Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu) for yielding. Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise in strong support of the Promoting Respect for Individuals' Dignity and Equality, or PRIDE, Act, which I have been privileged to colead with Congresswoman Chu. This bill is about moving our country closer to true equality and equity for the LGBTQ community. We have an opportunity today to send a message to LGBTQ married couples across America that their unions are recognized, valued, and dignified by the U.S. Government. I am especially proud that this bill includes the text of my bill, H.R. 1244, the Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act, which addresses the glaring problem that the Tax Code is replete with out-of-date references to marriage that no longer reflect the institution of legal marriage in this country. Our Tax Code, like all of our laws, should accurately represent and include all the people to whom it applies. Gendered language in the Tax Code represents a time when LGBTQ couples could not get married. Fortunately, those days are over, and marriage equality is the law of the land. We need to ensure that our laws reflect the vibrant diversity of our democracy, and this legislation will remove another vestige of discrimination from our country's code of laws.…”