US Congressional District 1

A: Promoting bipartisan dialogue, careful negotiations. I would put forth and support legislation for members of Congress to not be paid during government shutdowns.

A: Yes, I would support changes to the current immigration laws. I would seek to streamline a pathway to citizenship and the work visa process to recruit talent from around the globe. I would support the abolishing of ICE and fold the duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement back into the Department of Justice. This would save literally billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and possibly save our Social Security and Medicaid systems, as most immigrants pay into these systems but cannot benefit from them, supporting our absurd pyramid scheme that we call the “Social Safety Net.”

A: Yes, members of Congress should be able to trade individual stocks, just like any other citizen of this country. However, insider trading is a felony, and I would support congressional oversight and the prosecution of felons.

A: During a call for a welfare check, a police officer attempted to detain and/or arrest my elderly, infirm mother for being “difficult.” After making it crystal clear for his own safety that he leave and never harass my mother again, the officer complied.

A: Cojones

A: 1) Members of Congress should not be paid during government shutdowns.

2) Consider moving away from omnibus budget packages and require appropriations to move through individual committees.

3) If Congress doesn’t pass a budget in the required timeframe, funding should automatically continue at current levels.

A: We need comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform that secures our borders. Several components of that would include:

1) We need to restore and reform the asylum process. First and foremost, we need to address the backlog (of well over 1 million cases) by hiring more asylum officers and immigration judges. It is also critical that we depoliticize immigration courts. We should remove them from the DOJ’s jurisdiction and create an independent immigration court system with standardized training and case management.

2) Invest in modern technology at the border and crack down on smuggling networks that enrich criminal organizations and put people in danger.

3) Modernize the work visa system, especially for seasonal and high-need industries like nursing (J-1 program).

4) Nationwide standards for immigration enforcement with focus on due process, and humane standards for detention facilities.

A: No, members of Congress, members of the Executive Branch and their families should not be allowed to trade individual stocks. In addition, they should not be able to trade options, cryptocurrency or the relatively new prediction markets. I also support reigning in presidential pardon power (which has been abused by both parties), strengthening the Office of Congressional Ethics, restoring the Public Corruption Unit of the FBI, and holding public hearings to expose corruption, conflicts of interest, abuse of power and misuse of federal funds.

A: In the latter years of my career at CSBS, I was responsible for coordinating state enforcement efforts for large money transmitters that were licensed in 40+ states. My team of state regulators (the MMET) got an $80 million settlement from CashApp for failing to comply with state and federal consumer protection laws and failing to perform the legally required steps to investigate fraud on their platform. We also took away the ability of Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of the world’s largest crypto-firm, Binance, to do business in the United States, when state regulators and law enforcement determined that the company was facilitating money laundering. The president then gave CZ a full and complete pardon, undermining the work of myself and my team.

A: Bipartisanship and nuance.

I spent my career working to get states like Maryland and Mississippi to agree on how to protect consumers. I know that the answers to the problems we face are never found at the extremes. It is important to get into the nuance of every issue. Answers are not necessarily found in the middle, but understanding both sides and working with those who hold opposing views are critical to finding a solution.