Whether it’s securing funding for job training programs in Eastern Connecticut or supporting new tech startups in New Haven, Chris is working to make sure that Connecticut companies have what they need to create new jobs and that our state has employees ready to fill them. Since he was first elected to Congress, Chris has supported Connecticut manufacturers - working with administrations of both parties to strengthen our Buy American laws, encouraging new submarines, jet engines and helicopters to be made our state, and securing funding for job training programs that prepare people for high-tech manufacturing careers. Chris has also fostered Connecticut’s startup culture, introducing legislation that will help new companies secure seed funding. And he helped draft the replacement for No Child Left Behind, putting more emphasis on career readiness skills in our elementary and secondary schools. Finally, Chris fights to make sure that every employee is treated with dignity, pushing to raise the minimum wage, provide national paid family leave and reduce the cost of childcare for working parents.

It’s simple: in the richest country in the world, everyone should be able to get quality, affordable health care. It’s an idea that Chris has been fighting for ever since he was first elected to public office. He has been a champion of the Affordable Care Act and fought alongside families in Connecticut to save the law from repeal. He introduced the Choose Medicare Act to allow every American and every business to buy in to Medicare in order to drive down costs. And he authored the most comprehensive update to our mental health laws in a generation, the bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act, which was signed into law in 2016. Chris is also committed to ending the opioid epidemic, traveling across the state to hear from doctors, law enforcement and families impacted by addiction. He has secured millions of dollars in new funding for treatment programs and prevention in Connecticut.

Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Chris vowed that he would do everything in his power to strengthen our nation’s gun laws. He introduced legislation to make sure every gun purchase goes through a background check, and he worked across the aisle with Republican Senator John Cornyn to pass a law to strengthen our current background check system - the first piece of legislation significantly strengthening our guns laws since Sandy Hook. When it appeared that the Congress was going to do nothing following the shooting at Pulse nightclub, Chris took to the Senate floor, filibustering for 15 hours until he secured a vote. He supports measures to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, encourage licensing requirements for handguns and limits on military-style assault weapons. Chris works with leaders in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport to make sure that the conversation around gun violence doesn’t just follow mass shootings but addresses the reality they see in their cities every day.

Chris has become one of the Senate’s leading voices on national security. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Chris has pressed to increase the power of the State Department to address the array of non-military challenges presented to the United States. He has pushed to end arms sales to countries that do not support America’s mission to end global terrorism. And he has argued for more humanitarian funding to assure that poverty and hunger don’t drive desperate people to extremism. Back home, Chris works to provide the best for our veterans. He has fought to end veteran homelessness in Connecticut, securing new funding to help tackle the problem in our state. When Chris learned that thousands of veterans with PTSD had been pushed out of the military with less than honorable discharges, he authored the Honor Our Commitment Act to ensure that these veterans would be able to get the mental health care they need and deserve. The bill was signed into law by President Trump in 2018.

In Washington, Chris fights to make sure that everyone receives equal treatment under the law. That means standing up for women’s rights and fighting for reproductive health funding. It means fighting for LGBTQ communities and working to pass bills like the Equality Act to end discrimination in employment, housing, and more. It means speaking out for Dreamers and immigrants whose rights are being threatened by the Trump administration by supporting the DREAM Act and authoring legislation to overturn the Muslim Ban. And it means working to preserve our environment for generations to come by speaking out on the effects of climate change, championing the cleanup of Long Island Sound and the conserving open spaces.