RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Congressman Ami Bera spoke at the Rancho Cordova Luncheon on September 21.  “I’m an optimist, actually,” Bera said.  “I believe that the United States is a remarkable nation and the values that we are founded on are so remarkable.”  Though unemployment is down, he feels that most of the new jobs are either on the high or the low end.  The middle class are being “hollowed out” and need to be grown.  Bera said, “I feel like – ‘Okay, let’s roll up our sleeves, let’s think about how we address some of these challenges.’”

Bera is concerned that we will be the first generation not to give the next a country that is better than it was before.  Bera went to UC Irvine for both his undergraduate and medical degrees.  “I paid $393 a quarter to go to medical school, which is remarkable!” Bera said.  “. . . I think the urgency of now is how do we get back to that ethic of reinvesting ourselves and reinvesting in that next generation?”

Sheryl Smith, owner of Smith Real Estate Services and chairman for the Barrel District Experience in Rancho Cordova on October 6, said that Bera’s address was pretty generic.  “He seemed to want to reach both sides of the aisle,” Smith said.  “Some of the insights that he shared about how things work in D.C. were helpful.” 

Bera is a founding member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress, and he decried the dysfunction and the constant partisan bickering in the House.  Under the Caucus’s Break the Gridlock proposal, Bera and others in the Caucus have a plan to make the House more accessible to members.
“Right now, historically, 95% of the things that we debate on the floor are under a closed rule,” Bera said.  “What that means is I can’t go to the floor and offer an amendment, because it’s closed.  Thirty years ago 90% were under open rules, in active debate.  We want a functioning House, we need robust debate, and need to break the gridlock with pragmatic members . . . the ones that want to govern and recognize we’ve got to negotiate and compromise.”

Small business owner Cari Zarou, owner of Pocket Deli in Rancho Cordova, said, “On a positive note, (Bera) sees great growth for the Sacramento region and what it will look like in 25 years.  He says that proper planning will be the most important issue to ensure expansion.”

Siri Pulipati, who is running for election to the Cordova Recreation and Park District Board, said about Bera’s talk, “I like that Bera spoke from the heart.  He touched on his humble upbringing and his vision for Sacramento, which involves getting more jobs to the area.”

Bera, a democrat, won his first term in the House for California’s 7^th Congressional District in 2012, was re-elected in 2014 and 2016, and is running in 2018 against republican Andrew Grant.  Bera’s parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1950s.  Bera attended public schools through the 12^th grade, attended UC Irvine for both his undergraduate and his medical degrees.  His residency was in internal medicine and in his 20 year medical career he also served in various leadership and medical management roles.  Bera lives in Elk Grove with his wife, also a physician, and they have one daughter.

Grant, who attended the event, said, “Even among business leaders at a Rancho Chamber of Commerce event, (Bera) refuses to acknowledge how tax reform, deregulation, and investor confidence has created the best job growth and wage increases in years.” 

Speaking of the years to come in his closing remarks, Bera said we need to, “Look to the future and what we can do that will still be effective five, 10, even 25 years from now, so that the next generation will benefit and move on from there.”