Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) paid a special visit to Boyle Heights Beat last week explaining his role as a Congressman for the 34th District. The Congressman fielded questions from youth reporters on issues ranging from immigration reform to health care, education to social security.
Becerra explained the different roles of local, county and state government, and the types of decisions he is involved in making in the Federal government. “I decide whether or not your brother or sister goes to war, whether or not we will have a change in tax rates, whether or not your parents will have access to health care.”
For his district, the Congressman said his top priorities are employment, access to education for the young, and implementing health care reform so that everybody has decent, affordable health care.
The Congressman has served 20 years in the House of Representatives and is the fourth highest-ranking Democrat. He is currently one of the eight congressmen negotiating immigration reform.
The son of immigrants, Becerra says the issue is very personal to him, and it’s not just about policy, but about family. He says he wants to “reform our laws so that they work for our country, so that they work for our economy, but so they also work for the people that are building this country for our next generation.”
