ALEXANDRIA OCASIO CORTEZ
Alexandria was born in the Bronx to working-class parents. Her father was a small business owner from the South Bronx. Her mother was born in Puerto Rico—growing up around a large family near Arecibo. Her mother cleaned homes, and everyone pitched in on the family business.
From an early age, Alexandria grew up with a deep understanding of income inequality. The state of Bronx public schools in the late 80s and early 90s sent her parents on a search for a solution. She ended up attending public school in Yorktown—40 minutes north of her birthplace. As a result, much of her early life was spent in transit between her tight-knit extended family in the Bronx and her daily student life. It was clear to her, even then, that the zip code a child was born in determined much of their destiny.
LEADERSHIP ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Won Billions of Dollars for NY-14 Families
Alexandria brought home $4.3 billion in federal funding to the district for important priorities, like education, small business support, healthcare, affordable housing, transportation, retirement security, and fighting opioid addiction.
✔
Lowered Prescription Drug Costs
Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez, along with activists and organizers, pressured a pharmaceutical CEO into making life-saving therapy more affordable and accessible.
✔
Fought for Immigrant Families
Alexandria has repeatedly used her platform to call for an end to the “Muslim Ban”, family separation, and other cruel policies – traveling to the border in order to expose the devastating conditions inside detention facilities.
✔
Introduced the Green New Deal Resolution
Alexandria introduced this plan to fight climate change and create jobs by dramatically investing in public infrastructure.
✔
Supported Puerto Rico
The Congresswoman secured funding for environmental clean up in Puerto Rico, and traveled to the Island to oversee the recovery efforts and lobby for more federal funding.
✔
The Fight is Not Over
COVID-19 is not creating new problems. It’s pouring gasoline on our existing ones. We deserve more than a return to the system that allowed this pandemic that devastated our lives and livelihood.
That’s why Alexandria is fighting for recurring monthly payments, a rent moratorium, and also for long-term solutions like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. We can’t repeat the mistakes of the 2008 financial crisis. We have to rebuild our economy and our society in order to eliminate the wealth gap and give working people a real seat at the table.
Leave a Reply