Pete Aguilar

After becoming the youngest member of the Redlands City Council, Pete became the mayor of Redlands. In the mayor’s office, Pete earned a reputation for bipartisanship. Since being in Congress, Pete has proven to be focused on immigration reform, issues impacting veterans, and job creation.

Sometimes sympathy and concern are not enough – you have to have a real stake in the game to understand the possible outcomes. And for Pete, the only Latino on the Jan. 6th investigation committee, his identity as a Latino lawmaker is wrapped up in how he views what happened that day. In a recent interview he talked about how many Latinos, especially those from countries in political turmoil, understand how precious democracy is. This all came in response to Trump ally, Rep. Jim Jordan, refusing to assist the committee. While that’s frankly not surprising at all, we thought Pete’s framing of the events from a more global perspective were worth considering!

Pete has had his vision set on the American Rescue Plan this year. Pete and other members of the Hispanic Caucus met with President Biden to discuss making the Child Tax Credit permanent. After the meeting, President Biden agreed to extend it temporarily, citing concerns about the Senate passing a permanent version of the policy. But if there is anything Pete likes to talk about, it is how much funding he is bringing back to his district. Thanks to Pete, medical residents training in the Inland Empire now have greater means to advance their skills through federal funding. Thirty-two medical residents will receive financial aid to the tune of $320,000 as part of the American Rescue Plan.

There’s truly nothing “small” about our democracy and the extent to which you feel it’s in peril likely correlates to your chosen political party. That is to say that Republicans seem less concerned about its health than Democrats (big D) do. Case and point, Pete, who led the charge on the House passing the Protecting Our Democracy Act. Included in the bill is a key provision that amends the Help America Vote Act, requiring each state’s chief election official to create a database of election officials who have received threats. The bill enables said individuals to request anyone, including businesses or government agencies to remove their personal identifiable information (PII) in the interest of personal safety. Afterall, individuals helping usher forward our democracy shouldn’t have to live in fear during the process.

You may have forgotten that Pete is one of the seven Democrats on the January 6th Committee, but that is why we are here. This week made some big news because Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows is “cooperating” with them. Pete said that Meadows might have a “minor claim” to executive privilege over some conversations but emphasized the committee has questions for him that “have nothing to do with the conversations he had directly with the President.” Do you agree with Pete?