Editing Loretta Sanchez (section)

==Political positions==
[[File:Loretta Sanchez 1.jpg|thumb|Loretta Sanchez at her annual "Women of Distinction" Event]]

Sanchez has stated she is a "moderate" Democrat, but in 2009, Sanchez had a 'zero' approval rating from the [[American Conservative Union]].<ref name=Spero>{{cite web|last1=Block|first1=Stephanie|title=Loretta Sanchez is no moderate Democrat|url=http://www.speroforum.com/a/UQFMKHYNTH55/75503-Loretta-Sanchez-is-no-moderate-Democrat#.VVluB0af8gQ|website=Spero News|access-date=18 May 2015|date=19 January 2015|quote=The American Conservative Union gave her a 'zero' rating in 2009|archive-date=18 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418161752/http://www.speroforum.com/a/UQFMKHYNTH55/75503-Loretta-Sanchez-is-no-moderate-Democrat#.VVluB0af8gQ|url-status=dead}}</ref>

She represented a district in Orange County, long a bastion of suburban conservatism, and is a member of the [[Blue Dog Coalition]] and the [[New Democrat Coalition]]; she reportedly voted with Nancy Pelosi 97.8% of the time during the [[111th Congress]].<ref>[http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/111/house/party-voters/#The Washington Post U.S. House Votes Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914094658/http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/111/house/party-voters/ |date=2010-09-14 }}</ref>

Sanchez is known for her interests in education, crime, economic development, and protections for senior citizens.<ref name=CongressRatings>{{cite web|title=Sanchez, Loretta (D-CA-47th) Rep., Job Approval Rating|url=http://www.congressratings.com/456/sanchez-loretta-d-ca-47th-rep/|website=Congress Ratings|access-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075217/http://www.congressratings.com/456/sanchez-loretta-d-ca-47th-rep/|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''[[National Journal]]'' rated her votes in 2006 in three areas: Economic, Social, and Foreign. The ratings are: Economic = 71 liberal/28 conservative; Social = 80 liberal/19 conservative; Foreign = 70 liberal/28 conservative.<ref>[http://0-www3.nationaljournal.com.libus.csd.mu.edu/pubs/almanac/2008/people/ca/rep_ca47.htm Loretta Sanchez profile at ''National Journal'']{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Education===
Sanchez staunchly opposed the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]s' [[Head Start (education)|Head Start]] program overhaul in the [[108th United States Congress|108th Congress]], invoking her experience growing up poor and challenged by a speech impediment.  During debate on the bill, she said:

<blockquote>I know about these kids, because I am one of those kids ... It hurts to hear you talk about how we are not successful, or how we are losers. But we are very successful. We have had a lot of successes with Head Start.<ref name="sanchez2003" /></blockquote>

Sanchez has asserted that conservative Republicans are not committed to improving public education.<ref name="sanchez2003">Sanchez, Loretta (2003-02-02). "The Real State of the Union is Not Healthy", ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. February 2, 2003, p. B19.</ref> When [[George W. Bush|President Bush]]'s 2003 budget proposal threatened to cut education grants, she responded:

<blockquote>If he can run deficits for the military, then he can run deficits to educate our children.<ref name="Electronic1"/></blockquote>

===Armed services, social issues, and labor===
[[File:Loretta Sanchez 2.jpg|thumb|Loretta Sanchez meeting with union leaders]]

