Beto O'Rourke
Courage makes victory possible.Collection: Courage
I'm for the DREAM Act. It makes so much sense. Following the implementation of the DREAM Act, we'll have a case study we can point to where we can say that we provided a path to citizenship or legal involvement in the community for these young immigrants, and the sky didn't fall.Collection: Legal
I'm the original co-sponsor of an assault weapons ban.
We will be judged. There will be an accounting; there will be a reckoning sooner or later. It will either come from ourselves and our own conscience, or it will come from our kids when they ask that inconvenient question: 'What were you doing when they turned those kids back from the border?'
Giving low-level offenders a second chance, no matter the color of their skin or the economic status they hold, can create opportunity for all of us.
We are not a fearful, small people. We are confident and strong, and we understand that much of our strength comes from the fact that we are a people of the planet.
Part of the job for me and others from El Paso who live along the border is to dispel the myths about how supposedly dangerous the border is.
I think competition always produces better results than a monopoly.
We must ensure the economy really works for all, to address unconscionable wealth and income disparities that allow access to opportunity for some over others.
El Paso in many ways is the Ellis Island for Mexico and much of Latin America.
Juarez had become a failed city. The mayor of Juarez lived in El Paso. Not only did he not live in his own city, he didn't live in his own country. You had all these kids out of school who didn't want to work because they saw their mothers toiling in jobs for hardly any cash.
In terms of immigration, we're seeing a lot of Democrats and Republicans use the really elastic term, 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform,' and they don't totally understand what that means. For us in El Paso, it's part of a larger discussion about the nature of the border.
I have to convince other Democrats and Republicans that it's wise to invest in the U.S.-Mexico border, not just for security, but also for mobility and trade, and that's why we should open up the border.
We in El Paso and Juarez are literally one community. There's no separation; there's no DMZ; there's no buffer.
There were absolutely times in my life when I tried to get people to call me Robert.
There was something punk rock about Bobby Kennedy not going where the pollsters said or where consultants said. He was unmoored from what was safe or easy.
I don't know how old I was when I first started going to shows, maybe 14 or 15, but very quickly, I discovered Dischord Records in D.C. and loved all the music on that catalog. I was a big Rites of Spring fan, Minor Threat, of course.
Politics has become very corporate. There's a whole farm system for the teams. There's decisions made at the top. There's a lot of literal corporate involvement, PAC money involved in selecting and backing candidates.
One overlooked great 1980s rock n' roll band, maybe punk rock - they were on SST Records, same label as Black Flag - is this band called the Leaving Trains.
I remember ordering records out of the Dischord catalog in the '80s, and there would be a handwritten note.
I was born in '72, and my dad was county judge of El Paso from '82 to '86. He was just as independent as he could be, and had an amazing joy in life and in being with people, which, from my perspective as a kid, was that he was always going to do the right thing, and damn the consequences - political or otherwise.
You have to tell the people that you want to serve what it is you believe and what you are going to do on their behalf.
We can either be governed by fear - fear of immigrants, fear of Muslims, call the press the enemy of the people, tear kids away from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border - or we can be governed by our ambitions and our aspirations and our desire to make the most out of all of us. And that's America at its best.
I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up or take a knee for your rights - anytime, anywhere, anyplace.
I think for some, the very wealthiest among us, for corporations, taxes are too low.
With all due respect to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, neither of them understand Texas, nor do they understand the U.S.-Mexico border.
The bottom line is that I'm very, very proud of my mom.
There is no excuse for making disrespectful and demeaning comments about women.
That's the primary mission of ours: to protect the border, enhance the border, and capitalize on what the border has to offer. It's the source of jobs, source of positive immigration stories.
We toured the U.S. and Canada for two years, which was a lot of fun. It was very much a do-it-yourself, punk-rock ethic of booking your own shows, sometimes sleeping on the floor of the club you had played or meeting folks that would take you in, or sleeping on the side of the road or at rest stops in the car.
In the age of Trump, we need to be aware of emotional rhetoric and its power regardless of whether or not it's based in fact.
The border is safe; it's secure. El Paso is the safest city in America. Let's own that. Let's be proud of that. And then, I think, good policy can follow from that, better outcomes included.
I don't know that my colleagues in Congress really care about what happens here in El Paso and in Juarez. They care what happens in their home district.
We want to play a great a role as possible in making sure this country lives up to the expectations.
No one is born to be president of the United States of America.
I think that's the beauty of elections: You can't hide from who you are. The more honestly and directly you communicate to people why you're doing this, the way in which you want to serve them, I just think that the better, more informed decision that they can make.
The government at all levels is overly represented by white men. That's part of the problem, and I'm a white man.
My dad was very critical and had very high expectations without a lot of the details filled in. It was, 'I expect you to achieve greatness in grades, in athletics, in whatever you do.'
What's exciting to me is figuring out something that has eluded us for so long: How do we make sure every single person can see a doctor in this country? That's really exciting to me.
End racial and ethnic gerrymandering, stop voter I.D. laws that seek to suppress voters of color, and make sure everyone can add their voice and their vote to this great democracy.
We must work towards solutions that make housing, transportation, the workforce, and higher education more equitable.
We cannot sacrifice our humanity in the name of security - or we risk losing both.
Not one of the 9/11 terrorists entered through Mexico - and yet Mexicans bore the brunt of this country's immigration response to the terror attacks.
At almost every step of modern immigration policy and immigration politics, we have exacerbated underlying problems and made things worse.
We're all connected, related, part of one another's lives through the stories we tell ourselves and each other. For good and for bad.
Our long memories hold the stories of what our people accomplished, but they also hold the prejudices, the injustices, the harm that we've received from others.
I'm pretty - I'm pretty animated.
I think corporations should be asked to pay a greater share into the success of this country.
The goal should be universal, guaranteed, high-quality health care.
Let's not put anybody down. Instead, let's lift each other up. Let's bring out the absolute best from our fellow Americans - every single one of them from every single community.