Fight for You

Preventing Gun Violence and Ensuring Safe Communities

In the White House, I was often the first call to a mayor following a mass shooting.

In 2022, I was the first call after deadly shootings in Uvalde, in Buffalo, and in Highland Park. After these acts of senseless violence, I brought the condolences of the President and the entire Administration, as well as the commitment of the federal government to help their communities heal. 

I am proud to have been the first candidate in this race to announce real steps – not just rhetoric – that I would take as a member of Congress to prevent gun violence from happening in the first place and ensure that when it does, violent shooters don’t have access to weapons of war designed to inflict massive damage on human bodies. 

Working together with my Democratic colleagues and those in the Republican Party who are willing to stand up to the NRA and the gun lobby, I will…

• Carry on former Congressman Cicilline’s legacy on this issue, and continue the fight to finally ban assault-style weapons in our country. 
• Support legislation to build on the progress of last year’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first significant piece of gun safety legislation in over 30 years, to increase funding for research at the CDC for gun violence prevention. 
• Work with Representative Lucy McBath of Georgia who lost her son to gun violence and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Pennsylvania, to enact red flag laws and common sense universal background checks. 

Protecting Social Security and Medicare and Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs

Right now, we are dealing with serious threats to our democracy and our freedoms, including the freedom to thrive in this economy. Too many Rhode Island families are feeling economic anxiety due to the increased cost of living and housing affordability. 

This is especially true for our seniors. 

Republicans in Congress are attacking the livelihoods of Rhode Island seniors and pushing dramatic cuts to Social Security and Medicare. These are programs that people have paid into and that they have earned. 

In Congress, I will always…

• Reject extremist Republican attempts to slash funding for Social Security and Medicare and stand up to any attempts to privatize these programs. 
• Work to build on the progress of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and pass legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs.
• Use my position as a member of Congress to bring in the CEOs and executives of major pharmaceutical companies and demand answers on how they plan to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. 

Read Gabe’s “Protecting Rhode Island’s Seniors” plan here. 

Ensuring Access to Safe, Legal Abortion for All

No member of Congress should stand in between a woman and her doctor. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, they overturned nearly 50 years of protection for safe, legal abortion. 

The work of public servants, advocates, and community activists have made Rhode Island a safe haven for access to safe, affordable, and accessible abortion. It is our responsibility to protect these rights nationally and ensure access for all women. 

As a member of Congress, I will work relentlessly towards…

• Codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law. 
• Expanding access to abortion in states that have taken radical steps to criminalize and reduce access to life-saving, reproductive healthcare. 
• Repealing the Hyde Amendment and allowing Medicaid and Medicare recipients to receive government funding for abortion services in all cases.

Freedom to Thrive in this Economy

Rhode Islanders always have the economy on the top of their minds. We know that we’re the first ones in and last ones out for major economic downturns. As a member of Congress, I will work to ensure that every Rhode Islander has access to a good-paying job that allows them to provide for their families and to save for retirement. 

For as proud as I am to have served in the Biden White House to deliver record low unemployment and create millions of jobs, I know that everyone is not feeling the positive effects in this economy. 

In Congress, I pledge to…

• Work to pass legislation to ensure that major corporations are not price-gouging the American people at the grocery store and the gas pump because it is unacceptable that companies are padding their profits while they take money out of the American people’s pockets. 
• Adjust the tax code so that we are forcing the uber-wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes. 
• Build on the progress of the Biden Administration’s CHIPS and Science Act and continue to invest in American jobs and manufacturing. 
• Work to eliminate barriers to those who wish to open their own small business. 
• Make massive investments in the creation of new housing across the United States, especially in states that have historically struggled to build new units, like Rhode Island.

Fighting Climate Change

We cannot talk about the present and future effects of climate change without anchoring our conversation in people, projects, and places. We need people to understand that getting involved in the fight against Climate Change is incumbent upon all of us: to protect the people and places we love, and give people the opportunity to work on the good-paying, union projects necessary to do so. 

