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Meet Arati
Dr. Arati Kreibich is a Councilmember in Glen Rock, a neuroscientist, a mother, and an activist. She immigrated to the U.S. when she was 11 years old with her parents and two younger brothers because they believed in the promise of America.
Growing up, Arati always wanted to be a scientist. She earned her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 and became a neuroscientist. Her research focus on opiate addiction and her experience working with pharmaceutical companies gave her an unvarnished look at the serious shortcomings of for-profit healthcare. While pursuing her doctorate and career, she started a family with her husband Thomas, a neurologist. Her experience with limited parental leave crystallized for Arati the lack of support for working mothers.
The 2016 election was a defining event for Arati, and it spurred her to run for Glen Rock’s Borough Council in 2017. She won, becoming the first South Asian elected to the council. Arati has made the climate crisis a priority, leading a successful charge for town-wide clean energy consumption and a plastic bag ban.
As a medical researcher whose husband treats patients daily, Arati sees the need for healthcare for all. As a scientist, she understands the urgency of adopting bold action to address climate change. And as an activist, she's seen first-hand the corrupting influence of corporate money on government.
Arati is running for Congress not only because her representative doesn't honor those values, but because we live in an exceptional moment and need bold progressive leadership.
Growing up, Arati always wanted to be a scientist. She earned her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 and became a neuroscientist. Her research focus on opiate addiction and her experience working with pharmaceutical companies gave her an unvarnished look at the serious shortcomings of for-profit healthcare. While pursuing her doctorate and career, she started a family with her husband Thomas, a neurologist. Her experience with limited parental leave crystallized for Arati the lack of support for working mothers.
The 2016 election was a defining event for Arati, and it spurred her to run for Glen Rock’s Borough Council in 2017. She won, becoming the first South Asian elected to the council. Arati has made the climate crisis a priority, leading a successful charge for town-wide clean energy consumption and a plastic bag ban.
As a medical researcher whose husband treats patients daily, Arati sees the need for healthcare for all. As a scientist, she understands the urgency of adopting bold action to address climate change. And as an activist, she's seen first-hand the corrupting influence of corporate money on government.
Arati is running for Congress not only because her representative doesn't honor those values, but because we live in an exceptional moment and need bold progressive leadership.
Issues
Climate Change
Criminal Justice Reform
Democracy Reform
Education
Fighting Hate & White Supremacy
Financial Security
Gender Equity
Gun Violence
Healthcare for All
Hold Trump Accountable
Immigration
Israel & Palestine
Labor
LGBTQ+ Issues
Military & Veterans
Racial Justice
Reproductive Justice
Social Security
Climate Change
The climate crisis is an existential threat. It doesn't just change the face of the planet; it hurts our quality of life and will shape our children's future. New Jersey is especially vulnerable to climate change. It’s one of the fastest-warming states in the country and its miles of coastline make it vulnerable to storms that are now more powerful than ever.
As a councilmember in Glen Rock, NJ, I see firsthand the need to invest more in mitigating the effects of the climate crisis on a local level. Changing, more extreme weather already impacts my borough. We need short and long term planning for allocating resources to address flooding, repairing our roads and beyond. This experience underscores for me how vital it is to invest in fighting the climate crisis on the national level with a Green New Deal. We must:
As a councilmember in Glen Rock, NJ, I see firsthand the need to invest more in mitigating the effects of the climate crisis on a local level. Changing, more extreme weather already impacts my borough. We need short and long term planning for allocating resources to address flooding, repairing our roads and beyond. This experience underscores for me how vital it is to invest in fighting the climate crisis on the national level with a Green New Deal. We must:
- Pass the Green New Deal into law, helping us aggressively combat climate change while once again becoming an example to the world. I strongly support passing H. Res 109, “Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal”.
- Bring our net emissions to zero by 2050.
- Rejoin the Paris climate accord while also demanding even stricter global emissions standards. Experts agree that the goals set in Paris were not enough.
- Make climate change a key part of the National Security Strategy. I strongly support HR 1201, Climate Change National Security Strategy Act of 2019.
- Focus on Climate Justice and making sure we prioritize vulnerable communities exposed to toxins, lead in the drinking water and effects of flooding.
