Who is Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez?
A month ago we saw 117 appointed congresswoman officials sworn into office. Also, known as the largest group of women to be elected in history for the United States. This group brought many history breaking women into congress including the first muslim congresswoman , the first native american congresswoman and most importantly some of the youngest woman to ever be elected into congress at the age of 29. One of these history making woman is Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez who is mostly known for being the youngest woman currently serving in the house. But before, she was sworn into office she was just like any other New Yorker.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) was born and raised in the Bronx. While growing up she witnessed her parents work hard to ensure that she was given all the best opportunities. Unlike many other congress officials she didn’t have an office job, she didn’t come from wealth, but she did work hard at a bar downtown to pay off her students loans. One day the urge of taking action and bringing change into her community she decided to run for office. After months of campaigning going around the community and talking about the changes she hoped to bring on Nov. 8, 2018 she was elected as New York’s 14th District Representative, which includes the Bronx and Queens.
From the day she was elected anyone following her on instagram and twitter is constantly updated in all the work she is doing. During the government shutdown she took it upon herself to make sure that everyone stayed aware of what is going on in congress as often as possible, by posting almost daily updates on what was needed to have a bill passed to reopen the government. She doesn’t use her social media platform just to keep her followers updated with any new policies or policy making, but also to interact with them and hear their concerns. Most often anyone could go on instagram on a Friday night, and find her live streaming from her kitchen having a normal conversation with her followers. Whether it was talking about “RuPaul’s Drag Race” or showing them what she was cooking.
During her campaign she talked about various issues that she wanted to confront while in the House. One of those issues is improving our nation’s medicare system, and proposing to work on a universal health care plan that everyone in the US would be able to afford. In recent years, our health plans have gotten more expensive and have started to cover less as previous years. She’s also focusing on various controversial issues that are occuring in our nations such as gun control. The second amendment wasn’t created with the idea of having assault raffles that anyone could have in their own home and could go around harming anyone.
Not only is she focused to bring changes for across the nation, but also for the community that she is representing. A 6-year-old should not have to come home one Saturday to find blood in front of her building, to find out the shooter was hiding somewhere in her building. However, she isn’t just focusing on her community, she’s also hoping to bring changes that would benefit many young people and recent college graduates. Her plan is to encourage free tuition for all public colleges and universities throughout the nation. But, she also wants to relieve students from their debt with a one time policy that would relieve student debt. As a woman herself, she’s determined to work on equal pay in the workplace, reproductive rights, parental paid leave. Cortez wants to make sure that every women regardless of their skin color, beliefs or immigrant status, everyone get treated the same.
AOC hopes that even smallest changes will lead to greater changes. Currently, she has two offices one in Washington D.C and another one currently under construction in Jackson Heights. Her journey in D.C is just starting, let’s see what changes she will bring in the next two years.To find out more about Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez and her current work in congress visit https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov .