Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 5. I rise in opposition as someone who has actually been a student in our public school system within the last decade. I rise as someone who is the son of a public school educator, special education teacher of 37 years-- love you, Mom. I also rise as someone who sat on my local school board for 2 years as a student representative. This bill is modeled after one that I know very well--Florida's Parental Rights in Education law. Most of us know it as ``Don't Say Gay.'' ``Don't Say Gay'' infringes on parents' rights, including LGBTQ+ and supportive parents. Bills like this make schools more hostile, and make no mistake, it results in hate, bigotry, and, yes, sometimes death of our students in schools. Republican lawmakers won't even allow my amendment to be considered that protects the First Amendment rights of parents. We want to talk about parental rights. What about their First Amendment right to fight for their children, LGBTQ+ children, who are fighting for gender- affirming and life-saving care? One of my colleagues brought this up, but this bill focuses on parents' rights, but what about the rights of our students? What about the rights of our young people? Why are my Republican colleagues not advocating for our students? Is it because they know that the majority of young people despise legislation like this and do not support legislation like this that is bigoted?…”