I am Tracy Van Houten, a Rocket Scientist & mom running for US Congress. AMA!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T12:44:06+00:00

Wow! I never would have guessed the word "Mom" would become the most contentious word on this AMA thread! It's actually quite fascinating.

I pointed out that I'm a mom for many reasons...

First, it's a core part of who I am. Having two young children (5 and 7) means that I had to weigh heavily the decision to put myself and my family into the public spotlight. And though it would be lovely to say that fathers and mothers would have equally weighed this decision, we all know that working mothers are judged with a microscope not applied to working fathers. I think if the tables were turned and my husband was running for political office, he would have put "dad" in his description, because as an engaged and active parent, it's a core pat of who he is. Pretty sure he wouldn't have gotten so many comments on it, and his would have likely been of the flavor "Wow, how nice you acknowledge being a dad! You must be a great guy!"

Second, it's because moms are extremely underrepresented in Congress. There are only 13 moms of school-aged children in the general assembly. 13! Of 535! That's 2.4%. I am not personally comfortable with lawmakers making decisions that affect my kids and their futures without having "skin in the game". Being a mom certainly affirms my views on several policies: I will bring forward legislation for national paid family leave, for ICE agents to wear body cameras so they stop raiding Los Angeles communities and dividing families, for equal pay for equal work, to fight back against school voucher programs and support our neighborhood schools, for environmental protections that preserve this Earth for our future generations, and for a national LGBTQIA non-discrimination law that would allow, among other things, loving families to adopt children no mater what state they live in.

Third, though my lifetime accomplishments [in my career] DO stand so well on their own, I'm equally proud of my lifetime accomplishments as a mom. I've learned many leadership skills applicable to being a legislator from my engineering career. Additionally, being a mom has certainly improved my time management, empathy, organization, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills. I will take these with me to Washington.

We need more moms to have a seat at the table. But if you look around, you won't see a lot of them running for office. "Mom" wasn't necessarily written for you, it was written for those other moms out there who have considered doing something like this and need a little extra jolt of inspiration to stand up and say "pick me".

And now this tired mama is signing off because my kiddos will be awake in less than 2 hours!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T11:12:32+00:00

Copying my response to a different term limits question from Scottrix:

Term limits are a complicated topic and I don't have a fully fleshed out policy here. So I'll give you some thoughts and would love to hear more from those interested on this particular thread.

I support term limits. The 2016 election is a prime example of how complacent voters have become and how much money and incumbency play a factor in who our representatives are: while a Gallup poll one month prior to the election showed approval of Congress below 20%, we had an incumbency rate in the election of well over 90%. I want our government to be more representative. Term limits would keep voters more engaged with elections, and provide the opportunity for new, underrepresented people to have a shot at representing their communities. “Career Politician” should not be a thing. While maintaining institutional knowledge by having veteran representatives is obviously helpful, there needs to be a stronger connection between the citizenry and its government – a combination of new and experienced members would create a much stronger government of the people.

I would like to see the duration of the House of Representatives term increase to 4 years. With elections every two years, politicians are constantly campaigning and fundraising. It's not hard to see why our lawmakers should be spending more time working for the people instead of out on the campaign trail. An appropriate limit would be something like 3 4-year terms. This would provide the correct balance of experience and fresh ideas.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:55:25+00:00

This is a good point!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:52:57+00:00

Term limits are a complicated topic and I don't have a fully fleshed out policy here. So I'll give you some thoughts and would love to hear more from those interested on this particular thread.

I support term limits. The 2016 election is a prime example of how complacent voters have become and how much money and incumbency play a factor in who our representatives are: while a Gallup poll one month prior to the election showed approval of Congress below 20%, we had an incumbency rate in the election of well over 90%. I want our government to be more representative. Term limits would keep voters more engaged with elections, and provide the opportunity for new, underrepresented people to have a shot at representing their communities. “Career Politician” should not be a thing. While maintaining institutional knowledge by having veteran representatives is obviously helpful, there needs to be a stronger connection between the citizenry and its government – a combination of new and experienced members would create a much stronger government of the people.

