MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke on the House Floor against Republicans’ reckless ICE and CBP reconciliation package that gives Donald Trump another $70 billion to unleash brutality on our communities and reiterated Democrats’ commitment to lowering the high cost of living created by Republican policy failures.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this Republican scheme to waste $70 billion in taxpayer money to give a blank check to ICE without any guardrails, any oversight or any accountability. Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, it should be just and it should be humane. That’s not what is going on right now as it relates to Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine.

Donald Trump promised America that he would target violent felons who are here illegally, but instead taxpayer dollars are being used by ICE and his violent mass deportation machine to target and brutalize American citizens, in some cases, killing them, as was the case in Minneapolis with Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, or to violently target law-abiding immigrant families, children and, in some cases, veterans who serve this country.

As Democrats, we believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, as opposed to what the One Big Ugly Bill represented and continues to represent in this Congress: Republicans making a decision to rip away healthcare and nutritional assistance from the American people. The largest cut to Medicaid in American history alongside the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, literally stealing food from the mouths of hungry children, veterans and seniors in order, in the One Big Ugly Bill, to give ICE and Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine a $140 billion blank check. And as if that wasn’t enough, ripping healthcare and nutritional assistance away from vulnerable Americans, hardworking American taxpayers, working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and those who aspire to be part of the middle class. As if ripping healthcare and nutritional assistance in the One Big Ugly Bill wasn’t enough, Republicans have now come back for more to give ICE and Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine another $70 billion blank check with no oversight, no accountability and no guardrails.

We believe immigration enforcement should be fair, just and humane, that ICE needs to be brought under control and that ICE needs to conduct itself like every other cop, every other police officer and every other law enforcement agency in this country. But instead, Republicans have decided to continue to waste taxpayer dollars to jam Donald Trump’s extreme right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people. And so, as Democrats, we rise in strong opposition to this Republican scheme. Waste of taxpayer dollars.

Donald Trump promised that the cost of living, Madam Speaker, would go down on day one. Donald Trump promised to lower costs on day one. But costs in the United States of America haven’t gone down. They’ve gone up. The cost of living is totally out of control. Why? Because of Republican policies.

First, the Trump tariffs raising costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. Second, in your One Big Ugly Bill, in order to fund the Republican violent mass deportation machine, ripping away healthcare and nutritional assistance from the American people at a time when health insurance costs are already out of control and grocery prices are through the roof. 

And third, Donald Trump and Republicans have gotten this country into a reckless and costly war of choice that has skyrocketed gas prices through the roof, burdening everyday Americans who are already struggling to survive, certainly can’t thrive, struggling to survive, living paycheck to paycheck. High rent, high groceries, high gas prices, high health insurance costs.

And when I look at the Republican scheme that this budget represents, not a single sentence about making life more affordable for the American people. Republicans want to cut healthcare and cut nutritional assistance, send us to a reckless and costly war of choice, impose tariffs that are raising prices on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year and then use taxpayer dollars to give a $70 billion blank check to ICE so that the Republicans’ violent mass deportation machine can continue to brutalize or kill American citizens like Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good or to violently target law-abiding immigrant families. Democrats here are not simply a no, we’re a hell no on this legislation. And we are going to continue to fight to make life better for the American people.

We believe that America is far too expensive. We believe that far too many people are working hard, playing by the rules, can’t thrive, can barely survive. We believe that in this great country, when you’re doing the right thing, when you’re working hard, you should be able to live an affordable life. That’s not happening right now. A comfortable life, that’s not happening right now for far too many people. You should be able to live a good life—a good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children and a good retirement, which, by the way, means we will always defend Social Security and Medicare.

And as a warning to the American people, the Speaker of the House recently said—in part as a result of what Republicans have done to skyrocket the debt and the deficit by trillions of dollars to give your MAGA donors massive tax breaks that they don’t need and do not deserve—that Republicans are coming next for the Social Security and for the Medicare of the American people. Madam Speaker, the Republican majority has failed. This Congress has failed. Life hasn’t gotten better over the last 18 months. Life has gotten worse, more expensive, because of policy choices that the Republicans have made to inflict policy violence and cruelty on the American people.

And this toxic piece of legislation is just another example of how Republicans have failed the American people. And so, we will be voting no against this Republican scheme, and we will continue to fight to drive down the high cost of living, fight to lower and fix our broken healthcare system, fight to get ICE under control, fight to end Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice and fight for an America where everyone can afford a high-quality life for themselves and for their families. That’s not the America that we have right now because of Republican policy failures and continued schemes, like this Republican budget reconciliation bill, to waste another $70 billion on your extreme immigration policies that have failed America.

