Hilda L. Solis: “We need to educate and teach our young people that diversity is our strength, particularly in places like Southern…”

“We need to educate and teach our young people that diversity is our strength, particularly in places like Southern California where we exchange different languages, different cultures; and we enjoy that strength. We have unifying symbolisms there that people can join. We need to talk about that more forcefully here on the floor as the gentlewoman is doing tonight. I commend the gentlewoman, and on behalf of the people in the 31st Congressional District, I know that they want to see some improvement with respect to hate crimes legislation. One of my cities has had numerous hate crimes against African Americans because there are very few there. That has created a big problem in that city. We need to provide support, financial support, whether it be through our law enforcement efforts to do more sensitivity training and outreach, community policing, but also in the schools and even in our churches and mosques and other centers of religious teaching where people can begin to break down those barriers and really begin to have a thoughtful discussion on what it is to be an American, what that really means.”