Ensuring Civil,Civic, and Human Rights ​ David will help in expanding our nation's civil, civic, and human rights by supporting efforts to: Protect the reproductive rights of women. Approve the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Enact the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Democratic Senate Candidate David Costello Says an All the Above Approach Would Likely Work Best to Tackle Gun Violence in the United States June 26, 2023 ​ Like many Mainers, I grew up learning to hunt and shoot and to handle guns safely and responsibly. I took gun safety very seriously then and, given the long-standing rise in gun violence, I take it even more seriously today. When people talk of gun safety today, hunting, target shooting, and gun ownership are seldom, if ever, really at issue. At issue is the proliferation in the sale and violent misuse of non-hunting guns and magazines and the counterproductive weakening and rejection of laws designed to reduce gun violence. While I would never support denying responsible, law-abiding citizens their right to own a gun, I do support markedly strengthening our nation’s gun safety laws and regulations. Gun violence is on the rise throughout the United States, and appallingly, since 2020, it has surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for American children. The fact that the U.S. House and Senate have done little over the last 30 years to address gun violence is unconscionable. Everything that can be done - from expanded mental health services, stricter gun crime sentencing, and increased community policing to waiting periods, universal background checks, and assault weapons bans – should be done to reduce gun-related deaths, injuries, and crime in the United States. Most Americans agree. To continue to do less is unacceptable. Document

ABOUT DAVID Growing Up in Old Town David was born in Bangor and raised in Old Town by his mother Gail and maternal grandparents, Alfred and Pauline Pelletier B aillargeon. David’s father John, an Army veteran and AFL-CIO organizer, died in 1968 at the age of thirty-one. ​ David is t he grandson of French and Irish American shoe, textile, and railroad workers. And like many in Maine, he was the first in his family to attend a four year college and to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree – having worked his way through the University of Maine, George Washington University, and London School of Economics and Political Science. A Career of Service David has more than twenty-five years of senior-leve l state, local, and federal go vernment experience. Inspired by participating in picket lines as a boy, David became active in politics in his late teens. Leaving college at the age of nineteen, David served on Senator Ted Kennedy’s national field staff in 1980. He subsequently worked on two additional national presidential campaigns and locally on U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Maine gubernatorial campaigns into the early 1990s. David visiting a village in northeastern Haiti to assess a community water project (1995). David with Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator William Hathaway, and Boston Bruins Wayne Cashman and Johny Bucyk (1980). David served as a top aide to Maine Secretary of State Bill Diamond in the early 1990s, helping to develop and implement elections, campaign finance, and motor vehicle administration and safety reforms. Between 1993 and 2001, David worked prim arily abroad for the U.S. government, responding to political, humanitarian, and economic crises in conflict-torn Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo. David being sworn in as a Deputy Secretary of State by Maine Secretary of State Bill Diamond (1989). David, Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister, U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia, and local Serbian and Albanian leaders sign community improvement grants in Serbia's conflict-ridden Presevo Valley (2001). David crossing the Mekong River in Cambodia following an election coordination meeting in Kampong Cham (1993). David inspecting a Kosovar Albanian home that had been destroyed by Serbian nationalists in western Kosovo (1998). In the early to middle 2000s, David served as a top aide to the Mayor of Baltimore directing collaborative efforts to improve the City’s schools and address the needs of Baltimore’s at-risk children, youth, and families. Between 2007 and 2011, David worked as a senior aide to the Governor of Maryland, managing state efforts to devise and implement cross-agency plans and programs to achieve ambitious job creation, crime reduction, workforce development, student achievement, substance abuse treatment, environmental protection, clean energy, and sustainable development goals. David, Mayor Martin O'Malley, and public works staff participate in a Baltimore City school improvement project (2004). David and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley discussing agenda items at an economic transition event (2011). David with Delaware Senator Chris Coons and EPA and Delaware officials highlighting upgrades to a sewage treatment plant in Delmar, Delaware/Maryland (2014). From 2011 - 2015, David served as a Deputy and Acting Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) helping to manage MDE’s 1,000+ employees, various programs, and $380 million annual budget. In addition to his government work, David more recently directed two non-governmental climate action projects in Maryland and served as an interim climate and clean energy program director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). David participating with senior Maryland officials at a Chesapeake Bay restoration status meeting in Annapolis, Maryland (2010). Family David resides in Brunswick with his wife, children, and beagle Stella.

