Political Quotes

“Thank you to the co-leaders, Barbara Lee and Sheila Jackson Lee, my sisters and colleagues. Madam Speaker, as we celebrate Black History Month, I rise today to join my CBC colleagues and my CBC sisters in honoring the life and trailblazing legacy of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. Before me, it was her. Before my predecessor, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, it was her. Before the record-setting number of 27 Black women in Congress today, it was her. My career in public service rests on the shoulders and the contributions of the iconic Shirley Chisholm. In 1969 she became a political pioneer and shattered racial and gender barriers by becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress. Her signature slogan, ``unbought and unbossed,'' spoke to her audacity, her sheer sense of will, and her fearlessness in the face of established norms and institutions. And it spoke to her rise as the people's politician, someone willing to speak up and speak out for those embattled by poverty, discrimination, and injustice. In Congress, she fought for low-income families, for hungry schoolchildren, and for single moms. She was critical to the creation of the national school lunch program. She was critical to the growth of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and she was critical to the creation of the Women, Infants, and Children's program, known as WIC. Then, as now, these programs reduce the hunger facing American children and families.…”