On the recordMarch 25, 2025
I thank Mr. Deluzio for bringing us together and helping us have an important conversation about how we restore the mantle of fighting for working people. I was born and raised in the most patriotic town in the country, Bristol, Rhode Island. We have the oldest and longest running Fourth of July celebration in the country. I learned from a young age to be patriotic, but I also learned that patriotism is not just about parades and parties and barbecues, it is about believing in a country where anything is possible for those who are willing to work hard. I know that because it is my family's story. At the turn of the last century, my mother's family came to America from Ireland and Poland. My grandfather fought in the Pacific then came home and worked in a factory that made airplane parts. His wife, my grandmother, worked in a department store. Their jobs weren't glamorous. They weren't anything special, but they earned enough to buy a house, to raise four kids, and to build a stable, middle-class life. My father's side of the family had a similar story. They came from Eastern Europe and settled in New York City. My great-grandfather got involved in labor organizing, and my grandfather was a bookkeeper at a company that sold fruit. They all came of age during the New Deal era, and they voted Democrat because they knew that the Democratic Party had the backs of working people. Then my parents met, and they started a small business together.…