Full Floor speech can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02)

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) today voted against the Republicans’ fiscally irresponsible reconciliation bill that would have plowed nearly $70 billion of funds toward ICE and CBP, despite the agencies already sitting on enough funds to cover their operations. 

“I support the men and women who enforce our nation’s immigration laws, but this partisan spending bill is irresponsible and unnecessary,” Golden said. “Last year, Congress gave the Department of Homeland Security a huge budget increase, with ICE in particular receiving more than seven times its usual appropriation. Given our nation’s already shaky fiscal footing, I see no reason to circumvent the normal annual budget process by throwing tens of billions of dollars at agencies that are already able to cover their costs well into the future.”

The vote passed the House in a party-line, 214-212 vote. 

BACKGROUND: 

The Republicans’ so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a party-line reconciliation bill passed last year, provided $65 billion to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and $75 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year. Both sums far outpace prior years’ appropriations. 

According to OMB, the agencies have so far spent only a fraction of these windfalls: ICE still has roughly 84 percent of the funds, while CBP still has roughly 62 percent. 

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Source: {United States House of Representatives – Congressman Bobby Scott (3rd District of Virginia)

Headline: Scott Votes Against GOP Bill to Expand ICE Funding and Immigration Enforcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott issued the following statement after voting against the GOP’s budget reconciliation bill: 

“Instead of focusing on lowering costs and improving the lives of working families, Republicans are advancing a bill to give $70 billion more to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and immigration enforcement efforts. Americans have witnessed disturbing abuses of authority by ICE agents who have arrested and detained American citizens and legal permanent residents, pulled people from their cars, homes, and workplaces without warrants or probable cause, and even deported American citizens.

“While the bill no longer includes specific funding for Donald Trump’s extravagant White House ballroom or a slush fund to benefit violent insurrectionists, it still lacks safeguards to prevent federal funds from being used for those purposes and the bill remains completely unacceptable. Congress should be focused on ensuring ICE follows the law, not giving it billions more in funding after Republicans already handed the agency a staggering $75 billion increase in Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Bill last year. The American people deserve a Congress focused on lowering costs and protecting their rights, not escalating fear and abuse of power.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

Hoy, la congresista Lori Trahan (MA-03) votó en contra del paquete de reconciliación republicano que asigna otros $70 mil millones al Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de EE. UU. (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) y a la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP, por sus siglas en inglés), financiando a ambas agencias por el resto del mandato del presidente Donald Trump mientras las familias continúan luchando con el alto costo de vida.
“Las familias en Massachusetts todavía están luchando para poder pagar los alimentos, la renta y la atención médica. Este proyecto de ley no hace nada por ellas”, dijo la congresista Trahan. “En cambio, los republicanos de la Cámara entregaron a Donald Trump casi $70 mil millones para expandir su máquina de deportaciones masivas. Voté no porque las familias de Massachusetts merecen algo mejor que un Congreso que trabaja para Trump en lugar de para ellas”.
El financiamiento aprobado por los republicanos de la Cámara incluye:

$38.5 mil millones para ICE

$26.0 mil millones para CBP

$5.0 mil millones para el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de EE. UU.

Lo que falta en el imprudente presupuesto republicano:

Disposiciones para detener el fondo discrecional de $1.8 mil millones de Donald Trump para insurreccionistas condenados por los incidentes del 6 de enero, incluidos aquellos que admitieron haber golpeado a agentes de policía. 

Lenguaje para bloquear un acuerdo negociado con el Departamento de Justicia que eximiría a Trump de auditorías y eliminaría más de $100 millones en presuntas obligaciones fiscales y sanciones. 

Reformas de sentido común y supervisión para ICE y CBP, incluyendo exigir que los agentes se quiten las máscaras, muestren credenciales y presenten órdenes judiciales firmadas antes de realizar arrestos. 