- Keep fossil fuels in the ground, ban fracking and urgently work towards a fossil-free future.
- Implement a jobs transition and ensure that workers are a guiding force in plans to build green infrastructure.
Criminal Justice Reform
We must take substantive action to combat the racism inherent in our criminal justice system and the real harm that our criminal justice system causes. We need to investigate allegations of systemic racism and do more to address the findings. As a nation, we need to take major steps to end mass incarceration; our country has the world’s largest prison population. We must:
- Ban private prisons.
- Restore voting rights to people who are incarcerated.
- In the cases where incarceration is absolutely necessary, afford dignity and respect to those who are incarcerated and ensure that they are subject to humane conditions that foster rehabilitation rather than traumatization.
- Legalize marijuana and expunge the records of those who have been charged or incarcerated because of marijuana.
- End the war on drugs and treat addiction like the disease that it is.
- Institute policies that prevent children from being treated like adults in our criminal justice system.
- Decriminalize poverty and homelessness.
- Provide community and social support to those struggling with mental illness rather than relying on the criminal justice system as a means to address mental illness.
Democracy Reform
Democracy reform will be one among several of my top legislative priorities. It is popular with voters and important for preserving true democracy. We must make this a priority for congress in 2021 in order to restore trust in the democratic process and elected officials. We must:
- Implement the reforms of H.R.1 For the People Act of 2019.
- Pass H.J. Res.57, the proposed amendment to the Constitution that would overturn Citizens United.
- Expand the use of ranked choice voting.
- Create a small-donor public financing program for Congressional elections.
- Pass H.R.51. Washington D.C. deserves statehood as well as representation and voting power in Congress. Residents of D.C. pay federal taxes without having full representation on the federal level. As a majority-POC district, it is vital that D.C. have a voice and a vote in Congress.
Education
Education is not just beneficial for the career advancement of individuals, it is also beneficial to the public good. Access to education helps to create a more empowered, informed public. Right now, education is a privilege and often difficult to access. It is time for government funded education to extend beyond the K-12 system. Student debt is a limiting force in the lives of so many Americans, and tuition free public college is one part of educational justice and our vision to reduce inequalities. We must:
- Make public colleges tuition free.
- Ensure that the American government upholds its obligation to remove barriers to education rather than profiting off of student loans.
Fighting Hate & White Supremacy
According to statistics compiled by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the number of white nationalist groups in the U.S. rose from 100 chapters in 2017 to 148 in 2018; the number of rallies and demonstrations by white supremacy groups increased from 76 in 2017 to 91 in 2018; and most disturbingly of all, the number of terrorist attacks by far-right perpetrators quadrupled in the U.S. between 2016 and 2017.
In New Jersey, reports of the distribution of white supremacist literature tripled between 2018 and 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Rather than combat this dangerous trend, President Trump and his aide Stephen Miller have tacitly encouraged it through their policies and rhetoric. We must:
In New Jersey, reports of the distribution of white supremacist literature tripled between 2018 and 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Rather than combat this dangerous trend, President Trump and his aide Stephen Miller have tacitly encouraged it through their policies and rhetoric. We must:
- Take a stand and leverage both public policy and law enforcement to turn back the tide of white nationalism and protect vulnerable communities from hate.
- Go beyond addressing the most visible forms of white supremacy; white supremacy is not just swastikas and pitchforks. It is an insidious force with deep roots in our institutions and public discourse. We must continue to name white supremacy within institutions and discourse and cease to tolerate it.
- Support the efforts of community groups fighting hate and increasing inclusivity in their communities.
- Call out anti-Semitism and Islamophobia wherever we see it, whether it is in our communities or in the White House.
- Condemn Trump and the role that he plays in inciting white nationalist terror and a resurgence of white supremacy.
Financial Security
I support progressive taxation that prompts the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share. Those who can afford to pay more must pay more in order for our country to effectively combat income inequality. We must:
- Implement progressive taxation.
- Break up too-big-to-fail banks and reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act.
- Repeal GOP tax that guts poor & middle class.
- Reinstate SALT deduction for federal taxes.
- Ensure that behemoths like Amazon, Netflix etc. no longer avoid paying federal taxes.
Gender Equity
Women's rights and the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming folks are human rights. Is it past time for gender equity in our nation and in our world.
