Ensuring our communities are a safe place to live, work, and raise a family is a top priority.  I stand with the men and women of law enforcement who protect and serve our communities every day.  At a time when radical politicians are calling to defund the police, it’s important we support our law enforcement officers who protect our communities and ensure they have the resources they need to keep our communities safe.

By fixing what’s wrong and supporting what’s working, we can strengthen our communities. As Kendall County Board Chairman, I pushed to increase funding for training and support of the Sheriff’s office. As your Representative, I will continue working with law enforcement and other community leaders across the district as a partner in keeping our communities safe. 

The Second Amendment and public safety go hand-in-hand, and the federal government has a duty to protect both.  I believe our communities remain safe by funding and resourcing law enforcement, enacting and enforcing strong legal penalties for criminals, and especially by permitting citizens to safely defend themselves and others.

I believe the government may not infringe upon the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms to ensure Americans can protect their lives, property, and ultimately, their liberty.

As Chairman of Kendall’s Board, I ushered a unanimously passed resolution declaring full support of the Second Amendment. In Congress, I will continue to champion your unalienable right to self-defense.  

I know the importance of quality high schools, effective technical colleges, and affordable, high-quality universities.

One of the most important duties of these institutions is to help close the skills gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines.

Scientific, medical, and technological efforts are increasingly important, especially given the complexities of challenges we face at home and abroad.  Solutions require filling our education and jobs pipeline with developing STEM professionals fully equipped to tackle major challenges upon completion of their training.

Research and development conducted at U.S. universities provides significant opportunities for STEM training.  To stay competitive as a nation, we need to build a scientifically literate citizenry and a bank of highly skilled, STEM-literate employees through continued robust federal support for research combined with science and engineering policies that power economies of local and regional communities across the U.S.

Considering nearly half of all STEM jobs are open to those without a four-year college degree, effective STEM investments must account for the vital role community colleges, trade schools, apprenticeships, and certification programs play in workforce development,

We must work to make education more affordable, and I will seek creative ways to address the growing student loan crisis responsibly.

While it is important to invest in education, I believe federal mandates too often increase the cost of education at the expense of our children and future.  Efforts to improve education and grow our workforce should begin at the state and local level where it is most effective, without interference from the federal government.

Ensuring America’s national security is of upmost importance.  Our government MUST provide for the common defense and a comprehensive national security strategy that addresses threats to our country posed by Iran, Russia, and China.  With military challenges on fronts both traditional and asymmetric, our service members must have the right training and superior equipment in defense of our nation.

China has stolen billions of dollars in intellectual property and pilfered millions of records from U.S. government agencies, insurance companies, and credit-reporting giants’ records and is just getting started on its plans to become a “cyber powerhouse.”

The danger posed to our national defense by state sponsored cybercrime cannot be overstated and in Congress I will make sure our strategy includes resources to address increasing attacks by cybercriminals on behalf of America’s competitors. 

Our healthcare system is failing patients, providers, and taxpayers.  Patient rights and choice should not be restricted. Hardworking families should not struggle to pay their medical bills.  Washington bureaucrats should not dictate an individual's health needs.

In Congress I will work to ensure Americans have greater access to quality health services – especially mental health – while at the same time helping to reduce overall costs by encouraging increased emphasis on preventative care, increased access to provider services, and competition in health-plan markets. 

With an increase in regulatory requirements, societal expectations, and documentation needs, providers face a growing burden of responsibility to fix the healthcare system, made worse due to COVID-19.

Work to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction of experience while reducing the per capita cost of care must include provider voices. In order to achieve success in a value-based environment, provider driven leadership and expertise is critical.

To best serve patients, providers must be allowed to practice and be reimbursed to the fullest extent of their licensure, training and competencies without arbitrary limitations lacking either scientific or sound policy justification.

To ensure that the growing needs of the American health care system can be met, patients must have access to the quality health care providers of their choice. Limiting patient access to choice of qualified, licensed, and certified providers reduces competition and harms patient access to needed health care services while increasing costs for consumers and the delivery system as a whole.

I will work to increase patient access to needed care and defend their freedom to seek this care from their provider of choice in plans both public and private. 

As we design enhanced models of care that align population management and value-based benefit with the interests of patients, providers, and payors, we will reduce cost, improve quality, and increase access to needed care.

Of particular concern is addressing America’s burgeoning mental health crisis, exacerbated in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Front line mental health providers - social workers, psychologists, and counselors - report an unrelenting demand for their services, with many being forced to turn away patients desperate for support, including children. I am leading the way in Kendall, where we are implementing a 211 system to help those seeking mental health services, somewhat alleviating this burden. But we can and must do more. 

I’ve seen firsthand how over-regulation and federal red tape can disrupt business operations, hinder innovation, stifle job growth, and reduce competition.  To maintain a growing economy, we must protect good paying jobs by keeping the government’s hands off small businesses and maintaining tax and regulatory relief.  I’ve led to implement this common-sense approach in Kendall County during my tenure and am proud to say today Kendall leads Illinois over all other counties in growth.      

I’m a strong fiscal conservative who believes our ever-increasing national debt – and the spending problem that created it – to be the greatest danger to the prosperity of future American generations.  We need to restore fiscal discipline to the budget process while also continuing pro-growth policies to unleash the full strength of the American economy.  As your Representative, I will act to restore fiscal responsibility and end Washington’s spending problem.

I will protect Social Security and Medicare. We must keep our promises made to Seniors and defend these vital programs.  I am particularly worried about the impact of runaway premiums on Medicare beneficiaries, especially during this period of rapid inflation.  I will also work against government takeover of prescription drug pricing, which would only serve to make us more reliant on Chinese medical manufacturing, which proved to be a major Achilles heel during the Covid pandemic.

I will also work to hold criminals accountable who target their activity to our seniors.  Time and again, Seniors are victims of fraudulent robocalls, online scams, or outright physical violence.  I will fight for their rights and seek to end this increasing crime by passing legislation to hold criminal scammers accountable and enhance penalties on criminals who aim to do our Seniors harm.

As the son of a veteran with grandfathers who survived Pearl Harbor and D-Day, I believe our Nation’s veterans are our heroes and helping them should never be a partisan issue.

Over 30,000 veterans call the 14th District home, and it is critical we support them and their families. Veterans deserve excellent benefits and the best medical care we can provide, particularly when they return home wounded.

Serving as liaison to the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kendall County, I’ve learned the difficulties many of these brave men and women face when dealing with a cumbersome and unfair VA benefit claim process.

As your Representative, every decision I make for veterans will be determined by whether it increases veterans’ access to care and benefits and improves outcomes for them.

I will work for the well-being of America’s veterans through a persistent focus on providing veterans with timely world-class health care; ensuring our veterans and their families have timely access to their benefits; helping our veterans build civilian lives of opportunity with the education and jobs worthy of their skills and talents; and honoring our Veterans with lasting tributes to their service.

Our veterans have given so much for our nation that we cannot even begin to repay them. Ensuring the promises made to them are kept is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly. Unfortunately, our VA system has failed our veterans in recent years. I will support legislation and oversight intended to hold VA leaders accountable and improve care by allowing veterans who are experiencing long wait times or live long distances from a VA hospital to access private care.

This is the least we can do to fulfill our obligation to those who served our country and put their lives on the line.