21st Century American Women Politicians

"This list of voting abuses shows the persistence, determination, and the resources of local officials bent on making it as difficult as possible, and in some cases actually impossible, for minorities to exercise their right to an effective vote."

"In order to prevail in Texas, we have to argue what is now known as the northern de jure segregation cases. We culled through the school board minutes going back to 1919. We traced the development of their school construction policies, their school assignment policies. We noticed that even toys were provided on the basis of race; twice the amount was spent for children in the Anglo schools as for children in the Mexican school, even though there were double the number of children in the Mexican schools as in the Anglo schools."

"In Texas, as many of you know, children were required to be educated in either the white or the colored school. Officials in Texas, and I have in mind Pecos County and Nueces County, which have large percentages of Mexican American people, could not decide whether Mexican Americans were white or colored, so we got no schools. In most other schools, as in Uvalde, we were in fact put into a third category of school, called the Mexican school."

"The pattern of abuses in Uvalde County is strikingly reminiscent of the Deep South of the early 1960s. The Civil Rights Commission's study documents that duly registered Chicano voters are not being placed on the voting lists; that election judges are selectively and deliberately invalidating ballots cast by minority voters; that election judges are refusing to aid minority voters who are illiterate in English; that the tax assessor-collector of Uvalde County, who is responsible for registering voters, refuses to name members of minority groups as deputy registrars; that the Uvalde County tax assessor repeatedly runs out of registration application cards when minority voter applicants ask for them; that the Uvalde County tax assessor-collector refuses to register voter applicants based on the technicality that the application was filed on a printed card bearing a previous year's date. Other abuses were uncovered by the study of the Civil Rights Commission in Uvalde County, and elsewhere in Texas: Widespread gerrymandering with the purpose of diluting minority voting strength; systematic drawing of at-large electoral districts with this same purpose and design; maintenance of polling places exclusively in areas inaccessible to minority voters; excessive firing fees to run for political office"

"It’s reprehensible that she would tweet out something that is defamatory to an entire religion"

"It's a little bit more of a challenge, I think, for women, but, if you're willing to put in the work and be committed and have a family and circle of support around you, you'll be able to do it, and thankfully, I do, so I can serve my district."

"This is bullshit"

"That makes abortion a felony."

"In order to have an economy that works, we have to be safe. The safety of our citizens and our nation is always government's first responsibility. And I will keep working to support our brave men and women of law enforcement and to keep our country safe"

"I will keep reaching out to colleagues from both sides of the aisle defined shared goals and the common ground and compromise necessary to help families and small businesses with the challenges that they face, like the high cost of housing and childcare"

"I want to take a minute to thank Don Bolduc for a hard-fought campaign and I want to thank Don Bolduc for his service to this country. We have differences, but we share a love for this country"

"The Republican men — and, yes, they are all men — running against me are all pushing an extreme, anti-choice agenda. ... If elected to the Senate, they would ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. They would defund Planned Parenthood. They would vote for justices who will take away the constitutional rights of American women. And anti-abortion activists are already plotting a push for a national ban on abortion — and my opponents would be right there with them. That is their agenda. But I have taken on anti-choice opponents before and won — and together we will do it again."

"The midterms will be the most important election of our lifetimes. On the ballot will be a woman’s fundamental right to be a full and equal citizen in our democracy. This is a fight not just to defend reproductive health care — but a woman’s right to control her own destiny. And it’s a fight we must win."

"Mr. President, as the Senate Appropriations Committee prepares its markup of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year-2020 budget – I rise today to discuss the urgent need for additional funding to combat the fentanyl, heroin, and opioid crisis"

"It’s really important to remember that not every person who serves becomes a parent. But when people have the experience of parenting — and particularly when mothers have the opportunity to represent their constituents — I think they bring a different perspective. We know that women generally, and particularly women who are mothers, tend to interact more with people who have been marginalized in some way."

"We are experiencing a sea change in our culture that is long overdue, and we must continue working to empower all women and do everything we can to prevent sexual harassment, misconduct, and assault."

"I really look forward to being between the legislative branch of government and the executive branch of government — being a person that can facilitate a real strong, solid line of communication between the two bodies."

"As a society, we don't grow very much by killing someone who kills someone,"

"We know that community testing helps us quickly identify new COVID cases, so we can isolate the virus. Please get tested. We know that vaccines and boosters are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations and death. Please, go get vaccinated and go get boosted."

"So, yes President Biden is building pipelines for Putin."

"A new Republican Star is born"

"There’s a tremendous irony in the fact that Elise Stefanik is supposedly so upset about people saying Palestine will be free from the river to the sea, because Elise Stefanik supports the existence of one country which denies Palestinians basic rights between the river and the sea. And as for the idea that she has some great concern for Jews, as you said, she’s actually trafficked in the same “great replacement” theory that is what motivated the Pittsburgh shooter because of this insane idea that Jews are bringing in Black and Brown immigrants into the United States to replace white people. Elise Stefanik doesn’t actually care about Jews. What she believes in is ethnonationalism. She believes in a White Christian state in the United States. And she’s sympathetic to forces in Israel that believe in a Jewish supremacist state, because fundamentally she’s hostile to the basic principle that people should be treated equally under the law irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity. She’s hostile to it in Israel-Palestine. She’s hostile to it in the United States. That’s what motivates her."

