Ballotpedia, Summer Lee

Summer was raised in the Mon Valley where she attended Woodland Hills public schools. She has a bachelor's degree from Penn State University and a law degree from Howard University School of Law.

Summer is an attorney. She has worked as an organizer for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Summer Lynn Lee currently serves as US Representative for Congressional District 12. She was elected in 2022 and is serving her 1st term. She previously served as State Representative for State House District 34 for 2 terms. 

Candidate website

Supports equitable school funding and fair pay for teachers.

Supports universal free pre-kindergarten and early childcare.

Believes in safeguarding public school curricula from "right-wing attacks."

Supports canceling all existing student loan debt and making public colleges, universities, and vocational programs tuition-free.

As a state representative, co-sponsored the Universal School Meals Program Act to provide daily breakfast, lunch, and snacks for children in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.

- Supports equitable school funding and fair pay for teachers.
- Supports universal free pre-kindergarten and early childcare.
- Believes in safeguarding public school curricula from "right-wing attacks."
- Supports canceling all existing student loan debt and making public colleges, universities, and vocational programs tuition-free.
- As a state representative, co-sponsored the Universal School Meals Program Act to provide daily breakfast, lunch, and snacks for children in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.

Education

Economy

Supports access to abortion and would pass the Women's Health Protection Act to make it a federal right.

Believes in investing in midwifery health care coverage, education programs, and workforce to address the Black maternal health crisis.

Advocates for investing in midwifery health care coverage, education programs, and workforce to address the Black maternal health crisis.

Supports the Hazard Pay for Health Care Workers Act, which would provide hazard pay for health care workers during public health emergencies.

Supports the creation of a Transgender Bill of Rights to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people.

- Supports abortion access.
- Advocates for investing in midwifery health care coverage, education programs, and workforce to address the Black maternal health crisis.
- Supports the Hazard Pay for Health Care Workers Act, which would provide hazard pay for health care workers during public health emergencies.
- Supports the creation of a Transgender Bill of Rights to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people.

Healthcare

Supports expanding the Supreme Court and ending lifetime appointments for justices.

Supports federal automatic voter registration, early and mail voting, federal holidays for election days, and same-day voter registration.

- Supports expanding the Supreme Court and ending lifetime appointments for justices.
- Supports federal automatic voter registration, early and mail voting, federal holidays for election days, and same-day voter registration.

Voting & Elections

CNN, How progressive ceasefire advocate Summer Lee defanged the opposition ahead of her primary in Pennsylvania

Supports providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including "Dreamers" and those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Supports comprehensive immigration reform to ensure fair treatment of immigrants and address system backlogs.

Supports a ceasefire in Gaza and "conditioning" US military aid to Israel.

Supports a ceasefire in Gaza and conditions on US military aid to Israel.

- Supports providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including "Dreamers" and those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
- Supports comprehensive immigration reform to ensure fair treatment of immigrants and address system backlogs.
- Supports a ceasefire in Gaza and conditions on US military aid to Israel.

Foreign Policy and Immigration

Opposes "corporate polluters" and supports sustainable, clean energy union jobs.

Supports investing in renewable energy and green technologies.

Supports The Green New Deal for Health Act, which aims to ensure sustainability and support for patients, providers, and communities as the health care system responds to climate change.

Supports a $25 million clean energy grant to help Pittsburgh deploy reliable, affordable, and equitable clean energy systems.

Supports the Fossil Free Finance Act, which would prohibit federal employees from investing in fossil fuel companies.

- Opposes "corporate polluters" and supports sustainable, clean energy union jobs.
- Supports investing in renewable energy and green technologies.
- Supports The Green New Deal for Health Act, which aims to ensure sustainability and support for patients, providers, and communities as the health care system responds to climate change.
- Supports a $25 million clean energy grant to help Pittsburgh deploy reliable, affordable, and equitable clean energy systems.
- Supports the Fossil Free Finance Act, which would prohibit federal employees from investing in fossil fuel companies.

