Joe Sestak (D-Pa., U.S. Senate)

Joe Sestak

NOW/PAC is pleased to endorse Joe Sestak for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. Sestak is serving his second term as U.S. Representative from Southeastern Pennsylvania and currently serves on three committees: Small Business Committee (vice chair), Committee on Education and Labor, and the Armed Services Committee. He spent 31 years in the U.S. Navy, earning the rank of 3-Star Admiral, and is now proud to serve his nation on Capitol Hill.

Sestak is a strong supporter of the ERA and full rights and privileges for all civil marriages. While in the House, he has voted against the ban on gay marriage and Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Sestak supports Roe v. Wade, opposes parental notification and backs Medicaid coverage for abortions. He was one of five representatives in his state to vote against the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. Sestak also supports safe, accurate and appropriate sex education. He co-sponsored many bills that advance women's health, from the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act to the Mammogram and MRI Availability Act of 2009.

He champions small business lending programs for women and strongly opposes wage-based sex discrimination. In the House, Sestak was an original co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act as well as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He has also voted in favor of the Small Business Association's Women's Business Programs Act and introduced multiple bills supporting women entrepreneurs.

Sestak supports increasing resources available to survivors of domestic violence, including allowing for paid and unpaid leave for such women.

Sestak is challenging incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the state's May 18 Democratic primary.

For more information on Sestak see his campaign website

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