Ro's Op-Eds
By Ro Khanna
Americans do not want a war with Iran. The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran is real, but dragging the United States into another conflict in the Middle East is not the solution.
By Ro Khanna
Eighty-eight years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt stood before the American people in Philadelphia and warned of an economic aristocracy that sought not just to dominate our markets but our democracy.
By Ro Khanna
Millions of Americans approve of the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate supposedly wasteful federal spending by any means necessary. That puts my party in a bind. But Democrats must do more than just confront the cuts. We must also break free from a stale, conventional platform.
By Ro Khanna
Ro Khanna, a Democrat, represents California’s 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is the ranking Democrat of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems.
Unequal access to technology and the revenue it generates is one of the most pressing issues our country faces.
The digital economy has created millions of good paying opportunities, but Black communities have largely been marginalized from this wealth generation. This is true from Silicon Valley, the tech capital of the world, to South Carolina.
The climate crisis and income inequality are the two greatest challenges facing our generation. Both are being determined in the union contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers Union and Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, known as the big three, which are all set to expire this Thursday night at midnight.
As one of the 59 members on the House Armed Services Committee, it’s rare that I find myself alone. That was my experience last week, however, when I was the sole “no” vote on the proposed $886 billion defense bill. But it was a vote I was proud to make. Americans oppose a bloated defense budget that privileges defense contractors’ profits over a modern national security strategy and investments at home. Instead, we need to prioritize a new economic patriotism that revitalizes American production and lifts up the working class.
America is afraid, and so are we.
In the United States, some of our most vulnerable minority groups are being targeted by politicians and public figures who crave power. This power struggle has created an environment where harmful narratives and hateful rhetoric are becoming more common.
As two Asian American lawmakers, we cannot stand by and watch who we are as people be attacked. The people we were elected to represent are seeing these attacks play out in real time. Some are robbed. Some are beaten in the streets. Others are shot and killed at work.
As two of the authors and most outspoken champions of the CHIPS and Science Act and members of Congress who represent America's tech and automotive hubs, our districts felt the semiconductor chip shortage first. We saw plants shut down in Detroit, and parking lots across Michigan full of vehicles that could not be sold. Silicon Valley tech giants faced significant backlogs of personal electronic orders waiting to be filled, unable to meet surging pandemic-fueled consumer demand.
On February 3, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio, just across the state line with Pennsylvania. A fire erupted, an evacuation order was issued, and the dangerous chemical being transported, vinyl chloride, was spilled. It's a devastating tragedy and one that could have been prevented
For the past forty years, our nation has given corporations free rein and allowed for the hollowing out of our middle class. The American dream has slipped away for so many Americans because the people in charge just don't care.
Look at the devastating environmental catastrophe unfolding right now in East Palestine, Ohio. It didn't have to happen.