A Summary of David's Key Public Policy Priorities As Maine's Senator, David will work to help in advancing a number of very important administrative reform s and legislative initiatives, many of which are summarized below. Economy Environment National Security Health Care Civil Rights and Equality Public Safety Climate Change Retirement Security Immigration

Health Care David will help in guaranteeing adequate and affordable health care by supporting efforts to: Offer Medicare, including dental and vision care, to all who want it. Improve existing Affordable Care Act and other federal healthcare provisions for those who choose not to enroll in Medicare.

David's Democracy and Governance Reform Agenda As Maine’s Senator, David will press for long overdue legislative and constitutional reforms to help in ending gridlock and dysfunction in Washington, and to strengthen our nation’s democracy, government, and economy. ​ Important Legislative Reforms: ​ Passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and other elections-related legislation to improve elections security, increase voter participation, and reinforce the legitimacy of elections results, by: modernizing nationwide voting infrastructure. mandating automatic voter registration, early voting, and no-excuse voting by mail. banning unreasonable voter purges, deceptive politicking, and partisan gerrymandering. reducing the inordinate, unfair influence of excessive funding, including "dark money". ​ ​ Elimination of the U.S. Senate’s filibuster and the ability of individual senators to place holds on executive branch nominees. ​ ​ ​ Passage of the Fair Representation Act to foster a more democratic and representative Congress through the establishment of proportionally elected, non-gerrymandered, multi-winner/member U.S. House districts. ​ Creation of an independent , nonpartisan Federal Elections and Ethics Commission with strong oversight and enforcement authority to oversee elections (including redistricting), governmental ethics, and campaign finance reforms. ​ Creation of an independent , nonpartisan Government Planning, Accountability, and Performance Commission comprised of public policy experts uniquely empowered to routinely evaluate, grade, and report on federal agency plans, programs, and budgets, and recommend adjustments when and where necessary. **Note: experts from, though not limited to, the fields of economics, education, physical sciences, medicine, national security, law, public safety, business, labor, and political science. ​ Increased funding for objective, non-partisan public news broadcasting. ​ Enactment of public interest social media rules and requirements that oblige social media platforms to adhere to strict privacy and anti-violence incitement rules and to provide space for important, fact-based public interest information. ​ Expanded civics education mandates and funding. ​ Creation of a national, nonpartisan Civics Education and Information Trust to support expanded civics education and engagement programs and provide objective, fact-based information about important public policies and issues. ​ Increased funding and support for citizenship enhancing national service programs (e.g., Peace Corp, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, etc.) for 18 – 25-year-olds. ​ To the extent that it is permissible legislatively, the fairer a llocation of political power in the U.S. Senate so that a state’s political clout is more in-line with its population and the democratic principle of one person one equal vote. The fact that Wyoming, with a population that is 70 times smaller , has the same allocation of political power as California is obscenely undemocratic. ​ To the extent that it is permissible legislatively, a restructuring of the U.S. House of Representatives so that it is comprised of 200+ non-gerrymandered, multi-membered member districts and more than 600 proportionally elected representatives. Like the U.S. Senate, the U.S House of Representatives would benefit from a structural upgrade. A larger, better designed U.S. House would be more democratic and accountable, and more effective than the current version (see reference to the Fair Representation Act listed above). ​ Important Constitutional Reforms : ​​ Abolish the Electoral College and establish a system of directly electing presidents and include ranked choice voting (RCV) when there are more than two candidates. Common sense and fairness dictate that the candidate receiving the greatest amount of voter support in a presidential election should be determined to be the winner. ​ ​ ​ Guarantee equal rights for women (ERA) and voters. Neither equal nor voting rights are explicitly guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. They should be. ​ ​ Ensure that nothing in the U.S. Constitution could be construed to forbid Congress or the states from regulating and limiting elections campaign contributions and spending. Ratification of the proposed “For Our Freedom Amendment” would allow Congress and the states to lessen the undue influence that money has over our politics and governments. ​​ Restructure the U.S. Senate so that the Senate’s allocation of political power is more in-line with a state’s population and the democratic principle of one person one equal vote. The fact that Wyoming, with a population that is 70 times smaller, has the same allocation of political power as California is obscenely undemocratic. ​ Restructure the U.S. House of Representatives so that it is comprised of 200+ non-gerrymandered, multi-membered member districts and more than 600 proportionally