"One down. Two to go [...] This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America. This forced resignation of the president of Penn is the bare minimum of what is required."

"Yesterday’s unprecedented leak is an attempt to severely damage the Supreme Court. This clearly coordinated campaign to intimidate and obstruct the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, and its independence in our political system, from upholding the Constitution must immediately be investigated by the court."

"The American people deserve to know the truth, that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as the Speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on January 6th And it was only after Republicans started asking these questions that she refused to seat them."

"“I have concerns about the treatment of January 6 hostages.”"

"As a woman legislator in our state, I believe it is crucial that we move forward on pro-life issues. I’m very, very passionate; I’m actually one of seven children. I’ve grown up in a household that protects life, and understands that abortion is wrong. And so for me, being in the legislature, it was exciting to start working on crucial pieces of legislation."

"When I first started running there were some comments regarding my age, but at the end of the day what I always tell people is, this is what I believe, this is where I stand and this is what I’ll do to fight for you."

"President Trump is not a defender of democracy. He must resign or be removed from office. Country above party. We must all defend our constitution and stand together."

"I say two words: ‘Supreme Court,’ the next president will shape the court for generations to come. And I want the court to protect the rights of all of us regardless of race, gender, class, cultural background."

""I believe in fair play, and I believe that when people are struggling, you don't talk down to them, you help lift them up"."

"Tammy did a great job of reaching out to the Democratic leadership, and emphasizing the importance, and helping to decide, some of the timing, such as waiting til after the election. Her leadership was critical"

"Suicide prevention has been and should continue to be a nonpartisan issue, and I call on my Republican colleagues who have long supported this program to fight for these kids, too."

"I think that there has been a real opportunity for me to be a champion for issues that I might not hear about if I only was going to the population centers of the state"

"This legislation will protect the hard-fought progress we’ve made on marriage equality and I look forward to the Respect for Marriage Act becoming the law of the land"

"Millions of same-sex and interracial couples made this moment possible by living openly as their authentic selves, changing the hearts and minds of people around them"

"My own first reaction was this is absolutely unnecessary but if they want clarification in writing, OK, there's no harm to state the facts"

"Here are the facts that are important to me. Kyle Rittenhouse, who was a minor at the time, traveled from Illinois to Wisconsin, and picked up an assault rifle that was illegally purchased for him. He took the law into his own hands, killing two people and injuring another... I understand why people believe that justice was not served in this case, because I feel the same way. This ruling makes clear we have so much work to do to take on gun violence, and reform our broken criminal justice system so that it starts working equally and fairly for everyone. In Wisconsin, this judge has now ruled that it’s legal for a minor to walk the streets in Wisconsin with an assault weapon. If that is true, then our state legislature should take action now in a bipartisan way to change the law and make it illegal... To me that’s just common sense that most people in our state would agree with. The fact that some people are cheering a ruling that has allowed someone to take the law into his own hands and walk free from any accountability after shooting and killing two people is disrespectful to the lives that were lost, and I am deeply concerned that it will encourage more tragic gun violence from those like Kyle Rittenhouse who think they have a license to take the law into their own hands in a violent way."

""One of the most amazing experiences of my life has been the ability to work from within a legislative body to build majorities, to change minds and hearts, and to bring people to the place where they're proud to call themselves fighters for equity and equality"."

"If you think about the challenges our state is facing and the people of our state are facing... some of them are things that can be addressed in a short period of time, but most of them are things that take work and that will take time"

"People are really sick of us going from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis, and really want to see us getting back to a point where we look out over a year, or five years or ten years and plan in thoughtful way"

"We were talking about, access for students who might be non-traditional students, mid-career, needing to close skills gaps to get 21st century manufacturing or advanced manufacturing jobs and how they're playing a key role in doing that"

"The reauthorization is long overdue, and we want to make sure it keeps pace with the retirement of the baby boom generation"

"There are times where you have to be on the journey and recognize that sometimes you don’t know what the end is going to be, right? Maybe it’s going to be great. And maybe it’s not"

"If Roe were to fall, abortion would probably be illegal in about half the states in the country, up to 26 states, particularly in the South, the Midwest, and West, who have all spoken out — many leaders — about how they’re poised to restrict or ban access. Some have even taken action, even as recently as yesterday, as crazy as that sounds."

"The president and the vice president are devoted to ensuring that every American has access to health care, including reproductive health care, regardless of their income, zip code, race, health insurance status, or immigration status"

"I don't think our role is to place blame, but what we can do is provide accurate information to people who are not yet vaccinated about the risks they are incurring not only among on themselves, but also the people around them"

"My armor has always been to do the homework and to be as prepared as you can possibly be. And to ask questions"

"The kinds of people you meet on political campaigns are some of the best human beings. They’re survivors, and they’re spunky, and they have personalities, and they spend months sleeping on couches and living on, whatever, pizza and coffee and bad beer"

"I will note I’m a human being. I’m an Irish person who, not to stereotype myself, but I have times where I get a little hot. I try not to, but there are days where I wish I would’ve been calmer, or more gracious, in my responses when you have a moment of human frustration. But I will tell you that how I try to approach it is trying to use it as a forum for providing information to the public. And trying to treat people, on my best days, with respect"