Rep. Eric Swalwell
The Democrats have a big field of candidates running for President in 2020. Each of them brings their own unique strengths to the table in a bid to take our country in a very different direction than the one we’re on today.
But as we well know from 2016, the media (and especially social media) gets fixated on non-substantial issues that take up all the oxygen. Plus, they don’t give the candidates the same treatment or the same amount of airtime.
In order to help voters get to know the Democratic candidates, I’ve gathered quotes and information about what the candidates have said or done in regards to the 7 issues that midterm voters identified as the most important. I hope that these guides serve as a helpful starting point for you as you look into which candidates (or how many candidates!) you are interested in supporting in their bid to become our next President.
Today, let’s get to know Eric Swalwell!
Career Highlights
✦ Current U.S. Representative, California 15th District
✦ Former member of the Dublin City Council
✦ Former deputy district attorney in Alameda County
Healthcare
Medicare for All: “Swalwell published an op-ed in support of Medicare for All last month, writing that the policy is “the obvious solution to a health care system that still drives people to financial ruin.” Swalwell also co-sponsored a Medicare for All bill that House Democrats introduced in February. In March, Swalwell told Morning Joe that he supports “coverage for all” but is not in favor of eliminating private insurers, as some of his competitors are.” Source
Women’s Health: “Every woman deserves access to reproductive health services and the ability to make her own decisions about her health. I am fighting for women’s rights and will stand up against legislation that would prevent a woman from making her own healthcare decisions.” Source
Mental Health: Swalwell has led public forums to better understand the issues around mental health crisis prevention. Source
Pro-Choice: NARAL currently has Swalwell with a score of 100% for his voting record. Source
Investing in Cures: “The lawmaker also is calling for a “cures in our lifetime” initiative that includes robust spending on medical research by utilizing the latest in advanced technology to find cures for debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancer. … ‘Innovation has to be a part of the health-care agenda,’ Swalwell said. ‘That will reduce costs, that will extend quality of life, and that would create jobs. I don’t see anyone trying to unify us and reach for that goal.'” Source
Climate Change
Paris Climate Accord: “He has also expressed strong disapproval of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.” Source
Green New Deal: “Swalwell has voiced support for the Green New Deal, the progressive climate action bill that House Democrats introduced in February.” Source ““If you’re a worker who is on a [gas or oil] pipeline, you should have a skills and wage guarantee as you transition from dirty fossil fuels to a green economy,” he said.” Source
Climate Action: “Climate change is an urgent crisis threatening our environment, our public health and safety, and future economic well-being. That’s why last week I led 140 of my colleagues in opposition to President Trump’s budget proposal to roll back America’s investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Instead, we urged spending more on these necessary programs, which will help improve how we use and produce energy.” Source
Legislation: “In Congress, Swalwell has cosponsored legislation to further regulate hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” fund clean energy research and development, ban offshore drilling in California, and protect parts of the Alaskan wilderness from drilling.” Source
Environmental Record: The League of Conservation Voters has Swalwell with a lifetime score of 95% for his voting record. Source
Civil Rights
LGBTQ Rights: “Since joining the House of Representatives in 2012, Eric Swalwell has worked to progress LGBTQ rights. … He is the cosponsor of a number of bills including the Equality Act, which would criminalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which aimed to end discrimination in public schools, and the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which would grant equal privileges to the same-sex spouse of a veteran.” Source
Transgender Rights: Swalwell cosponsored HRes124 which expresses opposition to banning service in the Armed Forces by openly transgender individuals. This resolution strongly opposes President Trump’s ban on transgender members of the Armed Forces. Source
Criminal Justice Reform: “Swalwell, a former prosecutor, has supported legislation in Congress that would prevent the Department of Justice from interfering in commercial marijuana businesses in states that have legalized the drug.” Source
Veterans’ Rights: “It is unacceptable that our veterans are wait so long for their benefits. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made significant progress on its huge backlog of veterans’ benefits cases, in which delays at the Oakland Regional VA Office were among the worst in the nation. In the 113th Congress, I cosponsored bills intended to speed up the VA claims processing and increase its efficiency. I will continue to work to ensure that the few that proudly served our country receive the benefits and care they earned.” Source
Gun Reform
Legislation: “Swalwell has co-sponsored numerous gun control-related bills in Congress, including a bipartisan measure to expand background check requirements. In February, Swalwell introduced the “No Guns for Abusers” Act, which aims to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals with a history of domestic violence.” Source
Assault Weapons: “The congressman penned a USA Today op-ed last May calling for a ban on military-style assault weapons.” Source
Buyback Plan: “One controversial plan he has suggested is a ban and federal buyback of semi-automatic assault weapons.” Source
Background Checks: “Besides a ban and buyback of every assault weapon, he also wants to improve the system for background checks.” Source
Related Issues: “He also wants to invest more resources in mental health support, do more to prevent gang violence and better enforce laws on books.” Source
Arming Teachers: “More guns is not the solution. Teachers with guns is not the solution. The only solution to protecting our children is getting the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous people. Period.” Source
Voting Rights
Voter ID: Swalwell signed legislation that would ban voter ID requirements at the polling locations. Source
Prisoners Voting: “Some people, like the Boston marathon bombers, those individuals should never vote in America again.” Source
Expanding the Voting Rights Act: “He’s also co-sponsored multiple items of legislation to increase transparency in campaign finance, expand public funding of elections, bolster the Voting Rights Act, and require states to use independent commissions to draw congressional districts.” Source
