Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to condemn in the strongest form the vulgar language and blatant disrespect a colleague directed at Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. As the Congresswoman stated, we are not on the House floor today because of just one callous incident. Unfortunately, what brings us to this moment are the structural and cultural conditions, and, yes, the very men that have normalized the marginalization of women and, specifically, women of color, since this Nation's very inception. Madam Speaker, patriarchy, is a tool of oppression that is very much at home in the halls of this powerful institution; not unlike the hostile working environments and harassment experienced by countless women across the Nation who dare to speak truth to power. Today, we rise for every woman that has dealt with these dynamics as a conflated part of their walk in life; every woman that has repressed the painful rhetoric inflicted on our bodies and our lives. So, suffice it to say that these tired tactics to debase and marginalize are familiar. And, yet, still, we rise. Our foremothers, the trailblazing women elected to Congress before us, equipped us to take on a world that was built on contradictions and injustice. Because of them, we have learned how to walk with our heads held high; our legacy defined by the laws we write and the good we do on behalf of those we serve. I first set foot in this institution at the age of 19.…”