As a woman of color and a mother, I have lived the challenges that so many of us working women face. I know that we need to do more for women in our country. Women have made great strides in the last century, but there is still so much work to be done in order for us to have equal leadership and a political voice as well as true self-determination. We must:
As a woman of color and a mother, I have lived the challenges that so many of us working women face. I know that we need to do more for women in our country. Women have made great strides in the last century, but there is still so much work to be done in order for us to have equal leadership and a political voice as well as true self-determination. We must:
- Pass the ERA.
- Provide paid parental leave nationwide to biological parents as well as adoptive parents.
- Provide subsidized childcare.
- Prioritize improving healthcare for women, transgender, and gender non-conforming folks.
- Address sexual harassment both from a legal and social perspective.
- Protect all people from discrimination on the basis of gender.
Gun Violence
We have a horrific gun violence problem in our country. There have been well over two thousand mass shootings since Sandy Hook, and about one hundred people are shot and killed every day in the United States. Guns account for more than half of all suicide deaths. Gun violence permeates our homes, our streets and our communities, regardless of where we live. We know what we need to do to protect our children. We know what policies and laws will save lives. We must:
- Institute universal background checks.
- Close the loophole that allows unlicensed sellers to avoid performing background checks.
- Require gun sellers to wait for complete background checks before transferring firearms.
- Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
- Strip the NRA of its tax-exempt status based on its improper relationship with Russia.
- Pass a federal Red Flag Law.
Healthcare for All
Healthcare is a right. We should have healthcare for all, not just for those who can afford it. The Trump administration has taken steps to dismantle parts of the Affordable Care Act, imperiling the coverage of Americans across the country. My opponent supports only band-aids for our national health care crisis, not real solutions. As a medical researcher whose husband treats patients daily, I see the pressing need for Medicare for All. We must:
- Pass Medicare for All.
- Fight efforts by Trump to cut funding for the National Institutes of Health.
- Restore funding for medical research using fetal tissue, research that could help scientists understand and treat AIDS, cancer, Parkinson's disease and more.
- Ensure that comprehensive mental healthcare and reproductive healthcare are provisions of Medicare for All.
Hold Trump Accountable
We cannot normalize or tolerate Trump and his egregious behavior. Whereas my opponent advocated for censure rather than impeachment for the president, I believe that no one is above the law. We must:
- Call out the ways in which Trump incites violence and mistrust.
- Combat the dangerous policies that Trump has advocated for and implemented.
- If necessary, hold Trump legally accountable.
Immigration
Welcoming immigrants is central to America’s core values, and our immigration policy should reflect that. I came to the United States from India when I was 11-years-old. Being an immigrant and a proud naturalized citizen greatly informs my perspective, and it strengthens my conviction that we need meaningful immigration reform in our country. We must:
- Enact a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
- Put a permanent end to the cruel practice of family separations and work to reduce the backlog, reuniting all types of families who have been ripped apart at the hands of the U.S. immigration system.
- Strengthen our family-based immigration system.
- Pass legislation to significantly reduce funding and limit internal enforcement capacities for ICE and CBP.
- Investigate human rights abuses committed by immigration officers in order to begin the process of addressing the humanitarian crisis created at the border.
- Plan for the influx of climate refugees that we will see in the coming years. As the effects of the climate crisis worsen and more of our planet becomes unable to sustain communities, we must prepare to welcome climate refugees into our country.
Israel & Palestine
I respect the history of allyship between the United States and Israel. Because of our special relationship with Israel, the United States has a responsibility to draw attention to actions of the Israeli government when they are not in line with our countries’ shared democratic values; we must call on the Israeli government to uphold the values that align our two nations. Palestinians are entitled to basic human rights, and Israel is entitled to national security. We must:
- Facilitate a two-state solution.
- Resume humanitarian aid to Palestine, including aid through UN agencies as an intermediary.
- Condemn acts of terror against Israel and call upon the Palestinian Authority to work to prevent these terrorist attacks.
- Support efforts to resettle Palestinian refugees and to allow a mutually agreed upon number of refugees to resettle in Israel in order to reunite families.
- Advocate for the end of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank through settlements.
- Condemn Trump’s “peace plan,” a thinly veiled annexation plan.
