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For years, America’s healthcare system has cost too much, and worked the best only for those who could afford it. Many millions of Americans had poor access and received inferior care when they did.

When COVID-19 hit our shores, that system was pushed to its breaking point. Many Americans lost coverage just when they needed it the most. The dual economic and public health crises only highlighted and exacerbated the problem with how America provides — and doesn’t provide — health care to its citizens.

Health care is a human right. No matter who you are, what you can afford, or what you do for work. And in the wealthiest nation in the world, we have the ability to make sure no one goes without care. We must lower costs for everyone, remove barriers to treatment, and make health coverage universal.

That’s why I’m proud to once again be an original cosponsor of Medicare for All, which would provide affordable, quality health care to every American.

The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the existing inequities in our health care system —and in order to move forward, we must reimagine the way we protect public health. It’s time to build back better. It’s time for Medicare for All.

When live events and concert venues closed down over a year ago, thousands of my constituents who work in the music and live entertainment industry found their livelihoods taken away instantly. This includes many who work as musicians, roadies, sound technicians, production crews, and more – they’re the people who made your favorite concerts happen.

The music industry is not only a critical part of the fabric of American culture, it’s a major economic and tourism engine in cities across America, especially Los Angeles. And the concerts and live events that we’re all so eager to return to simply wouldn’t be possible without the behind-the-scenes crews.

One of my constituents, Sandy Espinoza, founded Roadiecare, a nonprofit to help support out-of-work music industry crews. She recently said, “We wear black for a reason, so nobody sees us. That’s great during a show. It’s not so great during a pandemic.” She’s right.

We need to keep our focus on getting help to people who are still out of work and trying to make ends meet, and people in the live event industry were the first to shut down and they’ll be the last to reopen. The American Rescue Plan will help with relief payments, extended unemployment insurance with an extra $300 per week, an additional $100 a week for “mixed earners”, rental assistance, and much more.

We must continue to fight for relief for all who are struggling right now, including those in the entertainment and music industry. After all, some of our most important workers are those behind the scenes.

Words have meaning, and hateful rhetoric leads to tragic consequences. Last night, those consequences were made agonizingly clear when a gunman murdered eight innocent people — six of them Asian women – at several Atlanta spas.

My heart breaks for the victims, their families, and the entire Asian-American community as we work to make sense of this unimaginable act of cruelty. While details about the gunman and potential motives are still emerging, it is undeniable that anti-Asian hate crimes have been dramatically on the rise ever since the beginning of this pandemic, when former President Trump and other elected officials used racist language about the origins of COVID-19 that put a target on Asian Americans’ backs. For too long, xenophobia, and particularly anti-Asian racism, has gone unaddressed.

Enough is enough. We must all speak out against violent anti-Asian attacks and hate speech.