Sanchez was the second-ranking Democrat on the [[United States House Committee on Homeland Security|Homeland Security Committee]] and a senior member of the [[United States House Committee on Armed Services|Armed Services Committee]], and the most senior woman on that committee. Loretta has fought to reform both the law and culture of the U.S. military relating to investigation of sexual crimes, prosecution of sex offenders and care of sexual assault victims. Her leadership contributed to a decision to examine the problem of sexual assault at the military service academies, which revealed that the problem was much more prevalent than previously thought. As a result, she led the fight to change sexual assault provisions of the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]]. {{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} In early 2011, Sanchez introduced a bill requiring the [[United States Department of Homeland Security]] to issue rules governing searches and seizures of the [[laptop]]s, [[cellphone]]s, and other electronic devices of American citizens returning to the U.S. from abroad.<ref>{{cite web|author=Greewald, Glenn|author-link=Glenn Greenwald|date=2011-01-15|url=http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/01/15/laptops/index.html|title=Homeland Security's laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez|website=[[Salon.com|Salon]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305155529/http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/01/15/laptops/index.html|archive-date=2011-03-05}}</ref>

Sanchez is regarded as a liberal on social issues. She voted against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and supports abortion rights. She also sought to reverse the ban on abortions at overseas military bases and installations. In August 2000, Sanchez refused to relocate a political fundraiser she had planned at the [[Playboy Mansion]] in California. As a result, Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Andrew cancelled her scheduled speaking role at the Democratic National Convention. Sanchez's address was reinstated just before the convention, when she agreed to relocate her fundraiser to [[Universal Studios, Inc.|Universal Studios]].<ref>[http://dir.salon.com/story/politics/feature/2000/08/15/sanchez/ "The taming of Loretta Sanchez"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606230453/http://dir.salon.com/story/politics/feature/2000/08/15/sanchez/ |date=2011-06-06 }}. Salon.com; retrieved May 4, 2008</ref>

===Foreign policy===
[[File:Loretta Sanchez Visits Troops Kuwait.jpg|thumb|Loretta Sanchez visiting U.S. troops in Kuwait during Easter]]
[[File:Loretta Sanchez Visits Troops Africa.jpg|thumb|Loretta Sanchez visiting troops in Africa]]

According to ''Congressional Quarterly'', "In 2002, Sanchez voted against reviving fast-track procedures for congressional action on trade deals. And, coming from a district with one of the largest ethnically [[Vietnamese American|Vietnamese]] communities [[overseas Vietnamese|outside Vietnam]], she voted against a trade agreement with Vietnam, saying that political and human rights conditions in that country needed improvement. Her outspokenness led the Hanoi regime to refuse to allow her into the country late in 2004 when she applied for an entry visa to meet with dissidents."<ref name="Electronic1" /> By April 2006, Sanchez had been denied a visa to visit Vietnam four times by the country's officials.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/atoz/article_1088283.php|title=Vietnam denies visa for Sanchez visit|last=Mahshie|first=Abraham|date=April 6, 2006|work=[[The Orange County Register]]|access-date=February 4, 2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210080533/http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/atoz/article_1088283.php|archive-date=December 10, 2006}}</ref> In honor of International [[Human Rights Day]], she joined a bipartisan group of 11 House Members that issued a letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister [[Nguyen Tan Dung]] calling for the release of two U.S. citizens arrested by the [[government of Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lorettasanchez.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=253&Itemid=129|title=December 10, 2007: Sanchez Issues Letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung|publisher=Lorettasanchez.house.gov|access-date=2010-07-11|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609222000/http://www.lorettasanchez.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=253&Itemid=129|archive-date=June 9, 2010}}</ref>

On October 10, 2002, Sanchez was among the 133 members of the House who voted against authorizing the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]], but she has voted in favor of every appropriation bill for the [[Iraq War|war in Iraq]]. She opposed the troop surge in February 2007.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070225230631/http://recap.fednet.net/archive/Buildasx.asp?sProxy=80_hflr021407_055.wmv,80_hflr021407_056.wmv&sTime=00:01:20.0&eTime=00:01:53&duration=00:05:31.0&UserName=repsancca&sLocation=J&sExpire=1 Congresswoman Sanchez during debate on] See also [http://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=616766500231+1+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve Congresswoman the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on February 14 2007]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On March 7, 2007, Sanchez led a female congressional delegation to visit troops in Iraq. This was her third visit to Iraq.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lorettasanchez.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=213&Itemid=129|title=March 1, 2007: Sanchez Visits Troops in Iraq|publisher=Lorettasanchez.house.gov|access-date=2010-07-11|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627181653/http://www.lorettasanchez.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=213&Itemid=129|archive-date=June 27, 2007}}</ref>

