Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to serve with Representative Ramirez and to speak here tonight about an issue that is incredibly important to me, and that is the health and strength of democracy. When I ran for Congress, the issue I heard the most about was just that, the health and the strength of the democracy. Yes, of course, Vermonters care about particular issues for our district--housing, the workforce crisis, the mental health crisis, all of these things--but they said more than anything, they are worried about the health of the democracy. I came to the job having come up through the Vermont State Senate, and before that, I was a teacher and tried to instill in my students the importance of being involved in the democracy to keep replenishing it with the energy and attention it requires. What I have noticed over the last few years is that there is, indeed, a cynicism creeping in, as my colleague mentioned earlier, and cynicism has a corrosive effect, not just on the democracy but on our own health and stability and the health of our communities. It is, in fact, the voice of the status quo. It is about convincing people that you can't actually make change, so why even try, that it is futile. The stakes are so incredibly high. I will tell you that my family knows firsthand that democracies don't fail overnight.…”