THE ISSUES

California Agriculture

This section highlights some of Senator Boxer’s efforts on behalf of California agriculture: defending farmers against unfair trade provisions and the threat of foreign pests; lowering foreign trade barriers; expanding the program to promote our agricultural products overseas; increasing incentives to produce ethanol from agricultural waste; increasing federal funding for agricultural conservation programs; strengthening the federal commitment to CALFED; and helping to keep family farmers’ exports viable and competitive.

The Economy

Highlights Senator Boxer’s efforts to stimulate the economy and encourage job growth here in America, including initiatives to jumpstart the Internet broadband industry, make the research & development tax credit permanent, establish a federal jobs reserve fund, raise the national minimum wage, extend unemployment benefits, double federal transportation funding for California, reduce trade barriers for California agriculture and other products, and assist workers struggling to survive in a costly and volatile environment.

Education

Senator Boxer is working to improve our public schools by helping communities to repair crumbling schools, reduce class size, and hire more qualified teachers. She has authored legislation to increase federal aid to local after-school programs, make preschool available to more children, and promote school safety.

The Environment

Senator Boxer is one of the nation’s leaders in working to protect the natural environment and keep our air and water clean. She has led the fight to protect the California coast and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. She wrote a bill to make polluters – not taxpayers – pay the costs of toxic Superfund clean-ups. She wrote the law to set drinking water standards at levels that protect children and other vulnerable populations, and she led the successful fight to stop the rollback of national arsenic standards.

Health Care

Senator Boxer is working to give everyone access to quality, affordable health care. Her many initiatives include legislation to make health insurance tax deductible, allow all Americans to buy into the same health insurance program available to Members of Congress, and give a tax deduction to small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees. A strong supporter of medical research, she helped lead the successful effort to double research funding at the National Institutes of Health.

Homeland Security

Senator Boxer has made homeland security a top priority. She has written laws to improve aviation security and is working to increase security for the nation’s seaports and rail transportation systems. She has worked to help secure our nuclear and chemical plants and is helping to win increased support for local first responders.

Public Safety

Senator Boxer is a strong advocate of community policing, sensible gun laws, and other measures to make our streets and communities safer. She supported the historic 1994 Crime Bill, which helped to lower crime in California by nearly 20 percent. She was a leader in passing the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban, and she wrote a bill to ban dangerous “junk guns” or Saturday Night Specials. She has also led the successful effort to provide federal support for after-school programs, which have been shown to reduce juvenile crime, drug use, and gang membership.

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