Dear Neighbor,

This Saturday marks the first anniversary of the Orange County oil spill, a disaster that hurt our coastal communities.

Since then, I’ve done everything I can to hold those responsible accountable. I was pleased to see the indictment of Amplify Energy and its subsidiaries for their mishandling of the spill, which revealed a stunning level of negligence and incompetence.

This disaster emphasized how critical it is that we end offshore drilling along our Southern California coast. The ecological and economic disaster from the oil spill is exactly why I introduced legislation to ban new offshore drilling along our local coast, and I will continue to fight every day to protect our coastal economy and way of life that all depend on a healthy ocean.

While we mark this day, keep reading for an update on my work in Washington to help military families and prevent gun violence.

Support for Military Families
I’m excited to report that my Supporting Families of the Fallen Act is heading to the President’s desk!

This bipartisan bill will support military families by allowing them to increase their life insurance coverage to an amount that best fits their needs.

The coverage amounts for life insurance policies that servicemembers and veterans rely on haven’t been updated since 2005, and my bill makes a long overdue increase to the maximum coverage amount.

This is yet another win for military families.

Prevent Family Fire Act
Every single day, eight kids are killed or injured by unintentional shootings with guns found in the home. If we expand safe storage, we can reduce accidental shootings by 73 percent and help save lives.

That's why this week I introduced my bipartisan Prevent Family Fire Act to reduce gun violence by providing a modest tax credit to incentivize the sale of safe storage devices like gun safes.

September Constituent of the Month
During Hispanic Heritage Month, I am proud to lift up Latino voices and announce Edward Becerra, founder of Education Begins in the Home, as my Constituent of the Month!

Edward's program aims to increase literacy in the Latino community through access to free books. The program is one of several under non-profit Empowering Latino Futures, whose mission is to remove barriers to educational and professional success for Latino communities by creating products, services, content, partnerships, and programs that lead to equal opportunities for all.

I’m so grateful for Edward's contributions to our unique and beautiful district.

Government Funding
I also voted this week to fund our government through December, and I look forward to passing long-term funding legislation later this year with investments in our local priorities.

As always, it's an honor to represent you in Congress. Remember to follow my Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages, and sign up for my e-newsletter for the latest updates from my office.