Candidate for
United States Representative; District 20

Delivering for the Central Coast

Sam Farr grew up on the Central Coast and has devoted his life to helping our people and preserving our natural treasures. As our representative in Congress, he's won repeated victories for local economic development, better schools, coastal protection, agricultural research, support for our military and more. Through his skill and persistence, he's helped create thousands of new jobs in our area at a time when they're desperately needed.

Standing Up for Homeowners

When big-bank speculators crashed the housing market, Sam Farr went to bat for local homeowners. He's helped pass homeowner relief legislation and protections for future borrowers, while also providing advice and guidance to homeowners facing foreclosure. In addition, Sam has fought to provide more affordable housing here in our area, where home prices are still out of reach for many people. Against tough political resistance, he saw to it that a major portion of the decommissioned Fort Ord site is devoted to good basic housing that ordinary people can afford.

Defending Our Farms and Ag Workers

Sam Farr has long been a leader in the fight to preserve prime agricultural land for farming and to protect ag-related jobs. He's also pushed relentlessly to improve U.S. food inspection and tracking systems to protect public health and reduce the risk of produce industry shutdowns. He's delivered the funding for local agricultural research and water reclamation, and created a program in Salinas (the first in the nation) to help farm workers buy their own homes.

Saving Our Environment + to Help Our Economy

Sam Farr fights to protect the Central Coast not just to preserve the beautiful views. He recognizes the value of this spectacular environment to our economy. The new parks he recently won for us at the old Fort Ord site will attract more tourist dollars. His successful ocean protection efforts will mean a better future for fishing. Among his many other victories, Sam has won permanent wilderness protection for the offshore rocks and islands along the entire California coast. He's also succeeded in doubling the size of the Pinnacles National Monument to protect this natural treasure from urban sprawl.

Keeping Our Teachers On the Job

When the California budget crisis threatened hundreds of our teachers with layoffs, Sam Farr helped deliver the funds to keep them in the classroom, preparing our kids for the future. He's authored legislation for better teacher training in core subjects and helped obtain funds to reduce class sizes in our overcrowded middle schools. He also spearheaded the conversion of Fort Ord into a new CSU campus and brought a state-of-the-art science lab to UCSC.

Countering Gang Violence

Sam Farr is deeply involved in helping to reduce the gang violence that plagues some of our communities. He's not only helped win funding for more local police. He's supported programs in our schools that teach students how to resolve their differences peacefully, and has delivered critical funding for the innovative Silver Star program in Salinas, which helps at-risk youth break free from gangs and get a new start in life.

Helping Our Vets and Military

Sam Farr deeply respects the sacrifice of America's military veterans and works to ensure that they receive the care and benefits they've earned. Thanks to Sam, there will soon be a new state-of-the-art veterans health clinic at Fort Ord and a veterans cemetery to honor our deceased veterans and military retirees. He's also fought effectively for our area's military installations, helping to maintain the Defense Language Institute and the Navy Postgraduate School as premiere educational institutions and securing a Defense Department finance center at Fort Ord that employs over a hundred workers.

Winning Better Health Coverage

Sam Farr helped pass strong new protections preventing insurance companies from cutting off people's health coverage when they need it most and prohibiting discrimination against children with existing medical conditions. He's also helped improve Medicare coverage through better terms of reimbursement, and he's won vital financial support for several of our local hospitals and clinics.