Energy & the Environment

Believes mass incarceration and police brutality harm community safety and social justice, advocating for reallocating funds from prisons to education and essential services like food assistance, housing, and healthcare.

Advocates for reallocating funds from prisons to education and essential services like food assistance, housing, and healthcare.

- Advocates for reallocating funds from prisons to education and essential services like food assistance, housing, and healthcare.

Public Safety

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Summer Lynn Lee

Summer is an attorney and has worked as an organizer, leading voter mobilization efforts for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Summer Lynn Lee currently serves as US Representative for Congressional District 12. She was first elected in 2022 and is serving her 1st term. She previously served as State Representative for State House District 34 for 2 terms. 

Co-led the introduction of the Relieving Economic Strain to Enhance American Resilience and Competitiveness in Higher Education and Research (RESEARCHER) Act to address financial insecurity in higher education.

Cosponsored the College for All Act to make public colleges and many minority-serving institutions tuition- and debt-free.

Believes in addressing the decline of unionization rates nationwide.

Supports a strong economy that benefits all citizens.

Believes we have the financial resources to achieve economic goals.

Supports investing in regional transit to enhance community connectivity and reliable service while reducing automobile emissions.

Supports unions, believing they reduce inequality, raise wages, and improve job protections.

Opposes corporate lobbying in politics, citing that Irwin has received nearly $7,000 from corporate lobbyists.

Believes in "progressive ideals" for economic policies, and supports overcoming "corporate smears" to achieve these goals.

Supports abortion and wants to guarantee equal access to abortion coverage by passing the EACH Act, the Protect Sexual and Reproductive Health Act, and the Abortion Justice Act.

Supports the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act to address the "Black maternal health epidemic" through various healthcare improvements and investments.

Hosted HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra for a community round table on lowering health care costs for seniors in Pittsburgh.

Supports the Closing the Meal Gap Act to address food insecurity.

Supports voting rights protections and fair election practices.

Supports voting rights and fair election practices.

Supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore voting protections that were weakened by the Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder.

Supports strengthening voting rights and safeguarding democracy.

Supports ending the filibuster to protect voting rights.

Supports the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC.

Supports the Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act, which would prevent pardoned, annulled, or expunged convictions from being considered in immigration or citizenship proceedings.

Supports repealing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the U.S. president to determine how and if all foreign nationals from a specific country should be "apprehended, restrained, secured and removed."

Supports the International Human Rights Defense Act of 2023 to affirm the U.S. role in protecting LGBTQ+ rights abroad.

Supports the Commission on Equity and Reconciliation in the Uniformed Services Act to address issues facing LGBTQI+ military members.

Said, "Right now, our immigration system is built like our broken criminal legal system - it is punitive, relies on private prisons for detention, has built up an over-militarized border, and has turned ICE into a violent policing agency. All of that must end for us to prioritize the people getting lost, abused, and deported by our current immigration system."

Supports environmental justice and clean energy initiatives.

Opposes right-wing federal judges banning medicated abortion, believing it would exacerbate care shortages in Western Pennsylvania, already strained by patient influx from Ohio and West Virginia.

Supports public safety initiatives, including events with UPMC health workers.

As of October 3, 2024, Summer Lynn Lee’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Summer Lynn Lee is a U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. She previously served as a state representative in Pennsylvania's 34th District. Lee is also an attorney and has worked as an organizer, leading voter mobilization efforts for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

- Your US Representative represents the interests of your district in the US House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress. Pennsylvania currently has 19 US Representatives.
- US Representatives can author, sponsor, debate, and vote on bills that become national law.
- Representatives may serve on congressional committees. Committees focus on certain policy areas, such as transportation, education, or labor. They may also run for higher positions within their party, such as the Speaker of the House or Majority/Minority Leader.
- Representatives are elected to two-year terms. To hold this office, a candidate must be a legal resident of Pennsylvania for at least seven years before their election. 
- US Representatives are paid a salary of $174,000/year.