La restauración de fondos de SNAP, Medicaid o la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible que las familias necesitan para poner comida en la mesa y pagar su atención médica

El verano pasado, los republicanos de la Cámara usaron la reconciliación para aprobar el “Big Ugly Bill” de Donald Trump, que recortó más de $1 trillón de Medicaid y $187 mil millones de SNAP para financiar una reducción de impuestos que benefició de manera abrumadora a los estadounidenses más ricos. Esa misma propuesta asignó $140 mil millones en financiamiento para ICE y CBP. En conjunto, esos recortes pusieron a 326,262 personas en Massachusetts en riesgo de perder su seguro médico, y el proyecto aún añadió $4.7 trillones al déficit.
El proyecto de ley de reconciliación de línea partidista fue aprobado en la Cámara 214-212.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) voted against the Republican reconciliation package that allocates another $70 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), funding both agencies for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term while families continue struggling with higher prices.
“Families in Massachusetts are still struggling to afford groceries, rent, and health care. This bill does nothing for them,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “Instead, House Republicans handed Donald Trump nearly $70 billion to expand his mass deportation machine. I voted no because Massachusetts families deserve better than a Congress that works for Trump instead of them.”
The funding passed by the House Republicans includes:

What’s missing from the reckless Republican budget: 

Provisions to stop Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund for convicted January 6 insurrectionists, including those who admitted to beating police officers

Language to block a negotiated agreement with the Department of Justice that would exempt Trump from audits and erase more than $100 million in alleged tax liabilities and penalties

Commonsense reforms and oversight for ICE and CBP, including requiring agents to remove masks, display badges, and secure signed judicial warrants before making arrests

The restoration of SNAP, Medicaid, or Affordable Care Act funding that families need to put food on the table and afford their health care

Last summer, House Republicans used reconciliation to pass Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, which cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and $187 billion from SNAP to fund a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest Americans. That same proposal allocated $140 billion in funding for ICE and CBP. Together, those cuts put 326,262 people in Massachusetts at risk of losing their health coverage, and the bill still added $4.7 trillion to the deficit.
The party line reconciliation bill passed the House 214-212.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35), joined by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Steven Horsford (NV-04) introduced the Double the Wage for Overtime Act, which would increase the rate of overtime pay for the first time in nearly 90 years.

The bill would raise federal overtime pay to double a worker’s wage for every hour worked over 40 hours a week, instead of the current rate of time and a half. A worker making $25 an hour and working 10 hours overtime a week would make $6,500 more a year as a result of the bill. Analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, available here, shows the bill would help more than 13 million workers.

The bill is a key pillar of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ New Affordability Agenda. Casar announced the bill would be introduced in remarks to the Communications Workers of America.

In addition to Reps. Casar, Jayapal, and Horsford, the bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Judy Chu (CA-28), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), John Larson (CT-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), Sarah McBride (DE), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Dina Tituts (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12). 

The bill is endorsed by: Communication Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), UNITE HERE, National Nurses United (NNU), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Groundwork Action, and the Economic Policy Institute.

“Too many Americans are working extra hours but still not making enough to get ahead. After nearly 90 years, our labor laws need to be updated,” said Casar. “If you work overtime, this bill would put money in your pocket by requiring your employer to pay you double for extra hours.”

“The American people are facing an affordability crisis, as skyrocketing inflation outpaces workers’ wages,” said Jayapal. “I’m proud to co-lead the Double the Wage for Overtime Act with Rep. Casar to both deter corporations from forcing workers into long, unsustainable hours and to ensure that hardworking Americans get the pay they deserve. This is a critical step in the effort to raise wages and protect workers.”

“For the first time in nearly 90 years, we are finally making changes to make sure workers who put in the hours actually get paid for them.” saidHorsford. “The Double the Wage for Overtime Act is a long-overdue reckoning that will deliver higher, more livable wages to the workers who have earned them. At a time when working families are stretched thin to afford groceries, gas, and basic necessities, this bill isn’t just about a paycheck – it’s about dignity. Workers who are putting in the work shouldn’t be fighting to get ahead. This legislation ensures they no longer have to.”

“CWA members across a number of industries and sectors have seen for years that employers would like nothing more than to work us to the bone,”  said CWA President Claude Cummings, Jr. “We have fought hard at the bargaining table to make sure that our members are compensated fairly for their hard work, but every worker in this country deserves to be guaranteed better compensation when they’re being routinely forced to give up time with their families, their kids, to miss important moments, or even simply to get a moment to relax. The Double the Wage for Overtime Act compensates working families for the sacrifices we make. I thank Representatives Casar, Jayapal and Horsford for their leadership on this important issue and encourage Congress to consider it quickly. 