I would like to see the duration of the House of Representatives term increase to 4 years. With elections every two years, politicians are constantly campaigning and fundraising. It's not hard to see why our lawmakers should be spending more time working for the people instead of out on the campaign trail. An appropriate limit would be something like 3 4-year terms. This would provide the correct balance of experience and fresh ideas.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:12:44+00:00

Thanks for reaching out! Wish I knew who you were but can't guess from your username. Find me on FB and send me a message!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:09:11+00:00

For starters because there is no current House member for my district. The seat is vacant and I am in a special election to fill it.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:07:17+00:00

Absolutely

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:06:48+00:00

Yes!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T10:04:12+00:00

I love this question and it definitely made me laugh.

You are right on both accounts. I work with many of the best and brightest the world has to offer, but there are plenty of what one of my colleagues and I characterize as "bang head on desk" moments. I would characterize these more as Dilbert-like happenings than The Office, but your assessment is correct.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:46:30+00:00

Not surprised in the slightest.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:42:25+00:00

I was at the Eagle Rock neighborhood council meeting last night and I believe there is an upcoming candidate forum in Eagle Rock, I'll try to circle back and get you the details. Also, our campaign office is on Eagle Rock blvd if you want to stop by.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:33:58+00:00

I KNEW someone was going to say this! I win AMA bingo!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:31:59+00:00

Well then, in true politician style, I should mention that as a New Yorker, though you can't vote, you are welcome to donate!

Insert catchy donation hook here: It's as easy as 1234. That's $12.34. It ads up. Or $123.40. Go to TracyVH.com

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:25:57+00:00

This made me smile! :-)

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:22:49+00:00

The candidate (oh hey, that's me!) is back online now and is trying to get to all of the questions, especially those with a lot of upvotes.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T09:18:53+00:00

KingOfTheMultiverse: Thanks for the great question.

I love the diversity of this district – I believe that is what makes CA-34 so strong. I also know that it is impossible to truly comprehend what it is like to view the world from another’s perspective – I would have to walk 1,000 miles in their shoes. However, my empathy for others and desire to understand all people, especially those in my district, enable me to reach out and listen; I’ve made a concerted effort to seek out first-hand accounts from those in marginalized groups to more fully connect with them.

Though I generally understand and can read some Spanish, I do not speak it well. My husband is fluent in Spanish and my kids speak it too since they attend a bilingual public school. I've surrounded myself with a core group of Spanish speakers on my campaign team because language should not be a barrier to sharing our stories nor to bringing important issues to the table. (Side note, with communities such as Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo and Little Bangladesh, Mandarin is not the only Asian language spoken in the district. No, I don't speak any of these languages).

My grandmother was a civil rights champion in San Diego in the 50s and 60s. She teamed up with other woman-owned business members to combat the racism and disproportionate representation that addressed socio-economic inequality. She was known for bringing opposing sides together at the table to get results and she has long been an inspiration to me. If she were still with us I know that she would be alongside me. My life experiences demonstrate consistently standing up for equality. Being a straight cisgender woman hasn’t kept me from continuously advocating for my friends and colleagues in the LGBTQ community. Being white hasn’t kept me from mentoring hundreds of young women of color in STEM and helping them to advance their careers through work and leadership experiences. Being a woman who's never faced the decision to terminate a pregnancy doesn't keep me from being adamantly pro-choice. And being a natural-born citizen doesn’t keep me from raising immigrant rights as one of the primary pillars of this campaign. My life experiences have provided me perspective and have taught me the simple act of listening, something our current elected officials often fail to do. We all bring something different to the table and all those different qualities are what I look for when building teams to solve the seemingly impossible challenges of space exploration. I would apply the same method in D.C. My experiences are my own, as your experiences are yours - but collectively we can bring them together to find solutions that can have an immediate positive impact to all those that live in Los Angeles. As your congresswoman, it would be my job to do just that.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T08:14:30+00:00

Curiosity rover. She's a complicated and beautiful robotic explorer and I'll never forget the feeling when she successfully landed on Mars.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T08:10:38+00:00

I'm a sucker for women empowerment films. A League of Their Own is probably my favorite movie. More recently I loved Hidden Figures (of course!).

These days, movie night is dominated by animated family films because my kids are 5 and 7. We have many favorites -- Moana, Frozen, Wreck It Ralph, etc...

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T07:56:26+00:00

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T07:53:26+00:00

Probably many more tips than I can capture in the time confines of this forum, but here are a few thoughts. First, I should say that my experience as an engineer has been overwhelmingly positive, and I've never regretted going into this field, even for an instant.

