continuing to fight for legislation that will bring costs down for Orange County families. She’s backing the bipartisan Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act, which would help ranchers and cattle producers negotiate better deals with meatpacking conglomerates and create a fairer, more competitive marketplace for beef. She’s also pushing for the Price Gouging Prevention Act, legislation that would make it easier for the federal and state governments to enforce existing laws against unconscionably excessive price hikes." (porter.house.gov)
  • "Porter joined her House colleagues in passing the bipartisan Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act. This legislation cracks down on unfair, anti-competitive behavior in the meat packing industry, cuts costs for farmers, and strengthens supply chains. She also cosponsored the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act, which makes it easier for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate potential violations of antitrust laws by the major meat packing conglomerates. This bill passed the House with bipartisan support." (porter.house.gov)
  • Voted in favor of HR 7688 "Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act" (None)
  • "To help tackle long-term problems families face in higher education, Congresswoman Porter co-founded the College Affordability Caucus. The caucus focuses on identifying policies to tackle the student debt crisis and bring down the sticker price of higher education. To address the student debt crisis, Congresswoman Porter introduced the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Student Loan Integrity & Transparency Act. This bill would require the Department of Education and loan servicers to share information and cooperate with the CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman, the number one federal official tasked with advocating for students who are struggling to repay their loans." (porter.house.gov)
  • "As a consumer advocate and former professor, I know how the high costs of college and mounting student loan debt are holding young people – and frankly, our entire economy – back. That’s why I started the first-ever College Affordability Caucus, a group of Congress members committed to lowering the sticker price of college. Hardworking families and young people should be able to afford to seek higher education without being saddled with decades of debt. That’s why I’m championing legislation to crack down on predatory, for-profit schools, provide tuition-free public college, and cancel student loan debt for millions of overburdened borrowers." (katieporter.com)
  • "Drawing from conversations with students, Congresswoman Porter introduced the Student Protection Act to crack down on predatory for-profit universities. She also led a letter urging the Department of Education to partner with states to crack down on predatory, for-profit universities. Congresswoman Porter introduced the Accountability in Student Loan Data Act, which would hold universities accountable for accurately reporting the number of graduates who are unable to repay student loans. In December 2020, Congresswoman Porter called on the Federal Trade Commission to improve its oversight of education referral websites that deceive families by only matching students to for-profit colleges that pay to advertise on their site." (porter.house.gov)
  • "Student loan debt is the second largest type of consumer debt, just after mortgage debt. Providing relief in the next COVID package would help jumpstart our economy and benefit us all by making it easier for people to open small businesses, own homes, and save for retirement." (twitter.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 1 "For the People Act of 2021" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 5746 "Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 4 "John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 4447 "Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019" (None)
  • "Congresswoman Porter is taking action to accelerate our transition to clean energy and make the United States a leading green economy. She is a proud member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, which advocates for policies that promote renewable energy, address climate change, and create good green jobs. She has introduced the Hydrogen for Ports Act and the Hydrogen for Trucking Act, which would help cut down on fossil fuel use in energy-intensive sectors. These bipartisan bills provide federal support for a key emissions-free emerging technology." (porter.house.gov)
  • "The #BuildBackBetter Act is fiscally responsible legislation. There is a cost to not making child care more affordable, not reducing prescription drug prices, not investing in clean energy and green manufacturing, and not cracking down on wealthy tax cheats." (twitter.com)
  • "Whoever dominates the renewable energy space today will have tomorrow’s most robust economy. Clean energy has the potential to unlock thousands of good-paying jobs in construction, manufacturing, research, education, and more. I support continued investments in clean energy and efforts to empower workers and communities as we push boldly toward clean energy and away from fossil fuels." (katieporter.com)
  • "It is critical that we act to preserve our public lands and waters. That’s why Congresswoman Porter has backed bipartisan legislation that would ban new drilling on the California coastline. Reckless oil drilling contaminates our pristine beaches and jeopardizes our local economy. Congresswoman Porter has fought to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for cleaning up after they drill, in addition to advocating for a future powered by clean energy." (porter.house.gov)
  • "As Chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Congresswoman Porter is making polluters answer to Orange County families. After an oil leak off the coast of Huntington Beach threatened our waters, she demanded accountability. Congresswoman Porter held a Congressional hearing in Irvine, giving Orange County families an opportunity to speak directly with lawmakers and get information about the oil leak. She also introduced legislation, the Ending Taxpayer Welfare for Oil and Gas Companies Act, to recover billions in taxpayer dollars from fossil fuel companies by updating outdated rental and royalty rates. The bill would crack down on pollution by closing loopholes that the fossil fuel industry exploits to profit off our public lands." (porter.house.gov)
  • "Big Oil has too much influence in Washington. Last week, House Republicans passed legislation to give 10% of our public lands to special interests. I voted against the bill, and wrote an amendment that would have eliminated a special tax break that lets polluters cheat taxpayers." (twitter.com)
  • "When House Republicans try to force through giveaways to Big Oil, we don't roll over—we fight back. I led Democrats' motion to put all Congressmembers on the record: do you stand with people or polluters? Every Republican chose corporate interests." (twitter.com)
  • Voted in favor of S 2938 "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act" (None)
  • "We need to shake up the status quo in DC and get the government working for real people, not greedy corporations like those in the gun industry. We have to pressure elected officials to stand with real people, not faceless corporations that profit from gun violence. In 2022, I pressed House leadership to hold separate votes on common sense gun safety measures so Americans would know where their elected representatives stand: with them or with the gun lobby. We need to maintain this sort of pressure on elected officials – and vote them out when they choose the gun lobby over our friends, neighbors, kids, and colleagues’ lives." (katieporter.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 1808 "Assault Weapons Ban of 2022" (None)
