Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard

 Tulsi Gabbard was born April 12, 1981, in America Samoa.  Her name, Tulsi, comes from a plant sacred in Hinduism.

Her family moved to Hawaii in 1983 where she was homeschooled and raised vegetarian and Hindu.  She also helped her parents run a small business, "Hawaiian Toffee Treasures."  At age 19 Tulsi co-founded Healthy Hawaii Coalition and environmental non-profit.  She developed the education curriculum which was presented to over 50 schools in the state.

In 2002, at the age of 21, Tulsi became the youngest person in Hawaii and the youngest woman elected to state office in the U.S.  While a State Representative she voted against same-sex marriage and civil unions.  She said, "As Democrats, we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists."  The committees she worked on were Economic Development, Education, Higher Education, and Tourism.

In April of 2003, while serving in office, she enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard receiving several distinguished titles and awards at basic training.  In 2004 she did not run for reelection but rather did a 12-month tour of combat in Iraq.

In 2006 Tulsi became an aide for U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka in Washington, D.C.  She advised Senator Akaka on energy independence, homeland security, the environment, and veteran affairs. While working for Senator Akaka she completed an accelerated Army Officer Candidate School program in 2007. She was the first woman to finish as the distinguished honor graduating in the Academy's history. She was deployed to Kuwait from 2008-2009.

In 2009 after graduating from Hawaii Pacific University with a BS in International Business Tulsi deployed for the Middle East again.  She trained the Kuwait National guard becoming the first woman to go inside a Kuwait military facility and the first woman ever to be awarded and honored by the Kuwait Nation Guard.

From 2011 to 2012 Tulsi was a Hawaii City Council Woman.  She served as Chair of the Safety, Economic Development, and Government Affairs Committee, Vice Chair of the Budget committee and member of the Zoning and Public Works committee.  The issues she led were medical waste, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, dengue fever, and creating new economic opportunities. 

In 2012, Tulsi Gabbard ran for U.S. House of Representative for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District.  She defeated the former mayor of Honolulu in an upset victory.  She was the first Samoan and Hindu member of the US Congress. She was re-elected to the House in 2014 and 2016. She served on the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.  She was vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee until February 2016. She is being considered as a 2020 potential presidential candidate. She is expected to make an announcement sometime soon.

Political Positions

Economics: She is for the restoration of the Glass Steagall Act that limits commercial bank securities activities, a ban on naked credit defaults, forced breakup of the "big banks" and condemns banks that foreclose on deployed military members. She is against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Foreign Policy: She is in favor of lifting sanctions on Iran, she wanted troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. She opposes the $1.15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, opposes the aid Obama gave the rebels of the Syrian government, and took a fact-finding trip to Syria, outspoken against radical Islam. January 2017, she took a secret trip to Syria to visit President al Assad.

Environment: She is against the Dakota pipeline, She also added a provision to the FARM bill to help protect coffee beans in Hawaii from the coffee berry borer. Tulsi favors tax incentives for renewable energy startups.

Healthcare: She is in favor of allowing Medicare to negotiate with prescription drug firms. She is in favor of full funding for Medicare and Social Security.

Social Issues and Civil Rights: She supported the Affordable Care Act, as a Democrat, Gabbard is pro-choice.  Tulsi is against the use of drones against non-combatant U.S. citizens. Gabbard wants to relax visa restrictions to encourage tourism. She has changed her views on gay and lesbian rights, now co-sponsoring the Respect for Marriage act. She supports equal rights for same-sex military spouses. She supports the Akaka Bill that gives special legal and political of Native Hawaiians as well as supports Native Hawaiian health and education initiatives.  She led a measure to reinstate Native Hawaiian Education Act to help Native Hawaiian children achieve in schools. Gabbard introduced the Helping Heroes Fly Act to improve airport screenings for severely wounded veterans.   She got a bill passed creating an award for Filipino American veterans.  She introduced Talia's Law, to prevent child abuse and neglect on US military bases. Obama signed it into law December 2016.