Tammy Baldwin Argumentative Essay

Tammy Baldwin was born on February 11th, 1962 in Madison, Wisconsin and was voted as Wisconsin’s first female Congress member in 1998. Throughout her childhood Tammy lived with her grandparents and when she was diagnosed with an illness like spinal meningitis, and they had a hard time getting the health insurance to cover her hospital stay due to the inability to list her as a dependent on their policy. After Tammy got better, they continued to struggle to find a policy to cover her in the future due to her “pre-existing condition”, due to her experience in the healthcare system her interest in working in public service was sparked and lead her to a career in Congress. She has served seven terms in the House of Representatives including the

Budget Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Energy and Commerce Committee since 1998 and was elected on the U.S.

Senate on November 6, 2012. With this election, she became the first openly gay member elected to the Senate, and is focused on working across party lines to strengthen the economic security, education, workforce readiness, quality health care for all, and ensuring retirement security for today’s seniors and future generation. After reading over several of Tammy’s stances, I personally agree with many of her stances and learned a lot about her from reading articles and navigating the website.
Senator Baldwin cares a lot about the middle class and education is a large part of her platform. She addresses the student debt crisis and college affordability by leading efforts and introducing legislation to provide solutions. Being the lead cosponsor of the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, which allows student who are struggling to refinance their loans by taking advantage of lower interest rates, as well as introducing acts such as the America’s College Promise Act and the Working Student Act to show her

commitment of bringing higher education into the hands of low-income students. She has also introduced reforms to prioritize CTE, STEM education, and offer stronger support for workforce readiness programs to help the current generation prepare for entering the workforce. It means a lot that Senator Baldwin cares so much about education and making college affordable, because college is extremely expensive currently and it shouldn’t be for a select few who could handle the immense student debt associated with getting a higher education. Often when relating to people elected into Congress, it often feels like the Congressman/woman will only vote to better of their social class, and don’t think about the middle and lower classes; but Senator Baldwin does seem to care for them by trying to change the high interest rates on student loans and making college a more accessible option for more people. Although many people might believe that if someone gets one or two scholarships they are set to finance college when often that is not the case, due to just how expensive it is to borrow money to pay for tuition and they end up having a small fortune due to the bank when they graduate. Due to Senator Baldwin’s high involvement in education, it shows that she is looking out for students and trying to improve the current education system for current and future generations.
Tammy Baldwin was the first openly gay member elected to the Senate in 2012, and it was a step forward for the LGBT+ community, and it means a lot for the younger generation to see representation like this in government.

Most recently on June 12th, she released a statement in memory of the forty-nine people who lost their lives and the fifty-three people injured in the Pulse Nightclub Shooting a year prior, the increase in hate crimes towards members of the LGBT+ community, and Congress’s poor response. She comments, “Instead of showing the moral leadership our nation needs in the face of increasing hatred and division, President Trump and his Administration have taken steps to roll back our nation’s progress in many areas, including progress for the LGBT community,” and called out President Trump for his poor actions towards allowing discrimination and failing to be a “President to all Americans”. On Monday June 26th, Senator Baldwin celebrated with the LGBT+ community in Wisconsin to celebrate and honor the anniversary of the significant victories won in the U.S. Supreme Court, but comments that the community must work harder for fairness, freedom, and full equality and truly believes America is ready to take another step forward in achieving it. In the past, Senator Baldwin have cosponsored the Equality Act, and other federal legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT+ Americans. In the past few months, especially with President Trump’s election and lack of action

with the murders of transgender individuals, I have feared more for the LGBT+ community, but it is reassuring that someone like Senator Baldwin is still fighting for equality.
Overall, I agree with many of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s stances including education, LGBT+ rights, and business and found her website to be easily manage and eye catching. Her home page has hyperlinks to her latest news, Facebook page, twitter, press releases, office locations and phone numbers. The website layout is simple enough with a blue theme in line with her democratic alignment, and four categories to choose from on the menu. The first tab, about Tammy, shares her childhood in Wisconsin, education, her early public service career, and her current stances on many issues in America. On her website, she has the option to leave feedback on legislation, the ability to find assistance and resources, and the final tab “How Can I Help You?”, and it shows she cares about people sharing their opinion and listens to them. Her website is designed well, and it seems very easy to contact her to share your opinion. Senator Baldwin seems like a decent person, and I am glad that someone like her has a seat in the U.S. Senate.