Grace Napolitano

A 2009 story first reported by Bloomberg News[2] and further detailed by the Los Angeles Times[3] questioned the personal loan interest rate that the Federal Election Commission had authorized her to use during her initial 1998 run for Congress. Both Bloomberg and the Times noted that the FEC had accepted the argument that the eighteen percent rate was equivalent to the early withdrawal penalty that Napolitano was subject to by withdrawing $150,000 from her employee retirement fund and then loaning those funds to her campaign. Both sources also reported the rate dropping to ten percent in 2006, and cited FEC filings as of December 31, 2009 indicating that $221,780 in interest had been paid. The Hill, a Washington DC-based newspaper, reported that Federal Election Commission filings[4] for the campaign reporting period ending September 30, 2010 had indicated that the debt had been completed retired.[5]

In 2011, Napolitano voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.[6]

Napolitano has been a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources since the 106th Congress and was selected the Chair of the Water and Power Subcommittee for the 110th Congress. She has promoted conservation, water recycling, desalination, and sound groundwater management and storage to address Southern California's need for adequate water quality and supply. She is proud of her legislative efforts on a number of fronts — assisting in the implementation of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, a water management plan for the State of California, protection of the ecosystem in the Bay-Delta and promotion of the use of advanced technologies. She is also a member of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus.

At the start of the 110th Congress, Napolitano became the most senior new member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, with jurisdiction over America's aviation system, surface transportation, freight and passenger rail, the inland waterway system, international maritime commerce, the Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' support of the nation's water resources, and the federal clean water program. Napolitano's experience includes 6 years on the California State Assembly Transportation Committee, and current work on rail safety and congestion relief in the San Gabriel Valley.

Hearings:

• Oversight of U.S. Airline Customer Service: May 2, 2017. The Congresswoman posed questions to the witnesses, including Oscar Munoz,[7] after the Committee Chairman Bill Shuster left his chair. Napolitano's questions[8] were critical of the airlines' plans to impose self-regulation in response to recent customer service controversies. As the founder and Chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, Napolitano further asked whether the Airlines provide mental health services to their employees because of the stressful nature of flight attendant jobs and the increasing demands that airline companies put on flight attendants. Mr. William J. McGee, the country's foremost expert and advocate on consumer rights as the Aviation Consultant for Consumers Union responded that this was "an excellent question because… right now we have a situation where employees are under tremendous strain because of the executive decisions that are putting flight attendants in the front lines of many of these situations. Flight attendants have a primary responsibility to ensure safety, evacuation, and of course customer service, but we have asked them to be bouncers, and police officers, and all kinds of other things, so there is no question that there is an issue of training as well."

Statistics showing one in three Latina adolescents contemplated suicide prompted Napolitano to spearhead a school-based Latina adolescent mental health program in three local middle schools and one high school. She co-chairs the Congressional Mental Health Caucus with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA). The bipartisan caucus included more than 70 members during the 108th Congress and over 90 members during the 109th Congress. As co-chair, Napolitano has hosted congressional briefings on children and on veteran's mental health needs, working on proposals to improve VA mental health services. A key priority is legislation to provide mental health parity in health insurance.

During the 109th Congress, Napolitano served as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which continues to address national education, immigration, health, and civil rights issues, and the impact these policies have on the Hispanic community.

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

• Medicare for All Caucus
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus[9]
• Congressional Mental Health Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus[10]
• House Baltic Caucus[11]
• Congressional Arts Caucus[12]
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus[13]
• Congressional Progressive Caucus [14]