elected representatives. Like the U.S. Senate, the U.S House of Representatives would benefit from an upgrade. A larger, better designed U.S. House would be more democratic and accountable, and more effective than the current version. ​ Establish 20-year term limits and a mandatory retirement age requirement of 80 years for U.S. federal court judges, including Supreme Court justices. Term limits and retirement mandates would help to lessen partisan leanings and out-of-step legal decisions. ​ Revise the terms for U.S. senators and representatives, from six- and two-year terms to four-year terms, and impose overall term limits of 20 years. **Note: retired justices, senators, and representatives could be selected to serve as members of the Government Planning, Accountability, and Performance Commission. ​ Streamline the process for amending the U.S. Constitution by simply requiring 60% or more approval of proposed amendments from both houses of Congress and ratifying support from states (as determined by state legislatures or citizen referendum) representing 60% or more of the nation’s population. Our existing constitutional amendment process is exceedingly difficult, making it almost impossible to update our national charter.

Maine Voices: Too hot to ignore – much more action is needed to fight climate change. We need to immediately develop and implement an aggressive national, science-based climate plan, including a panel that evaluates and reports on our progress and recommends needed adjustments. BY DAVID COSTELLO SPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD August 17, 2023 With this summer’s unprecedented heat, wildfires and extreme storms, more Americans than ever before understand what scientists concluded decades ago: that climate change is real and that for many communities, farms, and businesses, it is a growing existential threat. And if we fail to move quickly enough to reduce global carbon emissions, the impacts of climate change on our environment and many of our planet’s inhabitants are likely to be devastating. According to the World Bank, more than 100 million additional people, for instance, are projected to become impoverished by 2030 because of global warming impacts on agriculture, food prices, income losses, adverse health impacts and population displacement – and up to 3 billion people are projected to experience chronic water scarcity, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Costello is a candidate for the 2024 Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. He lives in Brunswick. President Biden, Gov. Mills and many state and federal legislators “get it” and are working diligently to address climate change. The Biden administration’s recent Inflation Reduction Act, bipartisan infrastructure law and enhanced greenhouse-gas emissions regulations, and the Mills administration’s corresponding “Maine Won’t Wait” climate plan and actions are helping families, communities and corporations lower their consumption of increasingly expensive and dirty fossil fuels and aid in accelerating Maine’s and the nation’s transition to a healthier, more prosperous and resilient clean energy-fueled future. However, to adequately tackle climate change, we need to do more – a lot more than we have done to date. Specifically, we need to employ stronger regulations and incentives to ensure that we come very close to zeroing out our greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, and we need to draw down significant amounts of carbon from our atmosphere for many, many years thereafter. Additionally, we need to ensure that our communities, farms and businesses have effectively planned and prepared for the risks and costs associated with extreme weather, flooding, sea-level rise, wildfire and other detrimental impacts of climate change. To accomplish this, we need to immediately develop and implement an aggressive national, science-based climate action plan. This ambitious and comprehensive plan would include, among other elements: initiatives to progressively price and limit greenhouse-gas emissions; substantial carbon sequestration and land conservation targets and actions; expanded clean energy, clean transportation and energy-efficiency goals and incentives; smarter, more sustainable development rules and land use regulations; greener appliance standards and building construction codes; markedly increased funding for extreme weather-resilient infrastructure, and the establishment of an independent Climate Action Commission to regularly evaluate, grade and report on the status of our nation’s climate progress and recommend policy and program adjustments and additions when warranted. We must always bear in mind that actions that are effectively planned and objectively tracked and measured are more apt to succeed, and that politicians and elected legislatures and administration-led agencies are generally incapable of impartially assessing their own work and level of progress. The cumulative results of such a plan and actions are likely to be extraordinary: millions of new, U.S.-based jobs in clean energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, resilient infrastructure and sustainable agriculture and forestry; markedly cleaner air, land, and water; healthier, more prosperous and livable communities, and lower energy costs. Now is the time to fully heed the advice of nearly all the world’s scientists and economists and redouble our efforts to combat climate change and capture the far-reaching economic, public health and environmental benefits that bolder climate action will surely deliver.

