Twenty-eight year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Running as a Democratic Socialist, Ocasio-Cortez (or AOC as she is often called) defied odds by claiming her seat on Congress this past November. Within just a month, it became evident that winning the election was not the only way in which AOC would make history.
New members of Congress (often referred to as “freshmen”) typically do a lot of learning by observing, and tend to let the more seasoned members do their thing. AOC, however, has been anything but shy about making big changes to America.
Before being sworn into Congress on January 3rd, 2019 (that’s right, only a little over a month ago!!), AOC worked to organize Bernie Sander’s 2016 presidential campaign. Some of her major platforms while running for Congress included abolishing ICE, universal healthcare, and tuition-free education.
Although all of these are still important to AOC, her biggest push since being elected has been climate change. She claims that the government’s efforts to put an end to global warming need to be “as momentous as the civil rights movement.” Pretty bold statement for a freshman member of Congress! Within the past few days, AOC and Senator Ed Markey have proposed what they are calling “The Green New Deal” (reminiscent of president Roosevelt’s “New Deal”), which outlines a 10-year plan for America to become a 100% clean and renewable energy run country. This is huge in the world of climate change, and if passed, will change the fate of not only America, but the entire world. AOC’s history-making, however, does not end here.
This past week, president Trump gave his State of the Union address in which a sea of women were shown wearing white as a tribute to women’s suffrage in the U.S. In the middle of the sea was AOC, wearing not only white, but a sullen glare. After receiving much backlash for her failure to stand or even clap at the end of the address, AOC took to Twitter to explain herself, saying that this SOTU was an “unsettling night for our country” with the president failing to “offer any plan, any vision at all, for our future.” Again, a very bold move for a freshman member of Congress.
Like it or not, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is loud, proud, and here to stay. Making multiple headlines within her first month of being in Congress, it is clear that AOC will continue to make history in the United States of America.