VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Today marks 100 days since freshman congresswoman Elaine Luria began her job as Virginia's Second District Representative.
"It did go by quickly," she said. "We came in from ground zero and had to build our team, and we're really excited about the team we've built here in the district."
In these first three and a half months in Washington, the Democrat has introduced five bills, co-sponsored 88 bills and served on the House Armed Services and the Veterans Affairs Committees.
The retired Navy commander has challenged Navy leaders on their plan to retire the USS Harry S. Truman and has been actively trying to help military members struggling with inadequate privatized housing.
"As a commanding officer here in Hampton Roads, my command was at Little Creek. I did have sailors on occasion come forward and say they had problems with the management company," she said. "And I felt as a commanding officer there was very little recourse to interject myself as a commanding officer in the chain of command."
But, now after the intense media attention on the mold, the water leaks, the pest infestations, and, the general inaction, Luria believes a corner is being turned.
"I think we need to keep the right level of visibility on the fact that the management companies need to resolve the issues that sailors and soldiers are having in housing," she said. "But I also think legislatively, there are fixes we can do to give people that are living in housing more similar recourse when things don't go right."
She was an original co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation that would increase accountability and oversight over private contractor-provided housing for military families, which have suffered from serious health, safety, and environmental problems.
And, according to a new release, Luria and her staff have hosted or attended 416 meetings with Virginians, recovered $128,201 for constituents, and sent 4,100 response letters to Virginians on legislative issues.