Eighteen years ago, I was honored and humbled to be elected as your member of Congress. After spending my career as a nurse and in our public schools, I never expected to serve in Congress — but I was eager to answer the call to public service on behalf of our community. Like my husband, Walter, before me, my call to service has been guided by the principle of working to restore the bonds of trust between the people and their government.
As a community, we have worked hand-in-hand to accomplish many things over the last 18 years, and we can and should be proud of the progress we have made at both the local and national levels.
Together we have protected our environment — designating the Carrizo Plain National Monument, stopping repeated efforts to drill for oil off our coast, and using the lessons learned from last year’s Plains oil spill to strengthen safety standards for pipelines nationwide.