Members Of The United States House Of Representatives

"This country is divided into classes as much as any monarchial country. Therefore, the working class—the men and women who work either with their brains or their hands—must have a party of their own to take care of their interests of their own class."

"Political parties are simply the expression of economic interests."

"The working class has nothing to hope from either the Republican party or the Democratic party. It is true that the representatives of these parties may be, and very often are, very cultured and accomplished gentlemen. Most of them are honest. However, they represent the capitalistic system, and the more honest and consistent they are—the more loyal they are to their class."

"Unless plutocracy can persuade the majority of the people to close up the public schools and make illiterates of the next generation, and unless it can also persuade them to give up the electoral franchise, plutocracy is doomed. So much is clear. And that is the reason why we Socialists can look with such equanimity and complacence into the future. The future belongs to some form of Socialism."

"Perhaps more than ever, the modern world requires the Holy See's "soft power" of persuasion rather than coercion, to drive a diplomacy based on ideas and fundamental human rights—and needs to provide a possibility of conflict resolution without military intervention."

"Deb Haaland campaigned on progressive issues, including climate change, renewable energy, universal healthcare and a $15 minimum wage."

"we weren’t citizens until 1924 here in New Mexico. They couldn’t—Indians couldn’t vote until 1948, when a member of the Isleta Pueblo sued the state of New Mexico after he came back from World War II and couldn’t vote."

"it seems like any opportunity the Republicans have to oppress voters, they do that."

"At last, we do have Native women representation in Congress."

"Our country has a trust responsibility to Indian tribes, and it seems like their voice has been lacking in so many conversations that we’ve had in this country. And so, I’d like to make sure that tribal leaders have that seat at the table."

"There is too much inequity in our country, in our world. And I think it’s time for the big corporations to make right with workers."

"I think it’s important to point out that Deb Haaland is — I think she’s been in this position for just over a year now. And one year, you know, in the face of a century and a half of genocidal Indian policy, isn’t that much, when we think about how history unfolds."

"I have confidence that she is the right person for the job. She is from New Mexico. She has shown deep commitments to protecting Chaco Canyon from further exploitation, and as we know the Southwest has been considered a sacrifice zone. There is a lot of uranium contamination still there, and they want to open it back up for uranium mining and oil and gas extraction. She has been very, very staunchly against it. I think she is the right person for that position to protect lands, but it remains to be seen how much the structure and the political system will hamper her ability to work collaboratively across the aisle as someone in a Cabinet-level position."

"New Mexico has over 310 days of sun per year. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be a global leader in renewable energy right now."

"It is so unfair that the big executives can make that much money when there are people that can’t afford to buy groceries. It is fundamentally unfair. It isn’t right. They don’t have a conscience. And they need to pay up."

"I came here to fight for working families, and that’s what I’m doing"

"For more than a century, tens of thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their communities and forced into boarding schools run by the U.S. government, specifically the Department of the Interior, and religious institutions. … When my maternal grandparents were only 8 years old, they were stolen from their parents’ culture and communities and forced to live in boarding schools until the age of 13. Many children like them never made it back to their homes. … The federal policies that attempted to wipe out Native identity, language and culture continue to manifest in the pain tribal communities face today, including cycles of violence and abuse, disappearance of Indigenous people, premature deaths, poverty and loss of wealth, mental health disorders and substance abuse. Recognizing the impacts of the federal Indian boarding school system cannot just be a historical reckoning. We must also chart a path forward to deal with these legacy issues. …The fact that I am standing here today as the first Indigenous cabinet secretary is testament to the strength and determination of Native people. I am here because my ancestors persevered. I stand on the shoulders of my grandmother and my mother. And the work we will do with the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative will have a transformational impact on the generations who follow."

"Seventy years ago, Native Americans right here in New Mexico couldn’t vote. Can you believe that? Growing up in my mother’s Pueblo household and as a 35th-generation New Mexican, I never imagined a world where I would be represented by someone who looks like me. Tonight, New Mexico, you are sending one of the very first Native American women to Congress!"

