Priorities

Reliable, affordable, high-speed internet is essential infrastructure for families, students, health care providers, farmers, and businesses. Yet many rural communities still lack the dependable service they need to access telehealth, pursue an education, work remotely, operate a business, or participate fully in today’s economy.

Affordable, reliable energy is essential to America’s economic strength, national security, and quality of life. Energy costs affect nearly every part of a family’s budget and every product a business makes or transports. Producing more energy here at home creates good-paying American jobs, lowers costs for families and businesses, and reduces our dependence on foreign adversaries.

As a scientist by profession and a lifelong conservationist, I believe environmental policy should be grounded in science, produce measurable results, and preserve our natural resources for future generations. Virginia is home to extraordinary rivers, wetlands, wildlife refuges, forests, and public lands. Protecting these places is both an environmental responsibility and an investment in our communities.

A lot of people say they would not be where they are today without their parents. For me, that is the absolute truth. When I was eight months old, my mom and dad adopted me from the Children’s Home Society of Virginia in Richmond. My birth mother made the selfless decision to give me opportunities she felt unable to provide, and my parents’ decision to adopt changed the course of my life.

The federal government has a responsibility to be a careful steward of taxpayer dollars. Decades of deficit spending have driven our national debt to unsustainable levels, and rising interest costs leave fewer resources available for infrastructure, health care, national defense, and other essential priorities.

Before serving in Congress, I earned my master’s degree in public health and spent more than 26 years working for the Virginia Department of Health. That experience taught me that health policy works best when it puts patients, providers, and local communities first.

A strong economy should allow families to afford their everyday needs, workers to keep more of what they earn, small businesses to grow, and every American to pursue a secure and successful future. Economic growth is not simply a statistic—it determines whether a paycheck goes far enough, whether a business can afford to hire another employee, or whether young people can find good employment opportunities close to home.