Keith Ellison: “You know, Madam Chairwoman, it's so important that you share that personal experience because there might be people…”

“You know, Madam Chairwoman, it's so important that you share that personal experience because there might be people watching this broadcast right now thinking, ``Man, you know, am I just like a bad luck accident? Am I just like somebody who can't make it? Is it my fault that I am unemployed? Is it my fault that something happened? We had mental illness in the family,'' through no fault of their own. They're feeling like, ``Wow, you know, it's not working for me.'' So when you stand up here on this House floor as a Member of Congress saying, ``I have been there myself,'' it gives them great courage, and it makes them feel like there is a tomorrow; and it makes them feel like there are some people in this body who care and who understand what they're going through. Because, you know, I got charts and graphs up here with numbers; and, you know, you're choking on the world ``trillion,'' and of course it's all ridiculous. But the point is that it is people who we're here fighting for. That's why the Progressive Caucus was formed. That's why we exist. Because the story that you just told, there are, unfortunately, too many stories like that being told. And there has got to be somebody in this body who will stand up for folks who are fighting, who are trying to make it, who are trying to take care of those three kids. I am so proud of our Nation that there was, at one time in our history, when we understood that welfare wasn't anything to be ashamed of.…”