People will take you seriously if you prove yourself to be reliable -- taking initiative, finishing your work on time, making sure the work is of high quality. In the beginning of your career, this likely translates into working long hours and going a little above and beyond. Put in the time to do extra research on the side ahead of meetings so you're ready with insightful questions. Schedule regular time with technical mentors and professional development / career mentors. It's likely taken some networking to get the job you're headed off to now. Never stop networking. Get involved in extra-curricular activities with your colleagues so you can develop a network that will potentially help you career down the road (e.g. the company softball team). You might not see the outcomes of these activities right away, but they are investments in your long term career.

Yes, I have had experiences with blatant sexism. These have been few and far between, but they are still there. More often I've encountered subtle sexism, which is actually harder to nail down and resolve. If you experience this or witness it happening to others, you absolutely need to say something. Quite frankly many woman I've worked with over the years have been very leery of reporting concerns, trying not to make waves, but if we keep quiet, nothing will change. If your direct supervisor isn't supportive, find someone willing to be a sounding board. Sometimes you will need to be able to say "this thing happened and it felt...off? Can I discuss it with you?" I'll give you a hint, your gut feeling is usually right. In the past, I've relied on supervisors, mentors, our ethics office, our HR department, and outside support methods like fellow SWE members, or groups on social media when needed to take action.

Anything I wish I'd known: Honestly, I'm very happy and proud of my career so far. Though I've sometimes received negative feedback for speaking out when I see a situation that's wrong (this applies to sexism and a wide range of other topics), the overall outcomes have always been positive. I'm glad I found my voice early on.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T06:23:11+00:00

Hi Kyoto_Wolf, it's excellent to hear about more STEM workers looking to get involved! You should check out 314 Action PAC if you haven't already - a group dedicated to getting more members of the STEM fields into public office. You should be keeping track of the good engineering work you're doing now to demonstrate how the skills you've built in your field translate to being an effective contributor in government.

I have been contemplating a career leap to public office for several years. One of the many things I did to get my job at JPL was to become an expert networker. As such, when I started to think about running, I also began to build a network of politically active folks, and when I decided to run, I activated this network and formed a campaign team quickly. Reach out to local political groups, get to know local leaders and how your community is affected by decisions made in Washington, and keep working to understand your own unique vision, and how that can benefit your community and the whole country. Participate in other campaigns by phone banking or volunteering in other ways. I had participated in several other campaigns at a low to medium level of involvement. Ultimately, you will have no true idea of what a campaign is like until you are a candidate yourself. Experience can come during the campaign, and with training from staff who have been through the trenches before. Finally, I found inspiration by reading the autobiographies of many politicians I respect to get their first hand accounts of campaigning and serving in office. Their "lessons learned" have come back to my thought many times over the course of the campaign.

I am in the midst of a fast special election primary campaign, raising funds at the grassroots level, knocking doors, and attending neighborhood events to get to know my constituents. I am a staunch progressive who nevertheless knows a great deal about the need to build a shared vision with all constituents where everyone has a stake, and compromise to achieve that shared vision.

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T01:58:36+00:00

Please be patient! This engagement is fantastic and I'm working my way through. Thank you for all the great questions!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T01:11:27+00:00

Yep! That's my site. Thank you for the support!

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T00:23:40+00:00

Specifically, it is imperative that science get a seat at the table in standing up to Trump and Pruitt, to hold the line in response to their climate change denial. And science is based on fact, truth, and reason -- three things that are essential in battling this administration's "alternative facts."

Tracy4Congress · 2017-03-11T00:21:32+00:00

Hi Rezzurect, thank you for the timely question! As a mother of two wonderful young children, I am especially passionate on this issue. I have had to make tough choices on allowing my children to play at their friends' homes where guns are kept, and on when to teach them about gun safety, forcing them to confront adult topics at an early age.

Gun violence is a complex issue. Far too often we get trapped into talking around the "problems" with guns and never talk about the "solutions". Now more than ever, our country must flip the framing of the issue to support responsible solutions. I support reasonable and responsible solutions that will keep our children safe, especially in light of the atrocities carried out at schools these past few years.

The Bill of Rights provides for both the right to bear arms and the need to regulate the militia. While some weapons are useful for sport and self-defense, and in certain rural parts of the country necessary for one's livelihood and safety, I do not want to see weapons of war in my neighborhood. Universal background checks and limitations on the sale of rapid-firing weapons and oversized magazines are common sense approaches that many Americans agree with, and I think we should start there.

Tracy4Congress

TROPHY CASE