Enhancing Public Safety ​ David will help in enhancing public safety by supporting efforts to: Increase funding for community policing, substance abuse, and mental health services. Focus increased investigative and prosecutorial resources on violent offenses . Enhance police training and accountability. Build on recent common-sense gun safety laws and regulations.

JOIN US In Fighting For Real Change and Progress DONATE SUBSCRIBE VOLUNTEER To Substantially Strengthen our Democracy, Government, and Economy We Need to Think Bigger and Act Boldly Friends: For generations, we Americans have labored to establish a more just, secure, and prosperous nation. One in which all are treated fairly, and all are provided with the opportunity to excel. And while we have made considerable progress over the years, we have yet to establish the kind of more perfect union envisioned by our most thoughtful founders and descendants. ​ We have fallen short, in large part, because our governing infrastructure is as outdated as many of our roads, ports, and bridges. Partisan gridlock, government dysfunction, and political disinformation abound, and our imperfect democracy is in danger of becoming even more flawed. Strengthening Democracy and Governance To fix this, we need to do more than simply changing who we elect every two to six years. We need to think bigger and act boldly. More specifically, we need to substantially reform our governing practices and institutions and eliminate the excessive and corrupting influence that money, wealth, and misinformation have over our politics and government. ​ I am running for the United States Senate because I want to help in furthering this critical work by advancing long overdue legislative and constitutional reforms that will not only aid in strengthening our democracy and economy, but also help in protecting our rights (including women's reproductive rights) and freedoms, and assist in addressing such pressing problems as climate change, uneven economic prosperity, inadequate health care, shoddy infrastructure, underperforming schools, and insufficient retirement security. Doing More for Maine I am also running because I want to help in ensuring that all Mainers have access to affordable, quality healthcare and are provided with the education, job skills, and other life enriching opportunities to thrive. Having grown up in Old Town in a working-class family, I can appreciate the challenges confronting many of Maine’s less affluent families. For too long, too many Maine communities have watched the promise of the next generation slip away for lack of good paying jobs and career prospects. As Maine’s Senator, I will fight for more funding for education and worker training programs; transportation, clean energy, and communications infrastructure; and innovative economic and community development initiatives. Ideas Matter - So Too Does Experience. With more than twenty-five years of senior-level government experience, I believe that I have the knowledge and skills necessary to make a meaningful difference in Washington. During my career, I have managed complex, multi-million dollar programs and operations including initiatives to combat climate change, revitalize communities, protect public health and the environment, and advance peaceful democratic change in such conflict-torn countries as Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo. In closing, I would a dd that I am the proud son of an Army veteran and AFL-CIO organizer and grandson of French and Irish American shoe, textile, and railroad workers. I know the value of hard work. I understand the importance of a solid education, and I appreciate the constructive role that democratic government is obliged to play. I will work hard for every vote, and I ask for your support. Thank you. David ​ P.S. Please check out my ambitious Reform Agenda and Policy Priorities pages for more detail. ​ LATEST NEWS Link to full article MAINE VOICES: TOO HOT TO IGNORE – MUCH MORE ACTION IS NEEDED TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE August 17, 2023 We need to immediately develop and implement an aggressive national, science-based climate plan, including a panel that evaluates and reports on our progress and recommends needed adjustments. Read more DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE DAVID COSTELLO SAYS AN ALL THE ABOVE APPROACH WOULD LIKELY WORK BEST TO TACKLE GUN VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES June 26, 2023 Like many Mainers, I grew up learning to hunt and shoot and to handle guns safely and responsibly. I took gun safety very seriously then and, given the long-standing rise in gun violence, I take it even more seriously today.When people talk of gun safety today, hunting, target shooting, and gun ownership are seldom, if ever, really at issue. At issue, is the proliferation in the sale and violent misuse of non-hunting guns and magazines and the counterproductive weakening and rejection of laws designed to reduce gun violence. While I would never support denying responsible, law-abiding citizens their right to own a gun, I do support markedly strengthening our nation’s gun safety laws and regulations. Gun violence is on the rise throughout the United States, and appallingly, since 2020, it has surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for