Sam Farr: “I rise this Sunday afternoon here in Washington with, like the rest of us, probably really missing our families and…”

“I rise this Sunday afternoon here in Washington with, like the rest of us, probably really missing our families and wishing we could be with them. But I happened to think about my daughter who was about the age that I was when this town and this country was calling out for the best in people, asking them to bring out what is the best in America by joining the Peace Corps. I did that. In the Peace Corps I lived as minority in another land, and I learned the greatness of the United States. Incredible to see how much we can do around the world. And I knew then that I was going to enter a political career to try to right wrongs and make life better. Here we are, Mr. Speaker, at the end of the 105th session, and I look back, and I think, oh my God, how mean has this country gotten? How mean is their right-wing leadership in their party? They want to take away public education and privatize it, remove the safety net. They want to make Social Security neither social, nor secure. They want to have people in their medical careers have to deal with insurance companies rather than doctors. I plead with my colleagues to get away from the meanness. Go back to the dreams of America. We can cure a lot.”