Tulsi Gabbard



Tulsi Gabbard (born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and Hawaii Army National Guard major who serves as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district. Elected in 2012, she is the first Hindu member of Congress and the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress. She is a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election and the first female combat veteran to run for president.

Political Spectrum


Beliefs


Immigration
Gabbard, who has made foreign policy a core issue of her candidacy, has blamed US intervention in Latin America for creating the instability that triggered the surge in migration across the southern US border. She’s a co-sponsor of several bills aimed at keeping migrant families together at the border. She also supports creating a path for undocumented immigrants to gain legal status, including some who were brought to the US as children. On her official page, she wrote: On immigration, I will not accept the false choice between compassion and security that is currently being offered to us. It will be my policy to balance border security, have an asylum process that reflects our values as a nation of immigrants, and include a path to legal status for DREAMers.
 * Tulsi Gabbard is urgently fighting for legislation to protect millions of young people from deportation with end of DACA (Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals)
 * Hawaiian Representative has worked with the Hawai’i ACLU, Hawai’i Civil Rights Coalition, Hawai’i Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the National Immigration Law Center to work towards meaningful immigration reform

Healthcare
From Representative Gabbard's official website: I will make healthcare a priority. I support a single-payer system where everyone contributes and is covered, and that will also allow individuals to access private insurance if they choose. If we truly want to reform our healthcare system, we cannot give big insurance and big pharma a seat at the table to draft legislation. Unlike so many of my colleagues in Congress, I will not bow to the pressure of lobbyists and special interest groups and will instead stand up for the interests of the American people. With 27 million Americans still uninsured today, Tulsi Gabbard is committed to working to ensure that affordable healthcare is available to all Americans. She is working towards a system that will provide universal healthcare to all Americans—a standard met by nearly every other major industrialized country in the world.

Hawaiian Representative is continuing to work to increase Medicare reimbursement rates to help expand health care access and retain physicians in our rural communities. She has cosponsored legislation like the Medicare Premium Fairness Act to prevent premium and deductible increases for those enrolled in Medicare, and the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act to help ensure those who are most in need continue to have access to quality and affordable care.

Tulsi introduced a bill called the Access to Care and Treatment Now for Veterans Act to allow veterans not getting timely healthcare from the VA to get care from non-VA medical providers. This policy was ultimately included in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act that became law at the end of 2014. Tulsi is continuing to fight for our veterans, including working to eliminate the unacceptable wait times veterans still face today.

Tulsi Gabbard has seen firsthand the challenges brought on by remote locations, lack of funding, and staff shortages. She is working to help solve these challenges and create greater access to care in our rural and underserved communities, and has cosponsored legislation like the bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act to remove Medicare barriers to tel-health and remote patient monitoring services. She also passed an amendment in the FY16 National Defense Authorization Act to provide military retirees living more than 100 miles from a military treatment facility the option to re-enroll in TRICARE Prime. This amendment successfully reversed a 2013 policy that eliminated this access and created barriers for our veterans.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is also working to restore federal funding for health care that was promised to Compacts of Free Association (COFA) migrants.

She has cosponsored legislation like the STOP OD Act to help state and local governments raise awareness of the dangers of opioids like fentanyl, oxycodone and heroin, expand educational efforts to prevent opiate abuse and promote treatment and prevention.

Abortion
“I agree with Hillary Clinton on one thing. In the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president and she said abortion should be ‘safe, legal, and rare,’ I think she’s correct,” Gabbard said.

On her website, she wrote: I am wholly committed to abortion remaining safe, legal and rare. We must commit to defending a woman’s right to choose. I also support sensible codifying of Roe v Wade preventing third-trimester abortion except when there are grave or life-threatening health consequences for the mother.

"This is often one of the most difficult decisions that a woman will ever have to make, and it's unfortunate to see how in this country it has for so long been used as a divisive political weapon."She said. "I do, however, think that there should be some restrictions in place. I support codifying Roe v. Wade while making sure that, during the third trimester, abortion is not an option unless the life or severe health consequences of a woman are at risk."