"There are steps that we can take to support the rights of all people in South Asia. It is time that we take these steps. They include cutting off our aid and trade with India and putting the US Congress on record in support of self-determination for the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan, the Christian people of Nagaland, the Kashmiris, and all the people of South Asia, who are seeking freedom. Only by exercising their right to self-determination, which is the essence of democracy, can the people there finally live in freedom, peace, and prosperity."

"Trained combatants in Gujarat entered villages and attacked men, women and children. Pregnant women had their wombs ripped open and unborn babies were ripped out and tossed into burning fires. Approximately three hundred women were gang-raped. Over two thousand people died. I have photos too gruesome to show, in my office . . . Mr Speaker, our government must respond to these brutal attacks and the underlying extremism. The silence of the US Government is deafening."

"In 2004, he went on a fact-finding mission to India, and concluded that the laws preventing abusive conversion methods were undemocratic. He also attended the PIFRAS (Policy Institute for Religion and State) seminar on India that year, and is known for his pro-Pakistan stand. In 2001 he tried to set up a Kashmir Forum in the US Congress. In 2003 he inaugurated on Capitol Hill a pro-Pakistan conference on Kashmir. He is known to be a ‘long time sympathizer of the pro-Pakistani lobby’ and Indian officials boycotted his events. As a Christian conservative, he received a hundred percent rating for his voting record from the American Conservative Union in 2005 and the Christian Coalition in 2004. Pitts, along with the former US Senator Rick Santorum, helped sponsor a Religious Freedom Day in 2006 for DFN. Pitts is known for his support for US intervention in Iraq, and also tried to sneak Christian Intelligent Design theory into the national school curriculum. He is now a senior fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he heads a new program called ‘America’s Enemies’, which will ‘focus on identifying, studying, and heightening awareness of the threats posed to America and the West from a growing array of anti-Western forces that are increasingly casting a shadow over our future and violating religious liberty around the world’."

"If the end goal following the defeat of Hamas and safe return of all hostages is a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people, as I believe it should be, ad hominem attacks against colleagues will never accomplish that objective."

"Democratic New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries declared, "The members of the Republican conference who support the Confederate battle flag apparently argue that this is about heritage and tradition. What exactly is the tradition the Confederate battle flag is meant to represent? Is it slavery? Rape? Kidnap? Genocide? Treason? Or all of the above?""

"Together, these Members have over two decades of distinguished leadership providing oversight of our nation’s Intelligence Community, in addition to their prosecutorial work in law enforcement prior to serving in Congress"

"House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry, the Constitution over the cult, democracy over demagogues, economic opportunity over extremism, freedom over fascism, governing over gaslighting, hopefulness over hatred, inclusion over isolation, justice over judicial overreach, knowledge over kangaroo courts, liberty over limitation, maturity over Mar-a-Lago, normalcy over negativity, opportunity over obstruction, people over politics, quality of life issues over Q-anon, reason over racism, substance over slander, triumph over tyranny, understanding over ugliness, voting rights over voter suppression, working families over the well-connected, xenial over xenophobia, yes we can over you can't do it, and and zealous representation over zero sum confrontation. -- And we will always do the right thing by the American people, so let us not grow weary of doing good, for the American people will reap the benefit of the harvest if we do not give up. God bless you, God bless the House, and God bless the United States of America."

"There’s another issue in the school system, which is standardized tests. Teachers focus so much time and energy in teaching students how to pass tests that they’re not able to educate them. So our students are overtested and undereducated."

"We have to reduce our terrible violence in many of the neighborhoods in Chicago. Ten thousand shootings over the past four years is intolerable. We need a mayor who will be about the neighborhoods, who will have the disposition, the willingness to sit with neighborhood residents, who will be receptive to the need for mental health services in many of the neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. So, a mayor who is really in tune with ordinary people, with Chicago neighborhoods and with working people in Chicago is what residents in Chicago have said they want."

