When I think of immigration, I want to think of families. I want to think of unity. I want to think of a safe place, you know, free of persecution, a place where we can welcome a child that is hungry.
Rashida Tlaib
We have to be a nation of compassion and some sort of humanity when it comes to the treatment of other human beings.
When we shift our public dollars away from our schools and city services and into company developments, it increases the root causes of poverty: unemployment, underemployment, lack of community resources, and lack of quality public education.
I don't want our right to be able to speak and dissent to be taken away.
Throughout my career in public service, the residents I have had the privilege of fighting for have embraced who I am, especially my Palestinian roots. This is what I want to bring to the United States Congress: an unapologetic display of the fabric of the people in this country.
Mayors, city council members, and legislators come and go, but neighborhoods don't go anywhere.
I'm never going to be this polished politician. Nor am I going to be perfect.
Serving in the U.S. Congress is about much more than voting on bills. It is about taking on the corporate bullies that taint our democratic process and pushing back when the system is broken.
I remember Congressman Conyers voting against the PATRIOT Act, voting against the Iraq War when it was unpopular to. That tremendous amount of courage that comes with that kind of leadership, I mean, that's what we need.
My mother raised 14 kids, with little means, from our humble house in Southwest Detroit - and now her daughter, who started school not speaking English, is going to be a congresswoman. It was so important for her to know her strength got me here, and that I'm going to fight every day with her spirit inside me.
There are proven health benefits for both babies and mothers who breastfeed, and it's unfortunate that it still carries an unfair stigma in our society.
My mere existence as a member of Congress as a Palestinian causes a lot of fear, because I'm here as a human being, as an American, that is saying to the world that we exist.
From capitalizing housing trust funds, which allow low-income people to obtain grants to fix up and stay in their homes, to creating job training programs in schools, these are the kinds of economic stimuli that will give families the opportunity to thrive.
I'll do everything I can to ensure the Clean Water Act is enforced here in Michigan, and I'll work to ensure everyone in Michigan has access to safe, affordable water, regardless of where they live.
No matter how much the private sector crows that corporate tax breaks will lead to more jobs or robust economic activity, such benefits rarely materialize.
I'm very proud to be Arab.
I'm not a makeup girl!
We're going to have more women run for office. We can shift what's going on in Congress.
A photo does not mean I agree with anything someone says.
Lost in the often-vitriolic national quarrel over immigration reform is any examination of proposed measures that would result in excessive punishment, such as detention and deportation, for the most minor offenses.
We cannot have policies that punish people for taking action. Imagine the further harm it would have caused if the federal government banned civil rights leaders from boycotting buses in Montgomery, Alabama, or banning divestment from Apartheid South Africa.
This kind of 'separate but equal,' I've seen what it's done in the history here in America, and it didn't work. And it still hasn't worked, I mean, even in continued segregation of our schools, which has increased with the privatization of our school system.
We cannot afford to deliberately cripple our cities by transferring public tax dollars to private entities for benefits that are unclear at best.
Trump's pardon of Arpaio may not get as much attention as Russian influence or Trump's apparent obstruction of justice in the Mueller investigation. But to me, as a woman of color, it is a clear abuse of power for the U.S. president to pardon a sheriff who targeted people for arrest because of their ethnicity.
I believe that we shouldn't be supporting any form of aid towards countries that are killing people that are innocent.
When we are asked to bail out corporations and banks, or pass tax bills that shift billions in public dollars out of government, we must ask ourselves, who were we truly sent here to advocate for?
There's no doubt that corporations have been getting away with dumping their pollution into our environment for decades and that they're especially emboldened to pollute in low-income communities and, typically, low-income communities of color.
My dad grew up in Nicaragua in his teenage years, then immigrated to the United States.
I am very passionate, and I grew up in an incredibly beautiful urban community - the city of Detroit - born and raised.
To me, I know that if we could pass the Civil Rights Act of '64 over 50 years ago, then we can pass Justice for All Civil Rights Act. We can pass Medicare for All.
My dad's first-ever real true job was at Ford Motor Company. He was a UAW member.
How long do we have to keep fighting for affordable prescription drugs?
It is so clear that the conservatives in Congress will only settle for a bill that allows the unequal treatment of immigrants, allow them to be shoved around the system with no way to plead their case for relief.
We continue to see our elected officials working extra hard to create a 'good climate for business' that leads to disinvestment in public infrastructure and tax incentives to the detriment of cities, while enriching private business and further entrenching poverty. And our cities are told by legislators to use their bootstraps to survive.
Obviously, I am a member of Congress, and things that I say are elevated on a national level, and I understand that very clearly.
We are valuable. Detroit and other neighboring communities are places to invest in, not rob.
Taking on corporate greed is an environmental concern.
I have had the fortunate privilege of serving as a state representative for residents in the great cities of Detroit, River Rouge, and Ecorse.
As a young girl, I watched my mother hand-stitch thobes while sitting on the floor with a lamp at her side. She would make the small designs of flowers and different shapes. Just thinking about it brings up so many memories of my mother and how proud she was of being Palestinian.
The emoluments clause is in the Constitution for a reason: We, as Americans, need to know that the president acts in our best interests, not his own self-interest.
I support a Green New Deal to put people to work building a renewable green energy infrastructure that can help us fight climate change and protect our communities.
You know, as a child of Palestinian immigrants, again, every corner of my district is a reminder of the civil rights movement, and I bring that lens, and I try to - you know, many of the Palestinians, they have called me, reached out to me via social media.
People across metro Detroit face discrimination every day in housing, employment, insurance - the list goes on. It might not always be explicit and in your face, but my residents know when they're being mistreated.
Resources and money can change people's lives today, where legislation can take years - up to 10, 15 years sometimes before it really, really impacts people.
Either you're for ending Citizens United, or you're not. So, if you're for ending Citizens United, then act like you are against corporations influencing our democratic process.
I'm not going to allow this world to make my son scared of saying he's a Muslim.
I want people to feel like they have access to Congress, that they have access to government.
Limiting the ability of the people to peacefully organize and partake in direct action to fight against persecution and discrimination is not only barred by the U.S. Constitution but is fundamentally un-American.
Stolen scrap like manhole covers, railroad weights, stop signs, guard rails, and public lighting put our residents in grave danger. Not only that, but the theft is tearing apart communities with stolen church and cemetery ornaments.
I am for everyone, every single person, Israeli, Palestinian, to have equal access to opportunities, to feel safe where they live, and to really be a genuine partner and a visionary around reaching peace in that region.