Expanding Voting Rights: Swalwell favors a national automatic voter registration system, and have voted for legislation including that provision. Source
Economic Inequality
Taxes: “I’m okay with reducing corporate taxes if you see profit sharing and equity sharing. … Especially for small businesses, reducing the corporate tax if it’s tied to employees sharing in the benefit.” Source
Minimum Wage: He’s cosponsored legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour. Source
Equal Pay: “Women shouldn’t need to work 15 months to be paid what men receive in 12. This Equal Pay Day, House Democrats celebrate the passing of the#PaycheckFairnessAct and urge the Senate to act NOW. Not another day without #EqualPay. Let’s finally ensure that women receive#EqualPayForEqualWork.” Source
Social Security: “In office, he has said he wanted to raise the cap on the Social Security payroll tax so the wealthy pay more into the program.” Source
Jobs: “To boost jobs and new opportunities, he supports workforce training, infrastructure investment and policies that encourage entrepreneurship in communities. He also believes the current tax code should be changed to spur economic activity in low-income communities.” Source
Foreign Affairs
Russia: “As the ranking member and now the chair of the Committee’s subcommittee on the CIA, and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Swalwell has been heavily involved in those committees’ probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election.” Source
North Korea: “If only @BarackObama had negotiated a deal to denuclearize an enemy of America that had weapons pointed at us and our allies. Wait. What? He did? I hope #NorthKoreaSummit ends North Korea’s nukes. If not, it’s the biggest American foreign policy failure. Ever.” Source
China: Swalwell has been very critical of Trump’s favoritism regarding China. Source
Iran: Swalwell has favored sanctions against Iran, and was a supporter of the Iran nuclear deal.Source
Saudi Arabia: (following the Khashoggi murder) I think what we should do is immediately suspend any arms sales to the Saudis until an objective, independent investigation is conducted. I also, you know, believe that we need to see reforms within the kingdom to make sure that something like this – it does not happen again. Source
Legislative Record (includes enacted legislation & bills sponsored): Eric Swalwell
Campaign website: Eric Swalwell for President
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Check out all of our 7 Issues Guides: Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, John Delaney, Joe Biden
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Categories: 2020 Candidates
I must be missing someone. If we had Universal Health Care how would private health work? What would they be insuring?
They won’t, single payer means health care monopoly, gov’t pays. The point is to eliminate a whole layer of medical bureaucracy, insurance co profit from providing medical coverage. They deny too many legit claims to generate money for themselves which is contrary to the interest of the patient.
Also universal health care cover everyone, so no person can be denied by lack of insurance.
It is common for countries that already have universal coverage to also have private insurance as well. Here’s a good explainer on that: https://www.vox.com/health-care/2019/2/12/18215430/single-payer-private-health-insurance-harris-sanders
Thank you! PoliticalCharge provides a much-needed service with these summaries, especially with the Democratic field this large. But it’s important for you or your readers (or both) to dig deeper.
Representative Smallwell may have written an article saying he supports Medicare for All, but by telling Morning Joe that he’s not in favor of eliminating private insurers, he withdrew this support. Removing the quest for profit that comes with Private Insurance is a fundamental part of Medicare for All. It is necessary to the achievement of excellence, fairness, simplicity, and cost savings that Medicare for All will bring to this country.
Hi John. Thanks for writing. As I state in the intro, these guides should serve as a starting point. I encourage all voters to dig into the issues they care about more, and learn the details of what their favorite candidates are proposing.
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
Today I bring you the 14th installment of TokyoSand’s excellent series, The 7 Issues Guide, helping us get to know a bit about the platforms of the democratic candidates running for the office of president next year. Eric Swalwell is on deck today. I know next to nothing about Mr. Swalwell, other than that he is currently serving his 4th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He seems to have the right ideas, but with 23 candidates currently in the running, I don’t see anything that stands out and says, “Pick me!” Nonetheless, I believe all the candidates should be given fair consideration, for you never know where you will find a diamond in the rough. Thank you, TokyoSand, and your diligent volunteers, for helping us get to know Mr. Swalwell!
I see a few advantages from having so many candidates: 1) It shows how deep the bench is with Democrats, when not too long ago the media was decrying that there were no rising stars, 2) some of the candidates like Swalwell and Inslee are pushing one issue really hard (gun reform & climate change, respectively) which helps get those important issues more play, and 3) with the requirement that each candidate have at least 65,000 unique donors to qualify for the debates, that’s a LOT of Democratic small donors to pool together for the eventual nominee.
Hmmmm … you make valid points, but I’m still concerned that voters who latch onto one or another will be so disappointed when their candidate is not nominated that they won’t vote at all. And, I would really like to see the Democratic Party unify behind a candidate and develop a strong platform. Some of the candidates who nobody has ever heard of, stand no chance, and may be doing more harm than good, I fear. Interesting times, for sure.
I’ve seen different theories of how this might all play out. Personally, I think a lot will have to do with how folks’ favorite candidate bows out and how convincingly they go all-in for the final nominee.
Very true! Question … are you planning to do a 7 Issues Guide for them all? I ask because I noticed there is one who, while she doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance, might be fun. I cannot remember her name off hand, but she is an unknown, a guru of some sorts. 😉
Probably not. I surveyed my readers recently to find out who they’re most interested in, and am planning to do a few of those at the top. But I won’t do any more after the first debate in June.
Agreed. Some of them that have no chance whatsoever, it hardly seems worth the time and effort. You’ve done a fabulous job with these posts and I appreciate it!
Reblogged this on Bennet Kelley's Clippings & More and commented:
Latest 7 Issues Guide for 2020 Candidates – Cal. Congressman Eric Swalwell.