Sanchez has a strong record on supporting human rights and is a member of the bipartisan [[Congressional Human Rights Caucus]]. Two major votes include voting yes in 2001 to keep the Cuba travel ban until political prisoners are released, but later voting in 2009 to lift the travel ban unilaterally, and yes to acknowledge the Armenian genocide of the early 1900s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/CA/Loretta_Sanchez_Foreign_Policy.htm|title=Loretta Sanchez on Foreign Policy|publisher=Ontheissues.org|access-date=2010-07-11}}</ref> She voted to implement the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lorettasanchez.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=199&Itemid=56 |title=January 9, 2007: Sanchez Votes to Implement 9/11 Commission's Recommendations|publisher=Lorettasanchez.house.gov|access-date=2010-07-11|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609222637/http://www.lorettasanchez.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=199&Itemid=56|archive-date=June 9, 2010}}</ref>

Sanchez has stated that she was briefly denied access to a United Airlines flight in October 2006 because her name appeared on a no-fly list set up after the [[September 11 attacks]]. Sanchez said she was instructed to check in with a United employee, who told her she was on the terrorist watch list. The employee asked her for identification.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/world/19374/congresswoman-has-no-fly-list-troubles/story/|title=Congresswoman has no-fly list troubles|work=GMA News Online}}</ref>

In a December 2015 interview with [[Larry King]], in response to his question about the threat of extremist groups within Islam, Sanchez suggested some experts estimate that "anywhere between 5 and 20 percent" of Muslims worldwide supported the creation of a [[Caliphate]] to overthrow the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pc-loretta-sanchez-comment-muslims-20151211-story.html|title=Rep. Loretta Sanchez responds to criticism over comment on Muslims|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=December 11, 2015|author=Phil Willon}}</ref> Sanchez's comments, which came on the heels of both the recent [[San Bernardino mass shooting|Islamist terror attack in San Bernardino]] and [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] presidential candidate [[Donald Trump]]'s call to temporarily ban Muslim immigration to the United States, were criticized as contributing to [[Islamophobia|Anti-Muslim sentiment]]. Sanchez explained that she was merely echoing President Obama's remarks in his December 6, 2015 Oval Office Address wherein he stated:  "Extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that Muslims must confront, without excuse."  She further noted that she has a well-known record of defending the civil liberties of Muslim groups and that she believed most Muslims "are actually with us" in fighting [[Islamic extremism]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-loretta-sanchez-muslims-comment-20151214-story.html|title=Rep. Loretta Sanchez: 'I've never attacked Muslims'|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=December 14, 2015|author=Cathleen Decker}}</ref>

=== Homeland and cyber security ===
On September 13, 2016, the [[United States House Committee on Homeland Security|House Committee on Homeland Security]] unanimously approved two [[amendment]]s authored by Sanchez to strengthen [[Counter-terrorism|counterterrorism]] and [[Computer security|cybersecurity]] programs.

The first bill, the Community Counterterrorism Preparedness Act, H.R. 5859, "establishes a grant program to help major metropolitan areas prepare for and respond to terror attacks that include active shooters."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://lorettasanchez.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-loretta-sanchez-cybersecurity-counterterrorism-amendments-adopted-in|title=REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ CYBERSECURITY & COUNTERTERRORISM AMENDMENTS ADOPTED IN HOMELAND SECURITY MARKUP|date=2016-09-13|access-date=2016-10-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005091344/https://lorettasanchez.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-loretta-sanchez-cybersecurity-counterterrorism-amendments-adopted-in|archive-date=2016-10-05}}</ref> Sanchez's amendment requires that "unclassified threat information" be provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant applicants. According to Sanchez, "With this change, we not only provide needed funds to help regions prepare for attacks, we also give them critical tips and best practices to help them respond."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://homelandprepnews.com/featured/19753-sanchez-amendments-adopted-two-homeland-security-bills/|title=Sanchez amendments adopted in two Homeland Security bills|last=Murtha|first=Alex|date=2016-09-19|website=Homeland Preparedness News|language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-03}}</ref>

