San Diego congressional leaders attend San Diego luncheon following debt ceiling vote

Congressman Peters joined his San Diego colleagues for another productive San Diego Chamber of Commerce Congressional Luncheon. They discussed the debt ceiling bill, clean energy transmission, housing, immigration reform, and more. He knows their continued collaboration makes our region stronger.

Read and watch more from their discussion in this June 2nd piece from CBS8, posted below:

San Diego congressional leaders attend San Diego luncheon following debt ceiling vote

By Shannon Handy

June 2, 2023

Four of San Diego’s five congressional members took part in a lunchtime panel at the US Grant Hotel on Friday, June 2.

The luncheon comes just one day after the debt ceiling deal was approved.
The annual event is put on by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Aside from the debt ceiling vote, Democratic representatives Mike Levin (49th District), Scott Peters (50th District), Sara Jacobs (51st District), and Juan Vargas (52nd District) talked about issues impacting San Diego, including immigration reform and affordable housing.

Republican Darrell Issa (48th District) was not in attendance.

The four representatives spoke to a crowd of 400 local business and community members. Some attendees submitted questions.

The debt ceiling vote was the first thing addressed.

All but Juan Vargas voted yes.

“I don’t like the way that happened. I’m glad we avoided it, but we have to figure out how to work together as a Congress outside of these crisis situations,” said Peters.

“The fact of the matter is we should never have been in the position we were in,” said Jacobs.

“We had to prevent catastrophic default and I’m very relieved that we did,” added Representative Levin.

“We never should have negotiated this. The debt ceiling is something we shouldn’t negotiate. It’s bills that have already been spent,” said Vargas.

Regarding affordable housing, all parties said they’re working on ways to make it more readily available, in part by creating a bigger supply.

“We’ve got young people getting discouraged because they can’t afford a place,” said Peters.

All house members agreed that immigration reform is needed as well.

“Truth is, we have to have immigration reform. That’s what we need to make sure the people who come into this country can go and work,” said Vargas.

Other issues discussed the economy, as well as access to childcare.

“I think we have quite a robust economy,” said Levin.

“I’m co-writing a bill called the Childcare for Every Community Act that would make sure no family pays more than seven percent of their income on childcare, while also making sure childcare providers make a living wage,” said Jacobs.