Dean Phillips in 2020 House elections

On Civil Rights: Supports Equality Act and extraordinary LGBTQ community

"It's time to end the era of uncertainty and discrimination against our LGBTQ friends, neighbors and family members," said Phillips. "Our nation was built on the promise of equality and opportunity, and the Equality Act extends that promise to our extraordinary LGBTQ community. I'm proud to help introduce this long overdue legislation in the House today and will continue working hard to make sure the Equality Act is signed into law."

Amending existing civil rights law provides clarity and consistency for individuals who experience discrimination as well as for businesses and organizations trying to comply with the law. More than 160 corporations have endorsed the legislation.

On Crime: George Floyd Act: change the culture of law enforcement

1. Make Policing Safer: Ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, two practices that have been directly responsible for the tragic deaths of American citizens. In addition, the legislation would require that police officers use deadly force only as a last resort.
2. Change the Culture of Law Enforcement: Prohibit racial and religious profiling, fund new training programs, and create a national accreditation system for police departments.
3. Improve Transparency: Create a nationwide police misconduct registry to prevent problematic officers from quietly moving from one jurisdiction to another.
4. Improve Accountability: Hold police officers accountable for misconduct by ending "qualified immunity" for law enforcement.
5. Encourages Innovation: Grants for communities who wish to develop innovative approaches to public safety.

On Drugs: Marijuana prohibition defies common sense & popular will

Despite bipartisan, majority citizen support for legalization, Minnesota has some of the strictest cannabis policies in the nation. H.F. 600 would allow adults to grow and consume cannabis in a responsible fashion while ensuring that law enforcement has the tools necessary to meet new challenges. Further, the legislation would expunge non-violent cannabis offenses from Minnesotans' criminal records and invest revenues from cannabis taxation into the communities that were disproportionately impacted by the failed War on Drugs.

"Laws prohibiting recreational marijuana use defy both common sense and the will of the people," said Phillips. "It is absurd that a country built on the principles of freedom and liberty would ever criminalize the consumption of a plant."

On Families & Children: Protect same-sex and interracial marriages 

"When it comes to marriage, I stand with a majority of Americans on the side of freedom and equality," Phillips said. "Ten years ago, Minnesotans became the first voters in the nation to block a same-sex marriage ban, and in the face of a Supreme Court threatening to encroach on that very freedom a decade later, I will do everything I can to protect same-sex and interracial marriages whenever and wherever they are under attack."

On Foreign Policy: Descendant of Jewish refugees who fled European pogroms

In March, Phillips demanded an apology from fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar after she charged that American supporters of Israel have "allegiance to a foreign country."

In his freshman term in Congress, Phillips took action to combat the many faces of hate--of Jews, of immigrants, and of "the other." While introducing a resolution condemning white nationalism, Phillips took time to reflect on his great-grandparents' journey. "I come from an immigrant family," he told how his great-grandparents told him of fleeing persecution to find refuge in the United States. Yet Minneapolis was far from a safe haven for Jews at the time. Phillips was told stories in his youth of the "horrid antisemitism" that his great-grandparents worked hard to fight against.