
Physician. Health advocate.
Community leader. Problem Solver.
A Note from Val
Friends,
As a physician of more than two decades, it was my job to diagnose my patients’ problems and get to work to solve them. That started with being honest with myself and my patients. And I have to be honest now: it is clear we are in the midst of an all-out assault on science, facts, and data.
It is unacceptable that we are losing Americans to extreme temperatures, or that parents have to worry about the air their kids breathe and the water they drink. But we see it every day — folks who question the science behind climate change. Folks who deny that vaccines and masks are the way we get through this pandemic. And male politicians misrepresenting medical facts to push an anti-abortion agenda. Some of the worst offenders are right here in Pennsylvania, where Republicans refuse to accept the fact that Joe Biden won the presidential election and are instead pushing the Big Lie.
I have taken two oaths in my life — first as a physician, to do no harm and fight for my patients. The second, to fight for my 850,000 constituents.
It’s more urgent than ever that we stand up to these attacks on science and health care, and elect more leaders with the knowledge and experience to go toe-to-toe with those who not only refuse to let facts and data guide how we govern, but actively undermine them, including in our response to this pandemic. I’m running for the U.S. Senate in part because that’s the record and experience I bring to the table. And I am ready to go to Washington and call Republicans on their BS and get to work to solve our hardest problems.
As the Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, I have taken what I learned as a doctor and public health professional to guide my county through the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, governing during a crisis has felt very similar to helping a patient get better. You look at the facts and data, you diagnose the problems and have tough conversations, and you get to work to solve them.
Fighting climate change will also require more leaders who believe in science and will have the courage to take action. That’s what we’ve done in Montgomery County, where we transitioned our County buildings’ electricity to renewable resources. We have also entered into an agreement with the three other suburban Philadelphia counties to explore the construction of a solar array to provide electricity to our counties. Those are the science-based solutions we need nationwide. We also need to ban fracking to protect the next generation from harmful chemicals and make sure that Pennsylvania workers build the green economy, not China.
It also couldn’t be more important that we have voices in the U.S. Senate with the experience to defend Roe v. Wade from the escalating attacks we are seeing on abortion. I specialized in women’s health as a physician and sat with patients making difficult decisions about their pregnancies, including in cases where their own lives were at risk. These are not decisions that should be made by politicians or private citizens with no relationship to the patient. They should be left to women and their doctors — period.
We need to codify Roe v. Wade immediately, and because we know they are going to come after contraception next, we must work now to expand access to contraception and ensure cost is never a barrier to those seeking an abortion.
I am committed to being the strongest possible voice to do that and defend science more broadly. A woman physician has never served in the U.S. Senate before — ever. Between the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, escalated attacks on women’s health, and climate change, it’s clear we need to change that.
This approach has also allowed me to bring real results to Pennsylvania families in our third-largest County, where we raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour and provided paid parental leave to county workers. We spurred job growth, rebuilt critical infrastructure, and preserved over 10,000 acres of farmland, all while restoring the County’s AAA bond rating and maintaining some of the lowest county property taxes in our region.
That record of results is unique in politics these days, certainly in Washington, and it’s needed more than ever. Beyond the attacks we are seeing on science and our democracy, we know that families and workers need relief more than ever. This moment demands someone who will fight to grow our economy by prioritizing good-paying union jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, getting women back into the workforce and bringing down the cost of child care, and investing in the care economy. I will.
President Biden needs another Senator from Pennsylvania to help move us forward– someone determined to level the playing field for working families, lift up those who are struggling, and make our communities healthier. I’ll be that voice. But I can’t do it alone.
Let’s work together to put Pennsylvania, and our country, on a better path. I hope you’ll join me.
With determination,