American children. The fact that the U.S. House and Senate have done little over the last 30 years to address gun violence is unconscionable. Everything that can be done - from expanded mental health services, stricter gun crime sentencing, and increased community policing to waiting periods, universal background checks, and assault weapons bans – should be done to reduce gun related deaths, injuries, and crime in the United States. To continue to do less is unacceptable. Read more DEMOCRATIC U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE DAVID COSTELLO URGES SUPPORT FOR TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY FOR MAINE'S FOUR INDIGENOUS TRIBES June 26, 2023 Brunswick – Democratic Senate Candidate David Costello today released a statement urging support for tribal sovereignty for Maine’s four indigenous tribes. Costello stated, “unlike the Nation’s other 570 federally recognized tribes, Maine’s Penobscot, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy tribes are unnecessarily and detrimentally excluded from automatically receiving a range of federal health care, economic development, environmental protection, emergency response assistance, and other benefits.” Costello noted that a recent Harvard University study concluded that tribal self-determination and government has contributed to significant economic growth and other benefits for the vast majority of other indigenous tribes in the United States. Additionally, and importantly for many rural towns and villages in Maine, the study also concluded that there were significant spill-over benefits for neighboring non-tribal communities. Costello added that the study found: “Unique to Maine, the federal Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (MICSA) empowers the state government to block the applicability of federal Indian policy in Maine. As a result, the development of the Wabanaki Nations’ economies and governmental capacities have been stunted. Today, all four of the tribes in Maine—Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot—are stark economic underperformers relative to the other tribes in the Lower 48 states. The subjugation of the Wabanaki Nation’s self-governing capacities is blocking economic development to the detriment of both tribal and non- tribal citizens, alike. For the tribal citizens of Maine held down by MICSA’s restrictions, loosening or removing those restrictions offers them little in the way of downside risks and but much in the way of upside payoffs. Importantly, we find in this study that “nowhere to go but up” also applies to the Maine state government and Maine’s non-tribal citizens. From case after case, the pattern that has emerged under federal policies of tribal self-determination through self-government is one in which tribal economic development spills over positively into neighboring non-tribal communities and improves the abilities of state and local governments to serve their citizens.” Costello concluded, “As the study emphasizes, there is ‘nowhere to go but up’ for Maine and Maine communities and thus there is unlikely to be any substantial downside to granting tribal sovereignty to Maine’s four tribes. Moreover, granting Maine's tribes sovereignty is long overdue and the right thing to do both morally and ethically.” Read more U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE DAVID COSTELLO'S OP-ED June 13, 2023 To Truly Fix Washington, We Must Substantially Overhaul Our Governing Practices and Institutions For generations, we Americans have labored to establish a more just, secure, and prosperous nation. One in which all are treated fairly and all are provided with the opportunity to excel. And while we have made considerable progress over the years, we have yet to establish the kind of more perfect union envisioned by our most thoughtful founders and descendants. We have fallen short, in large part, because our governing infrastructure is as deficient and outdated as many of our roads, ports, and bridges. Partisan gridlock abounds, and our imperfect democracy is in danger of becoming even more flawed. The latest example being Washington’s current battle over the Nation’s debt limit. To fix Washington, we need to do more than simply change who we elect every two to six years. We need to substantially reform our governing practices and institutions, and we need to eliminate the excessive and corrupting influence that money, wealth, and disinformation have over our politics and government. Specifically, we should, in the near term: · Pass the Freedom to Vote Act. · Ban gerrymandering and eliminate the Senate’s filibuster.