Politics is About People
Issues is another way of saying Things that Affect People’s Lives. In politics, we sometimes forget that. But that’s where I always try to start - how does this piece of legislation help regular folks?
New Family Values
I don’t care who you are or where you live. You want to be able to put food on your table, a roof over your family and to ensure the people you love are healthy and happy. New Family values are about ensuring we increase access to health care while decreasing its cost, provide our seniors with quality care and compassion
and treat our kids like they are
our future.
More about Will’s views on New Family Values
Technology
The technological change we are going to see in the next 30 years is going to make the change we saw in the last 30 years look insignificant. We must be prepared to take advantage of technology before it takes advantage of us.
With an increasingly interconnected world we need to treat cyber as a domain just like air, land, sea, and space. We need a national cyber strategy to defend our systems from state and non-state actors.
More about Will’s views on Technology
- Why is tech important?
- Artificial Intelligence and National Security
- US Leadership in AI Is Not Guaranteed, But It’s Possible. Here’s How
- TEDx: Rise Of The Machines: The Age Of AI
- Quantum Computing Is the Next Big Security Risk
Education
We have income inequality because we have education inequality. We have to prepare our kids for jobs that don’t exist today.
More about Will’s views on Education
- Why is education important?
- Educating the next generation of Computer Scientists
- Computer Science must be top education priority
- Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer
Jobs & The Economy
American economic and military dominance is no longer guaranteed. Prosperity is a product of empowering people not the Government. To move people up the economic ladder we need free markets not democratic socialism.
We have benefitted from the brain drain from every other country in the world. We need to benefit from the hard working drain as well, and we need immigration policy in place that puts strong disincentives from coming here illegally so we have a much more manageable immigration system.
USA Foreign Policy
America has become an exceptional nation not because of what we have taken but what we have given. We need a foreign policy that inspires fear in our enemies and causes our friends to love us.
More about Will’s views on National Security
- How to make the 21st century another American century
- It’s not realistic to cut US-China economic ties. We should compete and win instead
Leadership
There has been and continues to be a lack of leadership in Washington, D.C. Leaders should inspire not fearmonger. It’s simple. Don’t be a jerk, racist, misogynist or homophobe and work together to accomplish big things.
More about Will’s views on Leadership
Some of my favorite books on Leadership
Policy
Will got more legislation signed into law in three terms than most congressmen do in their entire career. He worked across the aisle, and prioritized good policy over politics.
Bills Signed into Law
- DHS IT Duplication Reduction Act
- Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform
- POE Naming after Texas’ most highly decorated WWI veteran
- CBP Air and Marine Pay Reform
- American Law Enforcement Heroes Act of 2017
- Modernizing Government Travel Act
- Modernizing Government Technology Act
- DHS Data Framework Act
- Coordinated Border Infrastructure
- EINSTEIN Act
- Foreign Fighter Review Act
- SECURE Act
- Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act
- Amendment to protect student privacy as part of Every Student Succeeds Act
- Amendment to force VA compliance with IT acquisition modernization, implemented in the Joint Explanatory Statement
- Trafficking and Smuggling Intelligence Act
- IoT Bill
- National Museum of the American Latino Act
“We represent our constituents and by extension the American people. Everything we do must be with them in mind, and we must never forget that they are the ones who have given us the privilege of serving.”