"I’m running for mayor of the city of Chicago because Chicago needs to go in a different direction. For the past four years, we’ve seen Mayor Emanuel arrive in town with a boatload of money, impose his policies on the people of the city of Chicago. They favored a select few in Chicago. Through the amassing of large sums of money, he thought he could get re-elected, while leaving behind Chicago neighborhoods, making Chicago a city that leads the nation in the number of school closings—almost 50—and making Chicago, at the same time, one of the most violent cities in the country. We’ve experienced in the past four years 10,000 shootings, for example. So people in the neighborhoods feel left behind. They have come together, supported me for mayor. We’ve forced him into a runoff by building a coalition that is truly multiracial, multiethnic, across faith and across geography in Chicago. We’re fighting back against the agenda that was imposed on Chicago, and we want some attention and resources and investment in Chicago neighborhoods."

"What we’ve seen in Chicago is a policy of inequality, a lack of equity. You have some parts of the city that have really good public schools, other parts of the city that don’t have the resources that you need to have successful education occurring. Those schools happen to be located in some of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago. And, of course, the schools that were closed in Chicago are primarily in low-income areas that are predominately African-American and Latino."

"Chicago is now at the forefront of a national debate about how you govern. Do you continue to let the powerful interests run your city, or do citizens fight back, unite and demonstrate that they can have a voice, they can chart a new course that is inclusive of the interests of all the people of Chicago?"

"We have something to say to all those big corporations and special interests who spent all those millions to install their own mayor: We want change!"

"To learn what makes us go, there’s no place you wouldn’t go, from the beaches of San Juan to the mountains of Mexico. And now that you’ve gone, we, the people, vow to stay strong. The unity of our coalition is a tribute to the Washington tradition. Today, today in '87, we know that you're in heaven. Adiós, amigo. Adiós."

"He’s disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople. Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee, I am calling for his immediate resignation."

"The future is endless, you just never know. You can do whatever you want next, and I’m just going to do whatever I want."

"He's a terrible human being. He does not deserve to be in the House of Representatives. He deserves to be in a federal prison. And I think the issue of expulsion is going to be something that a lot of my colleagues are going to talk about."

"The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or "performed" as a drag Queen is categorically false. The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results. I will not be distracted nor fazed by this."

"I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was Jew-ish."

"No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life."

"I'm not a fraud. I'm not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress."

"My grandfather fleeing Ukraine in 1920s to Belgium, and fleeing Belgium to Brazil in 1940. It's a story of survival, of tenacity, of grit, as we like to call it. My mother migrated to the United States in search of the American Dream, as I said today, I am her American Dream."

"I am not a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have I ever committed any crimes."

"Well guess what? Rosa Parks didn't sit in the back and neither am I going to sit in the back."

"I was at the Ellipse on January 6th. That was the most amazing crowd, and the president was at his full awesomeness that day, it was a front row spectacle for me."

"There has to be consequence for saying things that will lead to destruction, antisemitism, and terror"

"All of us in this room can agree that when we look at slavery, it was barbaric. Fifty years from now, we’re going to look back at what we’re doing in this country and we are going to say ‘we killed babies out of the womb? We aborted our own? That is barbaric.'"

"Unlike approaches that pass on the costs of transition to working people, the Green New Deal is squarely focused on marrying pollution reduction to the top priorities of the most vulnerable workers and the most excluded communities. This is the game changer of having representatives in Congress rooted in working-class struggles for living wage jobs and for nontoxic air and water-women like Rashida Tlaib, who helped fight a successful battle against Koch Industries' noxious petroleum coke mountain in Detroit."

"[AIPAC's] going after Rashida Tlaib for one reason only: because she’s a Palestinian member of Congress who is a passionate and eloquent defender of the humanity of Palestinians, and she brings that issue to the fore in Congress like no one else does."

"Four of the most dynamic women of color in Congress – representatives Pramila Jayapal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib"

"I'm a gay married man, I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks."

"Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place."