​​ · ​Establish an independent Government Accountability and Performance Commission. · Impose term limits and retirement age requirements on federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. ​ · Increase funding for non-partisan public news broadcasting. · Require social media platforms to adhere to reasonable public interest rules. · Ratify the “For Our Freedom Amendment” to better regulate campaign contributions and spending. ​​And, over the longer term: · Abolish the Electoral College and establish a system of directly electing presidents and include ranked choice voting (RCV) when there are more than two candidates. · Restructure the U.S. Senate so that its allocation of power is more in-line with a state’s population. · Overhaul the U.S. House so that it is comprised of non-gerrymandered, multi-winner districts. · Revise the terms and impose 24-year term limits on U.S. senators and representatives. · Streamline the U.S. Constitution’s amendment process so that it is no longer virtually impossible to update our national charter. Specifically, modify the amendment process to require no more than 60% approval from both houses of Congress and ratifying support from states representing 62% or more of the nation’s population. While pursuing and achieving these reforms will not be easy, the potential benefits of doing so — including better-protected rights and freedoms and more adequately addressed problems like climate change, economic inequality, inadequate health care, shoddy infrastructure, underperforming schools, and insufficient retirement security — make attempting to pursue and achieve them well worth the effort. By David Costello Democratic Candidate for the U.S. Senate www.costelloforsenate.com Read more GOVERNMENT REFORM ADVOCATE ENTERS RACE FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE April 12, 2023 Brunswick – Government reform advocate and Brunswick resident, David Costello, announced today that he is entering the race for the United States Senate. A native of Old Town, Costello returned to Maine in 2019 after having served as a senior aide to the mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland and having helped to manage Maryland’s environmental protection agency (MDE). Prior to working in Maryland, Costello worked largely overseas for the U.S. Government, responding to political, economic, and humanitarian crises in Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo. Costello said that he has decided to run for the U.S. Senate because, “like many Mainers, he’s grown tired of the level of acrimony and dysfunction in Washington and Congress’s inability to act and to act in ways that serve the best interests of all Americans.” “For generations,” Costello added, “we Americans have labored to establish a more just, secure, and prosperous nation. And while we’ve made considerable progress over the years, we have yet to establish the kind of more perfect union envisioned by our most thoughtful founders and descendants.” Costello contends that “we have fallen short, in large part, because our governing infrastructure is as outdated as many of our roads, ports, and bridges. Partisan gridlock, government ineffectiveness, and political disinformation abound, and our imperfect democracy is in danger of becoming even more flawed.” “To fix Washington,” Costello argues “we need to do more than simply changing who we elect every two to six years. We need to think bigger and act boldly to substantially reform our governing practices and institutions, and eliminate the excessive and corrupting influence that money, wealth, and misinformation have over our politics and government.” Costello further added that he is running because he wants “to help in advancing long overdue legislative and constitutional reforms. Reforms that will not only aid in strengthening our democracy, government, and economy, but also help in protecting our rights and freedoms, and assist in addressing such pressing problems as climate change, uneven economic prosperity, inadequate health insurance, shoddy infrastructure, underperforming schools, and insufficient retirement security.” Costello, a democrat, attended the University of Maine in Orono and is a graduate of the George Washington University and London School of Economics and Political Science. For more detail on Costello’s ambitious reform agenda and policy priorities visit www.costelloforsenate.com. FOLLOW DAVID ON SOCIAL MEDIA Subscribe

In the Media Announcement Press Release Gun Safety Tribal Statement Climate Action

Expanding Economic Prosperity David will help in fostering a thriving economy and broader prosperity by supporting efforts to: Provide universal pre-kindergarten and aftercare. Expand workforce training and apprenticeships. Increase performance-aligned resources for our schools, colleges, students, and teachers. Boost investments in transportation, energy, and communications infrastructure. Spur scientific research and development (R&D). Raise the federal minimum wage and increase federal Child and Earned Income Tax Credits. Expand sustainable community and affordable housing development assistance. Increase personal investment and savings incentives – retirement and non-retirement. Reallocate large agri-business and fossil fuel subsidies to rural economic development and clean energy initiatives. Raise adequate revenue and ensure tax fairness via the enactment of progressive tax reforms. Establish a global minimum corporate tax and enhanced labor and environment protections. ​

Strengthening National Security David will help in bolstering national security by supporting efforts to: Maintain military and intelligence gathering superiority over all potential rivals, especially China and Russia. Expand military and intelligence gathering alliances. Strengthen trade and foreign policy agencies and agreements. Become more fully, intelligently, and responsibly engaged in world affairs. Boost our nation's overall global economic competitiveness.