“This legislation represents the most important change to the Fair Labor Standards Act since it was passed almost 90 years ago.” Dean Baker, economist, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Issues: Jobs, Labor, & the Economy

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Jimmy Gomez released the following statement after House passage of the Republican immigration enforcement bill: 

“Today, I voted no on House Republicans’ plan to give ICE and CBP nearly $70 billion more through 2029, on top of the more than $170 billion President Trump and Congressional Republicans already approved last year for immigration enforcement. 

“I grew up in a family where both of my parents worked multiple jobs just to keep the lights on and give us a shot at a better life. So when I look at a bill like this, I think about what families are dealing with every day: rent, groceries, health care, and whether they can actually get ahead. 

“This bill does nothing to help with any of that. Instead, Republicans are spending taxpayer dollars expanding Trump’s deportation machine with even less accountability. 

“I’ve spent the last year pushing back against an administration that thinks it’s above the law. When the Trump administration tried to block members of Congress from inspecting ICE detention facilities, I sued and won. 

“Since then, I’ve conducted unannounced inspections of detention facilities and met directly with people being held inside. What I’ve seen firsthand is exactly why Congress should not be giving this system billions more dollars with fewer guardrails. 

“I’m going to keep holding this administration accountable.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Representing the 12th District of California

Washington D.C. – In an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade for Pride Month, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi reflected on nearly four decades of advocacy alongside the LGBTQ community, highlighting the grassroots organizing, courage and persistence that helped drive historic progress toward equality.

Published on the 39th anniversary of her inaugural Floor speech on HIV/AIDS, Pelosi also discussed efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic, repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ pass federal hate crimes protections and advance the Equality Act.

Read the full story below:

Washington Blade: Pelosi reflects on four decades of LGBTQ advocacy
[By Joe Reberkenny, 6/9/26]

For nearly four decades, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been one of the most influential champions of LGBTQ rights in American politics.

The former U.S. House of Representatives speaker helped lead landmark LGBTQ legislation through Congress; including the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and multiple House approvals of the Equality Act. She also played a central role in congressional efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and oppose restrictions targeting transgender Americans.

In an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade; Pelosi reflected on those accomplishments, the role grassroots activists played in achieving them, and the ongoing challenges facing the LGBTQ community during President Donald Trump’s second term.

When asked which LGBTQ-related achievement she is most proud of, Pelosi pointed not to a specific bill, but to the movement that made those victories possible — and the loud, strong-willed grassroots believers in a better America than the one they had found themselves in.

“Anything that we accomplished, whether it was fighting HIV and AIDS, ending discrimination, passing hate crimes legislation, or ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ would never have happened without outside mobilization,” Pelosi said, expressing gratitude for those who saw a problem and dared to speak its solution into existence. “Our inside maneuvering was important, but we couldn’t do our best job without the community. Every chance I get, I thank them for their patriotism because they make democracy function.”

Pelosi explained that her initial LGBTQ advocacy efforts were directly shaped by the LGBTQ community in the San Francisco area and by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that decimated the community during the 1980s.

The former speaker recalled arriving in Congress in 1987 and making HIV/AIDS a centerpiece of her agenda from the start.

“My first words on the House floor were that I had come here to fight HIV and AIDS,” Pelosi told the Blade. “People asked why I would make that my first statement. To me, that reaction showed just how much discrimination still existed and how much work remained to be done.”

She continued, explaining that advocating for San Francisco — with its once-vibrant LGBTQ community that was dying more with every passing day — became a joint effort between community-driven activists and government officials trying to manage and mitigate the crisis that claimed more American lives than the Vietnam War.

“When we were trying to bring the Democratic convention to San Francisco, people were saying they couldn’t come because of HIV/AIDS,” she said. “What emerged from that moment was community-based advocacy, community-based care, prevention, and research. Every success we had sprang from the community itself.”

Multiple times during the interview, Pelosi returned to those four pillars of the effort to combat HIV/AIDS: community-based advocacy, community-based care, prevention, and research.

She argued that the epidemic, despite its horrific toll, ultimately helped many Americans better understand and accept LGBTQ people in a society that had not been as tolerant.

“When families learned that a son or daughter was HIV-positive and gay, barriers started to break down,” Pelosi said. “Love prevailed in many cases. I actually give HIV/AIDS some credit for the acceptance of marriage equality because people began seeing these issues through the lens of family.”

Pelosi also highlighted the passage of federal hate crimes legislation as one of her — and the LGBTQ rights movement’s — most defining victories.

“Matthew Shepard’s mother came and spoke to members. (The late-former Massachusetts Congressman) Barney Frank told his story. We had to convince people that leadership means leading, not following,” Pelosi said. “That legislation was incredibly important because it forced people to confront the real consequences of hate.”

She said she refused pressure to remove transgender protections from the bill, despite promises from others that it would pass more easily if lawmakers only protected what they viewed as the least vulnerable groups.

“People told me, ‘You can pass this in a minute if you take out trans,’” Pelosi recalled. “I said, ‘I won’t pass it in 100 years because I’m not ever taking out trans.’ We passed it with trans protections included.”

The Blade also asked Pelosi about the stalled passage of the Equality Act — which would add federal protections for LGBTQ people through amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that would explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. She expressed confidence that the Equality Act will eventually become law, though she acknowledged the political obstacles that have persisted since its creation in the 1970s.

In her office, among bowls of Ghirardelli chocolates and prints depicting national parks in her district, a large photo hangs on the wall showing Pelosi standing at the House rostrum with LGBTQ advocates beneath the words “#EQUALITY ACT” — photographic proof that she had already passed the landmark legislation in the House, if only the U.S. Senate had agreed.

“We passed it in the House again and again,” she said. “The Senate is more difficult because of the procedural hurdles, but we’re not stopping. We’ll stick with it until the job is done.”

The longtime Democratic leader also credited civil rights icon John Lewis with helping build support for the legislation when others argued the growing LGBTQ rights movement was, as one California Democratic legislator put it, “too fast, too much, too soon.”

“There were people who worried about opening up the Civil Rights Act to include LGBTQ protections,” Pelosi said. “John Lewis told us, ‘We can’t wait. We must do it now.’ He was instrumental in helping move that effort forward.”

Much of the conversation eventually turned to the Trump-Vance administration’s policies affecting trans Americans.

Pelosi argued that Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which puts restrictions on trans military service weakens national security, and efforts to limit gender-affirming healthcare for trans children with the Executive Order “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” ignores the needs of families.

“When they diminish the ability of transgender people to serve in the military, they diminish our national security,” she said. “At the same time, families are being told they can’t get the care their children need. That is deeply troubling.”

She recounted hearing testimony from conservative parents whose views changed after their own children came out as trans — a transformation she said changed hearts and minds, even among people she had once seen wearing red MAGA hats.

“One mother told us she was a Trump supporter until her child needed medical care and her state wouldn’t allow it,” Pelosi said. “She said she had to leave Texas to care for her child. Hearing stories like that reminds people that these are families, not political talking points.”

Pelosi described efforts to restrict healthcare access for trans youth as both discriminatory and morally wrong.

“Some of the things they’re doing by refusing to support clinics that meet the needs of trans kids are sinful,” she said. “I’m a religious person, and I believe every child is God’s child. We have a responsibility to meet their needs.”

Asked what she would say to people who oppose LGBTQ equality, Pelosi returned to a theme that surfaced throughout the interview: love.

“I’ve seen families completely transform when these issues become personal,” she said. “People who once opposed HIV/AIDS funding became advocates when someone they loved was affected. Love has a way of changing hearts.”

As for how she hopes history remembers her role in the movement, Pelosi again shifted attention away from herself and toward activists.

“People were dying, and the community demanded action,” she said. “I hope people remember that the progress we made came from the very vocal participation of LGBTQ people and their allies. I was honored that they trusted me to carry that fight in Congress.”

Pelosi, who has announced she will not seek reelection and plans to retire from the House in 2027, said the struggle for equality is far from over.

“Every major expansion of rights in this country has been a long struggle,” she said. “We’ve laid a foundation, but there is still more work to do. We still have to pass the Equality Act.”

When asked what she credits for the change in public understanding and the growth of the LGBTQ movement, she said respect lies at its foundation.

“This month, Pride Month, people would say to me, ‘It’s easy for you because you’re from San Francisco, and San Francisco is so tolerant,’” Pelosi said. “And I would say to them, ‘Tolerant to me is a condescending word.’ Tolerance is a good word writ large, but in terms of the subject, it’s not about tolerance — it’s about respect. Respect is what made it almost inevitable that I would have nothing but enthusiasm for what I was doing. We don’t just respect — we take pride in our community. But that pride springs from respect that people have to have for everything, including the differences that they see.”