Speeches

“Congratulations to you, to your families, to Bard College. Enjoy this day. May God bless you all. May God always bless the United States of America.”

“I’m going to focus on the word ‘time.’ First, let me say: I’m so honored to be here with all of you, to see your enthusiasm, to catch your spark, to renew our energy on this subject, to be here with these great leaders in the House and in the Senate who have made saving our planet a priority.”

“I rise this evening, Mr. Speaker, in support of the resolution introduced by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and to stand in solidarity with the young Nigerian girls who are still being held in captivity by Boko Haram. Their kidnapping is an act outside the circle of human behavior. It is a despicable and abhorrent crime that cries out for justice.”

“So maybe this horrible, heinous crime will give the attention that human trafficking needs in order for us to end it. And so, let us all subscribe to the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. With that, Mr. Speaker, I thank you again for giving us the opportunity to focus on this despicable action – but to do so prayerfully, hopefully and determined to #BringBackOurGirls.”

“And maybe just this episode, this incident, this tragedy is of such consequence that it will send a message to the perpetrators that they should not think of ever doing this again. And ‘never again’ has been our recurring theme – but they have taken it to new heights. We cannot let that stand.”

“So by reason of treasure, by reason of heart, by reason of values, by reason of ethics, by reason of honoring our responsibility to the American people – a good strong ‘no’ on the Ryan Republican budget. It is a path to ruin. It is not a path to prosperity. Mr. Van Hollen’s budget is a about growth, about investment, about keeping America number one, about strengthening the middle class – which is the backbone of our democracy.”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the recognition. I congratulate the Budget Committee for the hard work that you have done. I wish we had more than 10 minutes on each side to discuss the House Democratic… Continue

“This is a really a silly decision to bring this to the floor in this form, when we know a path that is much better. But I’m not going to give you another reason to go out there and make your claims about the Affordable Care Act which have no basis in fact. With that, I urge my colleagues to pray over it, as I will. I yield back the balance of my time.”

“Together, we will demand a vote. And together, we will pass comprehensive immigration reform. Thank you, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for your commitment, for your energy and your leadership – for your community, and for all Americans.”

“I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill, and I hope that when we return after the recess week – yet again, another recess week – Republicans will be ready to get serious and be ready to get back to work for a permanent ‘doc fix’ so that our seniors will be served. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”