Democrats have been capitalizing on President Trump’s low popularity numbers to try and flip the House blue. Congressman Pete Aguilar has been campaigning across the country to help get the Democrats' message out. If the House flips, he would become the House Majority Whip.
KVCR’s Madison Aument spoke to Aguilar at his campaign office in Redlands.
Madison Aument: Let’s start with affordability, because that has been a major issue for people across the country. If Democrats win back the House, what is your plan for addressing affordability?
Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.: We’ve been incredibly clear that this affordability crisis is the primary issue we’re talking about. America is too damn expensive: gas, groceries, housing, utilities, all of it. We’ve seen that here in California, and we’ve seen it across the country. This president ran a campaign and said he was going to lower people’s costs on day one. He said he was going to cut your utility bill in half in a year. Costs have gone up.
Aument: If Democrats retake the House but the Senate stays Republican, how do you plan to address those issues? It would be hard to pass legislation at that point.
Aguilar: Our job is to pass bills off the House floor. If we pass policies that address the affordability crisis the American people face, our hope is that the Senate considers them, no matter its composition. We’re a co-equal branch, and we will work with them to find common ground where we can.
Aument: What would be the first priority if Democrats flip the House?
Aguilar: Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries will make that decision with the support of the Democratic caucus. We’ve been very clear that a top priority is restoring the Affordable Care Act tax credits that made health care affordable for so many people. That is a bipartisan priority. Another is repealing the dangerous Medicaid cuts that are harmful for San Bernardino County. They could mean IEHP and Molina lose thousands and thousands of people from health care in San Bernardino and Riverside counties alone.
Aument: What about the war in Iran? Many people have connected it to high gas prices, which are especially high in California.
Aguilar: We pay some of the highest gas prices in the country, and folks in our region are often more likely to commute outside the area for work. When gas prices go up because of a war of choice that the president started, Inland Empire residents pay the price. We have passed a war authorization encouraging the president to stop the war, and we will continue to do that. We will
push our military leaders on what the plan is to get out of this conflict, open the Strait of Hormuz and ensure Americans have reasonable gas prices. That’s a high priority for us.
Aument: Another issue firing up voters is the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. How do Democrats plan to address concerns about what people view as overreach by ICE?
Aguilar: There’s no question there’s overreach. The Latino community is fearful and scared. As I go around the country, I hear from folks who are scared, even if they’re U.S. citizens. They’re scared for their workers, their co-workers and colleagues, and their family members. The president said they were going to go after “the worst of the worst,” and that hasn’t been the case. Seventy percent of the people ICE has detained have no prior criminal record.
Everybody is concerned, and that’s leading to economic strain as well. People aren’t going to work, shopping or going out to dinner, the things our economy needs to survive. They’re afraid because of the agenda the president created, and because House Republicans are unwilling to push back against him.
