Our democracy is under attack. Whether those in power are rigging the game through gerrymandering, suppressing our voting rights, falsely claiming voter fraud, or allowing unlimited corporate money to drown out voters’ voices, we must pass federal legislation to rebuild and strengthen our democracy. Congressman Casar is a proud co-sponsor of the Freedom to Vote Act, which ends partisan gerrymandering, cracks down on dark money in politics, establishes automatic voter registration, and combats voter suppression. Congressman Casar supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the strength of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Casar advocates for ending the Jim Crow-era filibuster and expanding the U.S. Supreme Court, so that our democracy can work for everyday people, not just the powerful and rich. Furthermore, Congressman Casar does not accept donations from corporate PACs. He is a co-sponsor of the Democracy for All Amendment, which would end unrestricted corporate spending in elections by overturning Citizens United. Before his election to Congress, and while on the Austin City Council, Casar successfully doubled the number of voters in his district from 2014 to 2020. He pushed for more voting locations in underserved areas and worked to change the law to allow more voters to participate in local elections. He supported changes in the city charter to create independent citizen redistricting commissions that now successfully keep politicians from drawing their own districts.

Texas is ground zero for the Republican attack on abortion rights. With Texans having to travel hundreds of miles to get the care they need, it’s more important than ever before that we make Roe v. Wade the law of the land. Congressman Casar is a proud co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore reproductive rights back to Texans and protect the right to an abortion across the country. He’s also a co-sponsor of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act, the Protect Access to Medication Abortion Act, and the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act. Congressman Casar recently led a group of more than 50 Texas elected officials calling on the Biden Administration to make abortion medication easily available by mail, so that more Texans can get the care they need despite Greg Abbott’s abortion ban. The Biden Administration has since taken significant steps to protect access to abortion medication through the mail. While on the Austin City Council, Casar led the effort that successfully kept Planned Parenthood in East Austin open when the Republican state legislature tried to close it. Casar also passed budget amendments to help Texans access abortion care with funding for travel, childcare, and more, delivering support to hundreds of people targeted by state officials.

Congressman Casar has led Texas in criminal justice reform. He supports the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and is a co-sponsor of the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act. As a City Council Member, Casar passed Texas’ first Fair Chance Hiring policy, which is an anti-discrimination policy that requires big employers to give people who have been previously incarcerated a fair chance at a job interview. Now that Greg Abbott has signed a bill into law attempting to overturn Fair Chance Hiring in Texas, Casar supports federal bills to make Fair Chance Hiring the law across America. Casar ended all arrests and citations for personal marijuana use in Austin and helped support policies that reduced these arrests in San Antonio and San Marcos. He supports legalizing marijuana, expunging past records, and ensuring that new funds go to mental health and substance use services. Casar also successfully pushed the Austin Police Department to clear their decades-long rape kit backlog, so that survivors could seek justice and offenders could be held accountable. He successfully established the nation’s first mental health services available directly at 911, established an Office of Police Oversight, reformed use-of-force policies, and greatly expanded family violence shelters and gun violence reduction programs to protect public safety.

Congressman Casar comes from an immigrant family and began his career as a labor and immigrants’ rights organizer. When Trump initiated family separation raids in Texas, Casar established an immigrant legal defense fund, setting a model that was followed by San Antonio and Houston. Casar went on to coordinate the statewide lawsuit against Senate Bill 4, Greg Abbott’s discriminatory “Show Me Your Papers” law. In Congress, Congressman Casar is a co-leader of the New Way Forward Act, which would roll back harmful anti-immigrant laws – including Greg Abbott’s militarization of the border. Casar also supports the American Dream and Promise Act, the American Families United Act, the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, and the New Deal for New Americans Act. Casar believes all families, including immigrant families, deserve to live dignified lives free from fear of being separated, deported, or discriminated against. Thousands of families in Texas’s 35th District, and millions of people in Texas, would benefit from having their rights fully recognized and protected by the federal government, including the right to apply for citizenship.

Congressman Casar is committed to ending the epidemic of gun violence in our country. Congressman Casar supports funding common sense gun violence intervention programs, passing universal background checks, ending permitless carry, creating safe storage rules, and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He is a proud co-sponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, Ethan’s Law, reinstating the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act, and repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). As an Austin City Council Member, Casar supported the creation of the Gun Violence Task Force, successfully expanded and funded gun violence reduction programs, and created a new Office of Violence Prevention.

Congressman Casar is a proud member of the Equality Caucus in Congress, and supports the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to stop gender discrimination and the Equality Act to codify LGBTQ rights and to overturn all of Texas’ discriminatory laws. Casar also supports the Trans Bill of Rights, the Do No Harm Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, the PrEP Access and Coverage Act, and the Resolution Urging the Establishment of a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation.