Ilhan Omar

“I want to honor former Minnesota State Representative Karen Clark. She served our state for almost 40 years as a nurse, teacher, and lawmaker. She was the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to the Minnesota legislature, where she helped ban discrimination and helped make same-sex marriage legal.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the incredible life of Minnesota State representative Karen Clark. For nearly four decades, Karen dedicated her life to serving the people of Minneapolis--as a nurse, as an educator, and as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She was also a trailblazer. Karen made history as the first openly LGBTQ+ candidate to run for office and to win a seat in the Minnesota legislature. She was instrumental in amending the 1993 Minnesota Human Rights Act to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, education, housing, and more. Two decades later, Representative Clark led the bipartisan effort to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota, a landmark accomplishment for equality across our State. After leaving office, she continued her activism and cofounded the Women’s Environmental Institute with her wife, Dr. Jacquelyn Zita. Representative Clark’s impact will be felt by generations, including by myself.”

“I want members to vote against this budget plan. It spends billions of dollars on war, intelligence agencies, and laws that make it harder to vote. It does nothing to help working families afford food, rent, and healthcare.”

“Mr. Chair, Mr. Arrington recently said that Democrats are counting pennies. That feels like an insult because $95 billion is what Chairman Arrington and the Republicans are asking Congress to approve. Here is where the money goes: tens of billions of dollars for the Pentagon, billions more for the CIA to continue funding this illegal war with Trump, and billions to help States implement the SAVE Act, legislation that could make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote. Meanwhile, working families are struggling to put food on the table and gas in their tanks, pay their rent, and afford healthcare. Instead of investing in the actual needs of the American people, this resolution pours more money into war and Trump’s voter suppression agenda. This is not counting pennies. This is our tax dollars that you are wasting on death and destruction. This resolution does nothing to help lower costs or help struggling Americans. This resolution does not speak to the values that we should carry or the priorities that we should have when we put forth a budget. This resolution gets our priorities wrong. Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to vote against it.”