The second bill, the Cyber Preparedness Act of 2016, H.R. 5459, "clarifies that DHS grants for states and urban areas can be used for similar statewide initiatives."<ref name=":0" /> Sanchez's new amendment will increase the use of DHS grants in focusing on identifying threats and improving "cybersecurity sharing dissemination."<ref name=":1" /> According to Sanchez, "Given our increased reliance on cyber technology for commerce and critical infrastructure, and given the increasing sophistication of hackers who would do us harm, we must improve our efforts to identify, neutralize, and prevent cyberattacks."<ref name=":1" />

=== Water policy ===
In 2009, Loretta Sanchez secured $49.7 million in federal funding for critical water projects in Orange County, including local dam building, water treatment, and conservation projects:<ref>{{Cite web|title=REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ SECURES NEARLY $ 50 MILLION FOR CRITICAL ORANGE COUNTY WATER PROJECT|url=https://lorettasanchez.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-loretta-sanchez-secures-nearly-50-million-for-critical-orange-county|website=Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez|access-date=2016-01-27|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907104433/http://lorettasanchez.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-loretta-sanchez-secures-nearly-50-million-for-critical-orange-county |archive-date=2016-09-07}}</ref>

$49,310,000 for the continuing construction of the Santa Ana River Mainstem Project, including the Prado Dam. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers labeled the Santa Ana River the worst flood threat west of the Mississippi River. Federal funding allowed for the construction of a new dam to help mitigate this threat, as well as the potential environmental impact imposed by the dam.

$2.870,000 for the Upper Newport Bay Ecosystem Restoration – Funding for this initiative helped manage sedimentation in the Upper Newport Bay by increasing the capacity of sediment basins, restoring and enhancing estuarine habitats, and improving educational and recreational opportunities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ ANNOUNCES OVER $25 MILLION SECURED FOR ORANGE COUNTY PROJECTS|url=https://lorettasanchez.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-loretta-sanchez-announces-over-25-million-secured-for-orange-county|website=Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez|access-date=2016-01-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907104600/http://lorettasanchez.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-loretta-sanchez-announces-over-25-million-secured-for-orange-county|archive-date=2016-09-07}}</ref>

$426,000 for the Westminster-East Garden Grove Watershed Study in Santa Ana to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertake a comprehensive study of the Westminster Watershed, to develop a rehabilitation plan for flood control, ecosystem restoration, recreation, and water quality solutions, including the East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channel and the Bolsa Chica Flood Control Channel. This study helped bolster flood control efforts currently in place, and assisted with ecosystem restoration and overall water quality standards. Both projects were consistent with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' flood control and environmental restoration missions in Southern California.

$558,000 for the Orange Country Regional Water Reclamation Project – Also known as the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS), this project was a water supply initiative designed to reuse approximately 140,000 acre-feet of treated and recycled waste water every year.

$860,000 for the Westminster/East Garden Grove Watershed Study – Funding helped the Army Corps of Engineers continue its comprehensive study of the Westminster Watershed

$546,000 for the Surfside-Sunset and Newport Beaches – Funding helped mitigate damage along 17 miles of the Orange County coastline that was caused by the construction of federal navigation and flood control works in Long Beach and Anaheim Bay.

$369,000 for a Feasibility Study on the Aliso Creek Mainstem Project – Funding for the project helped to develop a plan to create stable flood plain areas and regenerate native riparian habitats, which resulted in cooler water and improved fish health.