Labor
Workers are the foundation of this country. They build our houses, hospitals and bridges. They take care of us when we are sick. It is necessary for us to do more to protect workers and their right to healthcare, paid leave, benefits, and to collectively bargain. We must:
- Ensure that all workers are entitled to paid medical and family leave.
- Pass H.R.5728-Workplace Democracy Act.
- Ban forced arbitration.
- Have substantive conversations about sectoral bargaining in the United States.
- Ban right-to-work laws.
- Institute wage boards in order to set industry-wide pay minimums.
- Pass national Fair Workweek legislation, similar to what was recently introduced in New Jersey.
- Expand NLRA to include workers in public sector.
LGBTQ+ Issues
We need to go well beyond marriage equality to do more to protect LGBTQ+ Americans. Discriminating against people because of who they are or who they love are not American values. We must:
- Start with the Equality Act passed by the current House to extend labor, housing, and other protections.
- Codify federal protections for LGBTQ+ Americans because no one should be discriminated against because of who they are or who they love.
- Pass Medicare for All that includes provisions for mental healthcare as well as gender affirming treatments and surgeries.
- Address LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.
Military & Veterans
The U.S. should emphasize peace and human rights in its foreign policy moving forward. The fact that the U.S. defense budget represents 54% of all discretionary spending is outrageous, and it shows the U.S.’s commitment to imperialism over caring for its residents--including veterans.
We need to uphold our promises to our veterans. As a sister of a veteran, I understand some of the unique challenges they face and the support that our veterans need. We’ve neglected the mental health aspect of veterans’ health care for far too long. We must:
We need to uphold our promises to our veterans. As a sister of a veteran, I understand some of the unique challenges they face and the support that our veterans need. We’ve neglected the mental health aspect of veterans’ health care for far too long. We must:
- Put a stop to the endless wars and turn the focus of the international community to building peace and fighting climate change.
- Redirect defense budget spending to domestic social spending. A reasonable funding level for the national defense budget is one that does not outweigh the amount that the U.S. should devote to fulfilling the human rights of its residents. Defense spending should be second to spending on healthcare, housing, education, and other basic needs.
- Redirect resources to the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide comprehensive healthcare, including dental care and meaningful mental healthcare, as quickly as possible.
Racial Justice
There is clear evidence of systemic racism and racial atrocities in our nation. In striving for equity, we should seriously consider reparations. We must:
- Pass H.R. 40-Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. H.R.40 is a good first step in exploring what reparations would look like for our nation.
- Pass legislation similar to H.R. 40 to explore returning of unceded lands and territory or related royalties to Indigenous Populations. Voluntary programs like Real Rent Duwamish and the Shuumi Land Tax allow individuals to compensate Indigenous people for the use of the land that they are living and working on. While these efforts have a real, positive impact on Indigenous Populations, reparations should not be achieved just through private donations and lawsuits.
Reproductive Justice
As a woman and a mother, reproductive choice has been crucial in my life. I am committed to fighting for reproductive health, rights and justice. I will defend the right of all people to make choices about their own bodies, and I will work to ensure that no one is denied their right or access to an abortion. We must:
- Codify Roe v. Wade so that a person’s right to an abortion is built on more than the tenuous foundation of right to privacy.
- Repeal the Hyde Amendment.
- Fight TRAP laws that place unnecessary requirements on clinics that provide abortion care.
- Provide financial support to those who have to travel to receive abortion care.
- Prioritize reducing maternal mortality, especially for black women, who are 4 to 5 times more likely than white women to die while pregnant or giving birth.
- Invest in creating more clinics that provide abortion care.
- Make birth control widely accessible.
- Ensure that menstrual hygiene products are accessible to all who need them.
- Advocate for comprehensive sex education to be taught in every state.
Social Security
Social Security must be protected and expanded. Senior citizens in NJ-5 and across the country spent their lives working, raising families and paying taxes. But for too many, it's unsustainable to continue to live in their beloved communities after retirement. It is critical that Social Security benefits be expanded so that seniors can spend less time worrying about bills and more time enjoying their golden years. We must:
- Pass Social Security 2100 Act in order to safeguard Social Security.
- Go beyond this act to ensure that everyone who relies on Social Security is sufficiently supported.
