Dear John,

Last week, was an incredibly productive and historic week in Washington DC. We sent the Respect for Marriage Act, which protects the right for same-sex and interracial couples to get married, to President Biden’s desk. Couples should not have to live in fear of a Supreme Court decision invalidating their marriage and upending their shared lives together. I was proud to support marriage equality and will always vote to protect the rights of all Americans.

Last week the House also passed bipartisan legislation, the Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022, which streamlines the process for noncitizen service members to apply for naturalization while serving in the armed forces and ensures eligible noncitizen veterans and their families can obtain permanent resident status. If you served this country in uniform, you should be able to stay in this country legally. This bipartisan bill will close the gaps in our immigration system for our brave veterans who have served our nation and eliminate any fear of deportation.

Additionally, we passed the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, which strengthens our national security by increasing pay for service members, making major investments in diversity and inclusion, funding the development of new technologies and deepening our global network of allies. Additionally, this year’s defense bill provides historic funding for research a Historically Black Colleges and Universities, allocates $800 million to provide security and assistance to the Ukraine Armed Forces and raises pay for our service members by 4.6 percent.

In other news, I had the honor of being elected Chair of the House Democratic Caucus by my colleagues. I look forward to continuing to represent the Inland Empire in my new leadership role and ensuring our region has a bigger seat at the table when it comes to securing much-needed resources to help our community. I remain committed to a legislative agenda that lowers costs for Americans, protects abortion rights, strengthens our Democracy and tackles gun violence.

Thanks,

 

 

 

Pete Aguilar
Member of Congress