As her first committee assignment, Congresswoman Brownley requested to serve on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where she works closely with Ventura County's veterans community and Naval Base Ventura County, making sure we provide the services and care our servicemembers, veterans, and their families have earned and deserve. Brownley was elected as Chairwoman of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, and she also serves on the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. Brownley is also the founder and Chairwoman of the Committee's Women Veterans Task Force. As Chairwoman of the Health Subcommittee, Brownley focuses on improving veterans' access to mental and physical health care, improving services for female veterans, and helping servicemembers transition from the military to the VA health care system. One of Brownley's signature achievements was passing her Female Veterans Suicide Prevention Act in 2016, which would require the VA to collect data on women veterans in order to identify best practices, programs, and services to end female veteran suicide. Locally, Brownley spearheaded the expansion of the VA's Oxnard Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, including authorization for a new, larger clinic with expanded services and increased staffing at the clinic. She has held local field hearings to bring attention to the need to expand VA services in Ventura County, including complementary and alternative medicine, long-term care, and tele-health. In 2017, the House Democratic Caucus selected Brownley to co-chair the Reinvesting in Our Returning Heroes Task Force, based on her ongoing leadership on veterans' issues. She was named HillVets Legislator of the Year in 2018 and received the Blinded Veterans Association Legislative Champion Award, as well as the Health IT Now Pioneer Award for her work expanding telemedicine at the VA.
Brownley also sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where she serves on the Subcommittees on Aviation and Highways & Transit. Since coming to Congress, Brownley has been a steadfast champion of the Port of Hueneme, Channel Islands Harbor, Ventura Harbor, and our local airports, which are significant economic hubs for our community. She has helped secure funds and resources to maintain and expand our local infrastructure, promoting job creation and revenue growth for the region. She received the Contract Tower Congressional Leadership Award for her advocacy on air traffic control issues. Brownley also serves on the New Democrat Coalition Infrastructure Task Force.
In 2019, Brownley was appointed to the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis because of her long career fighting at the forefront of environmental policy. While in the California Assembly, she served for six years on the Committee on Natural Resources, which had primary jurisdiction over air quality, climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and coastal protection. She also took a leadership role in overseeing implementation of AB32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, landmark legislation that propelled our state forward as a national and global leader in taking concrete action to address the climate crisis. She was one of just 10 legislators in 2011 with lifetime perfect scores by the California League of Conservation Voters. She also received the "2010 Environmental Champions Award" from the Environmental Working Group and is a recipient of the Sierra Club Political Leadership Award.
Brownley has also been selected to serve as one of the House Democratic Caucus's Senior Whips - a group of seasoned Members and caucus opinion leaders who meet on an ongoing basis to discuss key issues facing Congress and to ensure that every voice of the caucus is heard.
In addition, Brownley was honored with the Women Lawyers of Ventura County Legacy Award, the Ventura County Workforce Development Board Collaborative Action Award, the Federally Employed Women Appreciation Award, the Small Business Council of America Congressional Rising Star Award, and the Humane Society Humane Advocate Award. She was also named the National Association for Bilingual Education Legislator of the Year.
Brownley began her career in public service in 1994 after deciding to run for the local school board as a way to advocate for a better education for her daughter, who had dyslexia, and other special-needs students. She won and served on the school board for three subsequent terms working to ensure that local schools provided a quality education for every student in the district. She was elected to the California State Legislature in 2006, where she served as Chairwoman of the Assembly Education Committee for four years. She also served on every educational committee in the Assembly, including the Committee on Higher Education, Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance, and the State Allocation Board.
After graduating with a B.A. in political science from George Washington University and earning an M.B.A. from American University, Congresswoman Brownley worked in marketing in private industry before finding her true calling in public service. She resides in Thousand Oaks, and has two children- Fred, who graduated from UCLA Medical School and is currently doing his residency in Chicago, and Hannah, who works on poverty and HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa for an international aid organization.
