Julian Castro
I do think we need to hold countries accountable who violate trade agreements that are already in place. We need to get stronger about enforcement, that in the future if we strike a trade agreement, toughening up labor standards and environmental standards and enforcement standards is something we absolutely need to do.Collection: Environmental
To me, as I see it, reparations would be something that is fairly specific to the descendants of slaves, and it would also be an official apology from the United States government for slavery.Collection: Government
I couldn't help but to think back to my classmates at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. They had the same talent, the same brains, the same dreams as the folks we sat with at Stanford and Harvard. I realized the difference wasn't one of intelligence or drive. The difference was opportunity.Collection: Intelligence
The No. 1 thing I want a voter to think about when they see my name, or hear my name, is what I stand for, and what I want to do for them and their family while elected.Collection: Family
In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor.
Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor.
Opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow.
My grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a babysitter, barely scraping by, but still working hard to give my mother, her only child, a chance in life, so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one.
What we see out there is an affordable housing crisis, particularly in the rental market in cities big and small, and we don't have the resources necessary to fill that gap.
If the choice is between universal health care or fixing our broken immigration system or upholding a 60-vote filibuster rule that is nowhere in the Constitution, I'm going to choose actually making progress for the American people.
What I believe we need to do is to be the smartest, the healthiest, the fairest and the most prosperous nation on earth. So in order to become the healthiest nation on earth, we need a different health care system.
My grandmother didn't live to see us begin our lives in public service. But she probably would have thought it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived in San Antonio, one grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way - the good people of San Antonio willing- to the United States Congress.
My mother dreamed dreams for Joaquin and for me long before we could dream them for ourselves.
I wanted to be a quarterback. I used to like Johnny Unitas, the old quarterback for the Colts.
As my family story shows, Latinos have been a blessing for USA for many generations. The future of America depends in part on the success of the Latino community, and this opportunity is just one more signifier of that.
I understand Spanish better than I speak it.
Obviously I'm young and I'm also Hispanic, two important groups in this election. And I'm confident that I can do a good job in articulating why President Obama ought to be the candidate that Americans select for the next four years.
Growing up, when we would get dragged to these events, I didn't want to be there. Over time, as we got older, I developed a real appreciation of the importance of being involved in the democratic process.
I stand before you tonight as a young American, a proud American, of a generation born as the Cold War receded, shaped by the tragedy of 9/11, connected by the digital revolution and determined to re-elect the man who will make the 21st century another American century - President Barack Obama.
My family's story isn't special. What's special is the America that makes our story possible. Ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation. No matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward.
My grandmother's generation and generations before always saw beyond the horizons of their own lives and their own circumstances. They believed that opportunity created today would lead to prosperity tomorrow.
Now, in Texas, we believe in the rugged individual. Texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps, and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also recognize there are some things we can't do alone. We have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow.
We know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. What we don't accept is the idea that some folks won't even get a chance.
When it comes to letting people marry whomever they love, Mitt Romney says, 'No.'
Seven presidents before him - Democrats and Republicans - tried to expand health care to all Americans. President Obama got it done.
And because he knows that we don't have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers.
Of all the fictions we heard last week in Tampa, the one I find most troubling is this: If we all just go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. Because if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead.
And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.
Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn't get it.
There has been a great challenge in improving educational achievement. It's a long-term issue, not a short-term one. It includes everything from getting more parents involved to addressing issues of poverty and improving what happens in the classroom.
We have a responsibility to protect public housing residents from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, especially the elderly and children who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases.
I have learned in life that the best thing you can do to create a great future for yourself is don't forget what's in front of you. And so I'm trying to do a great job at HUD.
I believe that Secretary Clinton has said, has acknowledged, that that was not the best way to handle her emails back then... and has turned over all of the information and the emails and documents and now the server.
If you're willing to work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to move up.
I consider myself a pretty progressive person, and I think I have a track record that shows that. But I'm also not just going to do a policy because it's the liberal thing to do.
It's time to remove the stigma associated with promoting homeownership.
The truth is that the dream of homeownership is out of reach for too many Americans.
We believe that housing is a power platform to spark great opportunities in people's lives and help them achieve the American dream.
The prosperity of the United States and the prosperity of the Hispanic community, as the fastest-growing community, are one and the same. The destinies are one and the same.
I'm a recovering politician.
It's a significant contribution if we can get immigration reform done.
Hispanics have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act.
Technology has transformed how we live, learn and work, but not everyone has been able to participate in these developments.
This thing has been studied to death by Republicans and Democrats: several committees, including in Congress, that have all said, 'Yes, of course what happened was tragic, but Secretary Clinton was not in any way at fault,' and what you have here with these e-mails is basically a witch hunt.
I had the blessing of opportunity. You need the folks in the boardroom who have consciences and the people in the streets who can picket at the right time.
I see myself as a bridge-builder who can understand both sides.
The only part of my mother's experience that still gets to me is the way she and people like her were looked down upon for asking America to be America, for asking for full and equal participation in our democracy.
First thing that I put up in my office here at City Hall was a poster from 1971 when my mother ran for city council.
My grandmother, when she was young, would've walked past shops where some folks had out a sign that said, 'No Mexicans or dogs allowed.'
I grew up in a Texas where people would say, 'I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.' Now, the reverse is happening. People are leaving the Republican Party because the Republican Party is going too far to the right in Texas. And that's a source of great potential support for Democrats.