Sheila Jackson Lee: “I wish there were many, many minutes, but let me take this 1 minute to say to the American people: We are better than…”

“I wish there were many, many minutes, but let me take this 1 minute to say to the American people: We are better than this, and to offer to all of those who are in pain, those who feel that they are not respected, who have come from the Mideast and believe that people do not respect them, yes, you are. This is America. We believe in free speech, free expression. For those who are Palestinian, we respect your view, we respect the view of those who are from Israel, and we must show that as we go home to honor our communities. We must show that. We must also stop anti-Semitism and show who we are. If we show them who we are, that is who we are. We must show that freedom of religion counts in America, freedom of religion, freedom of speech. Yes, we must honor those law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty. This week they have died. We want them to know that they will not be forgotten. I stand here today as I started, Madam Speaker, by saying: We are better than this. We are Americans. We will always fight for freedom. We will always fight for your freedom. We will always fight for your ability to say that, and I will leave this floor right now to say that speech and those words are important, Madam Speaker. ____________________”