U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been named one of 11 fellows at the Sanders Institute Opens in a new tab, a progressive think tank launched on Wednesday by Jane Sanders, the wife of former presidential contender and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to galvanize political action around progressive issues.
Other fellows include such prominent figures as Cornel West, a professor at Union Theological Seminary and professor emeritus at Princeton University; Robert Reich, former
secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton; environmentalist Bill McKibben; and artists and activists Danny Glover and Harry
Belafonte.
Universal health care and income inequality are highlighted as top policy issues on the institute’s homepage, though the institute carves out 13 areas of focus, such as criminal, racial and social justice, the environment and immigration.
The website includes video, speeches and writings from Gabbard, such as an op-ed she wrote about failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs, including monthslong wait times to see a doctor. The site also includes the text of a speech Gabbard delivered in March at Rutgers University’s annual Prophet Muhammad Day, in which she called for religious tolerance.
“No matter where you’re from, no matter what religion you practice, your ethnicity, race or anything else — what is it that can bring us together as people? It is what we call in Hawaii, aloha … sincere, deep love and respect for other people as children of God,” Gabbard said in the speech.
Gabbard attracted national attention last year when she stepped down as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sanders for president. At the time, Sanders was considered a long shot for winning the Democratic presidential nomination.
Sanders swept Hawaii’s presidential preference poll with the help of Gabbard, winning the state 70 percent to Hillary Clinton’s
30 percent.
The Sanders Institute will be run by Jane Sanders, and her husband will not be
involved in its operations, according to the Washington Post.