  • "I’m a single mom of three kids in public schools. I worry that my kids or their friends won’t come home, especially when I’m in D.C. and 3,000 miles away. I had similar concerns working at UC Irvine about the students I taught and myself. No parent, child, or worker should have to feel this way – about schools, places of worship, grocery stores, or any other public space. What’s especially striking about this crisis is that we know how to keep people safe – by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, mandating universal background checks, regulating guns like any other consumer product, instituting a nationwide "red-flag" law, raising the minimum age of purchase to 21, ending the gun industry’s broad legal immunity, and investing in mental health and community violence intervention programs. And yet, Washington continues to bow to the gun lobby." (katieporter.com)
  • "Medicare for All saves money AND delivers the best care to the most people. Health care companies spend hundreds of millions on payouts to executives and shareholders, funds that could otherwise go toward patient care. We can't afford NOT to have single payer." (twitter.com)
  • "Medicare For All strengthens care, lowers costs, and improves choice. I’ve proudly supported a single-payer system since I got to Congress, because it delivers the best health care for Americans. This week, my colleagues and I reintroduced #M4A." (twitter.com)
  • "Medicare delivers the highest quality, most cost-effective health care with the most patient choice. That’s why I support Medicare for All. I’ve run three competitive elections in a historically Republican area and never wavered in my support for Medicare for All. Many career politicians now say they support Medicare for All but were in Congress when health care policies that put profits over patients were passed – and they Voted in favor of such laws." (katieporter.com)
  • "That’s the problem with the current system: greedy corporations – with Washington’s blessing – prioritize profit, not patient care. We see that in the outrageous prices they charge. We see that in the chronic understaffing of our hospitals. We see that in the policies that health insurance companies develop to avoid covering critical health care services. Wall Street should not be allowed to shut down health care for rural Californians simply because it isn’t "profitable enough" for them. We must stop Wall Street from putting profits before people’s health care by finally passing Medicare for All." (katieporter.com)
  • "Restrictions on abortion are restrictions on economic freedom. We're the only major developed country without universal paid leave, affordable child care, and potentially soon without reproductive rights. This draft opinion is an assault on freedom that hurts every American." (twitter.com)
  • "Coming to Congress was the first time in a decade or two I didn’t show up pregnant on the first day of the new job. On the 28th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, we recognize we can and must do more. Paid leave will help working parents and strengthen our economy." (twitter.com)
  • "Paid leave and affordable child care make it possible for the best and brightest to stay in the workforce and succeed at the highest levels. Our global competitors invest in family policy because it's smart economic policy." (twitter.com)
  • "Paid leave is smart economic policy. By enabling workers to take time off—rather than leave their jobs entirely—we can make our workforce stronger and more stable." (twitter.com)
  • "The Inflation Reduction Act included my bill to recoup taxpayer dollars when Big Pharma hikes drug prices faster than inflation. This fall, Medicare recipients will see out-of-pocket costs for 34 drugs go down by up to $618 per dose—and Americans will save $63.2 billion by 2031." (twitter.com)
  • "Big Pharma is suing to keep Medicare from negotiating drug costs. But two companies, @Merck and @bmsnews, raked in a collective $7 BILLION in profits in just the past three months. When Big Pharma says we can’t lower prices, it’s the greed talking." (twitter.com)
  • "For over a decade, Big Pharma has coordinated yearly price hikes of Eliquis and Xarelto—drugs used by nearly 5 million Medicare patients. I wrote to @FTC about this potentially illegal behavior last year. Medicare can now undo this abuse by negotiating the cost of these drugs" (twitter.com)
  • "The #BuildBackBetter Act is fiscally responsible legislation. There is a cost to not making child care more affordable, not reducing prescription drug prices, not investing in clean energy and green manufacturing, and not cracking down on wealthy tax cheats." (twitter.com)
  • Voted against HR 5525 "Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024" (None)
  • "Cracking down on illegal fentanyl—a synthetic opioid that's 50x more potent than heroin—makes our communities safer. As a mom, I'm glad the number of fentanyl seizures at the border has shot up under this Administration. It's a sign of success." (twitter.com)
  • Voted against HR 5283 "Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act" (None)
  • Voted against HR 957 "Denouncing the Biden administration's open-borders policies, condemning the national security and public safety crisis along the southwest border, and urging President Biden to end his administration's open-borders policies." (None)
  • "Most Dreamers have been in the United States for as long as they can remember. They are our neighbors, friends, and colleagues—making our country stronger and helping our communities thrive. Today, I proudly voted to provide a pathway to citizenship for #DACA recipients." (twitter.com)
  • "Border agents have to deport most migrants without any consideration and apply a vague humanitarian parole standard that's almost impossible to meet. Seriously ill migrants may be admitted to the U.S. to get urgent medical care, for example, only to be deported days later." (twitter.com)
  • "I’m standing with our #Dreamers today as the Supreme Court hears arguments that could decide the fate of #DACA. As a professor at UCI, I’m proud that the University of California is arguing this case for our families, neighborhoods, and communities. #HomeIsHere #UC4DACA" (twitter.com)
  • "Immigrants who are eligible for the DACA program have been living here since before 2007. But somehow, Republicans want to blame Dreamers for their so-called "Biden border crisis." I shut down this nonsense." (twitter.com)
  • Voted in favor of HR 6968 "Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 340 "Hamas International Financing Prevention Act" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 3774 "Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 7108 "Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act" (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 6833 "Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023" (None)
  • H Res 956 "Supporting the People of Ukraine" (None)
  • Rated 94% by Foreign Policy For America (None)
  • Voted in favor of HR 5692 "Ukraine Security Assistance and Oversight Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024" (None)
  • Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.

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