Ro Khanna

Ro worked in the Obama administration’s Department of Commerce before being elected to represent Silicon Valley. With the knowledge he’s gained on his home turf, Ro has become one of the leading voices in cybersecurity. He is also one of only a handful of elected members of Congress who refuse contributions from PACs and lobbyists.

Raise your hand if you got a COVID test in the last couple weeks! Ro and 40 other house members are pushing President Biden to increase the supply and access for COVID rapid tests and remove financial/logistical barriers of access. On December 21, the Biden administration announced plans to purchase 500 million rapid COVID tests and developed a plan to distribute them nationwide. Will this be enough and when do you think the next COVID strain will sweep the nation?

Ro set his vision on cybersecurity this year. Ro partnered with PP leader Nancy Mace to introduce and successfully pass a bipartisan bill that looks to bolster our cybersecurity workforce in order to better meet the threats we face today. Ro introduced the 21st Century Jobs Act, which would allocate $900 billion in R&D funding for emerging technologies like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. Ro says this huge technology investment will spread digital opportunities across the U.S. to create regional centers for job creation and industries of the future.

Did you know that fashion is one of the most polluting industries? When we think of climate change we think of oil, gas, and transportation as the main perps, but the fashion industry creates more greenhouse gas emissions than maritime shipping and international flights combined. In fact, in 2018, it made up roughly 4% of global emissions. Ro, self-admittedly not a fashion expert, is spearheading an effort to ask the EPA to measure – for the first time! – the impacts of the fashion industry. Time to trade in those H&M visits for a stop at a thrift store!

Here’s a statistic to chew on as you much away on thanksgiving leftovers: roughly 59,000 meatpacking workers at the major food supply companies have contracted Covid-19 during this pandemic. That is to say that our food supply systems are badly damaged and the treatment and protections of its workers even worse. Ro has stepped in with a new bill that looks to provide stronger workplace protections for meat and poultry processing workers. Furthermore, it would look to make systemic reforms such as creating a fair market that allows independent farmers and ranchers equal competition opportunities against the big food giants. There’s plenty of minutia to sift through on a closer read but generally speaking, it seems like we want the people handling our food to be handled well too.