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has received 100% legislative scores from Planned Parenthood and NARAL for her votes to protect a woman's right to choose, women's health access, family planning programs, and more.

Gun Laws
Representitve Tulsi Gabbard strongly supports a number of gun control measures, including: Requiring comprehensive pre-purchase background checks Gabbard’s support of gun control has led to her rating of 100% by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, along with an “F” rating from the NRA and a 0% rating from the Hawaii Rifle Association. She has participated in the House sit-in in 2016 when Republicans refused to allow any members to vote on any gun control legislation. In July of 2019 Gabbard anwswred the NYT "Meet the Candidates" questionnaire, to a question: "In an ideal world, would anyone own handguns?" she anwswred: "I support our Second Amendment rights.". She has supported bills such as:
 * A federal ban on military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines
 * Closing the gun-show loophole
 * Making sure that terrorists are not allowed to buy guns
 * H.R. 1565 & H.R. 1217: To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
 * H.R. 2380: Gun Show Loophole Closing Act: To require criminal background checks at gun shows.
 * H.R. 226: Keeping Guns from High Risk Individuals Act
 * H.R. 1745: Support Assault Firearms Elimination and Reduction: a tax credit for surrendering to authorities certain assault weapons.

Religion
Tulsi Gabbard was raised in a multi-faith family studying both the Christian and Hindu scriptures. She observed Christmas and Janmashtami (the birth of Jesus and the birth of Krishna). So her two primary sources of inspiration, spiritual comfort, and illumination come from the New Testament, and the Bhagavad Gita (the song of God), the ancient Hindu scripture spoken over 5000 years ago.
 * Tulsi believes that freedom of religion is an essential right for all; every individual should have to the right to follow the spiritual path of their choice or to follow no religion at all
 * Tulsi Gabbard has spoken strongly against the targeting of nominees and candidates for public office as well as everyday Americans on the basis of religion.
 * Respecting the religious beliefs of others embodies the essence of Aloha
 * As a veteran who has vigorously fought for religious freedom and tolerance, Tulsi has taken a strong stand against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Hindu, anti-Catholic, and other forms of hate in all its ugly forms.
 * As the first and only serving Hindu Member of Congress, Tulsi has worked actively to promote diversity, equality, and pluralism
 * As a champion of religious freedom, Tulsi’s fight for religious tolerance and secularism has been recognized throughout both secular and religious communities
 * Anti-Semitism: The majority of religion-based hate crimes in America are anti-Semitic according to recent FBI hate crime statistics. Anti-semitism and religious bigotry continue to be a problem in many parts of the world. Tulsi stands firmly against anti-Semitism and has condemned anti-Semitic violence in the strongest possible terms.
 * Hinduphobia: Despite Hinduism being the third largest religion in the world, Tulsi is one of millions of Hindus who have been targeted by discrimination and hate speech specifically for her personal religious beliefs
 * Islamophobia: Tulsi has repeatedly fought against Islamophobia and has condemned violence, hatred and bigotry towards those of Muslim faith
 * “At a time of growing divisiveness in America, where too many are “other-izing” those who may look different, worship different, or hold different political views, it is more important than ever to live aloha, to love and treat all others with respect, to be inclusive rather than exclusive. The divisiveness that threatens the fabric of our nation, whether due to race, religion, political ideology, gender, sexual orientation, or other, must end."

LGBT Rights
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in the early 2000s touted working for her father's anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy. Gabbard further apologized, releasing a four-minute-long video on YouTube saying, "In my past, I said and believed things that were wrong, and worse, they were very hurtful to people in the LGBTQ community and to their loved ones."

Gabbard is a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus in the House of Representatives. She said she believes that “''equal treatment and opportunity are fundamental rights for all Americans. Discrimination on the basis of national origin, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, gender, or race undermines core American principles of respect and individual freedom.''”. Hawaii Representative has been given a 100% for her voting record and endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT lobby organization in the country. Mike Mings, the Director of Human Rights Campaign PAC said of her in a statement: " With the many challenges facing the LGBT community, we're honored to count Tulsi as an ally in standing up for issues of fairness. From her cosponsorship of the Equality Act to supporting marriage equality for same-sex couples and fighting for persons with HIV/AIDS, we applaud Tulsi's commitment to fundamental equal rights for all.".