I was honored to be a part of the implementation of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in the fight against climate change that our country has ever seen. I was proud of President Biden’s commitment to its passage; but make no mistake, as President Biden worked to pass his Build Back Better (BBB) agenda for months, Republicans in Congress, and even some from my own party, refused to stand up to the oil and gas lobby and watered down some important provisions in BBB. 

In Congress, I would use my experience to…

• Bring home investments to protect the Ocean State from the harms of climate change and work with my colleagues in the Rhode Island congressional delegation to continue our outreach to cities and towns across the state and encourage them to apply for all available federal funds and grants. 
• Fight for more legislation at the federal level to combat climate change. I don’t take a cent of money from executives, lobbyists, or PACs for the oil and gas and fossil fuel industries because I know that we need a member of Congress who will stand up to entrenched, dark-money interests in Washington. View my “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge” here. 
• Ensure oversight of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act and ensure that we spend that money effectively and with an eye towards helping communities hit hardest by climate change first. 

Supporting Our Veterans

The most sacred obligation our country has is to the health and well-being of those we send to defend our nation in the Armed Forces. 

As a member of Congress, I will…

• Provide responsive constituent services to veterans in the First Congressional District.
• Support the implementation of the PACT Act to provide healthcare and resources to those who have suffered the harmful effects of toxic burn pits.
• Work across the aisle to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare to veterans, especially increased funding for mental healthcare. 
• Provide important oversight to the Veterans Affairs to ensure that they are providing proper care with as little hassle as possible to our nation’s veterans. 

Protecting Democracy and Voting Rights

The United States plays a vital role in promoting and protecting democracy abroad. That mission, however, starts at home. 

Our nation’s bedrock principles have been threatened by Republican extremists in Congress and across the country who have attempted to make it harder to vote and who have sought to undermine our democracy. Domestically, I would be a voice against these attempts by extreme Republicans to roll back the clock on so many of the rights that we hold dear.

Two years ago, on January 6th, we were reminded of just how fragile our democracy really is. We must be committed everyday to the strength and resilience of our institutions and to the effort to protect the liberties that are enshrined in our founding documents. 

As a member of Congress, I would honor the legacy of late-member Congressman John Lewis and so many others who led the fight for civil rights by…

• Working to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to counter some of the Supreme Court’s steps at rolling back the Voting Rights Act. 
• Supporting the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and ensuring that no matter in which state an American citizen lives and votes, that there are certain guidelines that Republican state legislatures cannot override. 
• Vocally denouncing any efforts by MAGA Republicans to undermine our elections when they lose them.

Educating Our Children

I had the opportunity to receive a high-quality education right here in Rhode Island, and I want to ensure that every child, regardless of where they live in the First Congressional District, has the opportunity to receive one as well. 

Congress must stand up to extremist Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures across the country who are trying to whitewash our history. 

As a member of Congress, I will support federal legislation to…

• Create increased opportunities for in-school mental health professionals and counseling services to help our students emerge from the adolescent mental health crisis that we are facing. 
• Federally ban extreme Republican book bans because it is important that we tell the true history of our nation. 
• Provide student loan relief so that people in the First Congressional District have more breathing room to start a family or small business, buy a home, and save for the future. 
• Support proper funding at the state and local levels to provide a world-class education to all of our nation’s children, including vocational and workforce training for those who are not inclined to traditional education. 

Fighting Back Against Attacks on the LGBTQ+ Community

I will be a tireless ally for the LGBTQ+ community in Rhode Island and across the country. The attacks on the queer community by Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures around the United States are reprehensible. 

Ensuring the inclusion and safety of all is something that is incumbent upon all of us. 

In Congress, I pledge to be an ally and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community by…

• Preserving the legacy of former Congressman David Cicilline and continuing to fight for the passage of the Equality Act so that we can finally eliminate discrimination in housing, employment, and in all areas of American life. 
• Denouncing attacks on the trans and non-binary community and working alongside them to ensure that Congress is doing its part to protect and expand their rights.