Campaign Finance Reform
In the 114th Congress, Tulsi cosponsored legislation like H.R.20, the Government By the People Act, to promote citizen-led, grassroots-funded campaigns. To encourage the participation of more Americans, the bill would provide a $25 refundable tax credit for participating in the funding of campaigns. It would also match contributions up to $150 at a six to one ratio to boost the power of small donations, and establish a Freedom from Influence Matching Fund (FIMF) program.

Gabbard believes that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the floodgates of “dark money” into politics, tainting the integrity of American democracy. She recognizes that the campaign finance reform is essential to bring the power back to the people in American democracy. Her main objectives are to:
 * Get Super PAC money out of our elections and limit campaign contributions so the wealthy don’t have an unfair advantage over our electoral process
 * Limit “dark money” by forcing transparency of outside groups, corporations, and wealthy donors
 * Enforce and prosecute violations of campaign laws
 * Make voting accessible
 * Empower voters’ influence through a matching program where small donations are matched by government funds
 * Tulsi is a PAC free candidate who takes only individual contributions to fund her campaigns

Tax Reform
Gabbard voted NAY on Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015. According to Politico Gabbard wants to eliminate tax breaks for "offshoring."

Wall Street Regulations
Representative Gabbard has advocated for Wall Street reform throughout her tenure in Congress and believes that we need a banking system that works for every American. She supports breaking up the big banks deemed “ too big to fail”. Gabbard has called for criminal investigations of Wall Street executives who gamble with money from American taxpayers. Her legislative record on the issue includes: H.R. 3711- 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act of 2013 to help protect Americans from the risky investment behaviors of big banks, H.R. 790 - Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2017 to reinstate consumer protections put in place after the Great Depression and require separation between commercial and investment banking.

Wealth Tax
Gabbard doesn't have a position on the issue of wealth tax.

Social Security
Gabbard believes that Social Security has provided economic security for generations, and lifted millions of Americans out of poverty. Gabbard has been given a 100% rating by the Alliance for Retired Americans. She wants to ensure that the program remains solvent without reducing benefits for those who rely on it. She has cosponsored three legislations regarding the program:
 * H.R.860 — Social Security 2100 Act to protect our Social Security system and improve benefits for current and future generations.
 * H.Res.968 — Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1902) to protect our Social Security system and improve benefits for current and future generations.
 * H.R.3779 — Social Security Fraud Prevention Act of 2016 to prohibit federal departments and agencies from including the Social Security account number of any individual on any document sent by mail unless the department or agency head determines that inclusion of that Social Security number on the document is necessary.

Justice System Reform
Gabbard is a staunch advocate of criminal justice reform. Since the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world, Representative Gabbard believes that the criminal justice reform can help achieve lower crime rates, greater productivity, reduced cost, improved mental health, and many other positive outcomes. She has repeatedly denounced the War on Drugs, noting that decades of policy that focuses on incarceration over rehabilitation has left generations of people ill-equipped to move on with their lives when they have done their time. Gabbard has also spoken about the urgent need for criminal justice legislation to reduce recidivism, address the lack of transition for people have served their time, reduce the economic impact of billions spent every year on incarceration, and reduce the human impact of families broken up through incarceration. Hawaiian Representative has fought against the privatization of prisons; she believes that corporations profiting off incarceration is costly, dangerous and inhumane. During her tenure in the House of Representatives Gabbard supported or co-sponsored numerous legislation aimed at reforming the criminal justice system, among them:
 * H.R. 5682 FIRST STEP Act
 * H.R. 4261 SAFE Justice Act
 * H.R. 3713 Sentencing Reform Act of 2015
 * H.R. 920 Smarter Sentencing Act
 * H.R. 1854 Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act
 * H.R. 1809 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

She has supported scrapping past marijuana convictions as well as legalizing the substance.