Boots Riley Quotes

My primary motivation for running for the 9th Congressional District is that I strongly believe that one of the hallmarks of the American democracy is a representative form of democracy.

Part of the problem you have is that you don't have a dialogue between elected officials and their constituents. They've built these barricades, these barriers around themselves and tried to avoid interaction with their constituents.

It's not really the job of a public servant to inspire, but to get the job that the people demand done. The Democrats think that if they have hope and are inspired, things will get better, but they actually won't.

I simply want to do what I can to have the best Congress possible representing the American people.

We don’t trust government, but we need government….Government didn’t land here from Mars. We elected them.

Somebody is going to be making the laws for this entire country. It could be you. Will it be you?

I think I'm very knowledgeable about the issues of my constituents.

My legislators devote most of their time to attend to people's problems. I want the people to devote more time and contribute to the development of the state.

The government's intention is to function, to have debates in Parliament, and to work in the interest of the people.

I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

I was a very, very good congressman.

As taxpayers, we pay our elected officials to serve the people and protect our state and our interests.

In my years of public service at both the federal and state levels, I have had the privilege of representing most of the communities that make up Congressional District 21, including Hialeah, Westchester, Doral, Kendall, Miami Lakes, Hialeah Gardens, Medley and Palmetto Bay.

My family has been in politics a long time in Los Angeles. We very much believe we are elected to represent the people. I mean, I am to give voice to, you know, the over half a million people I represent in my congressional district. I mean, that's the way it works.

Representative government demands an ongoing conversation between legislators and constituents.

Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.

Senators will do what they think they need to do to represent their constituents.

I stand before you today because this vision of government as the engine of opportunity is what I believe in.

Is it not natural that a man who is a candidate for the favor of the people, and who is dependant on the suffrages of his fellow-citizens for the continuation of his public honors, should take care to inform himself of their dispositions and inclinations…? This dependant [creates] strong chords of sympathy between the Representative and the constituent.

Being a member of Congress is a hard job but it's an uplifting job.

Senators here were elected to the Senate and not to the caucus ... great questions of this sort should be debated in public and decided in public.

Public participation in the process of government is the essence of democracy.

… once you acknowledge the fact that Congress is after all made up of citizens elected to represent all of us, you must have some faith in their framing common sense laws.

We ought to find a way for government to work for the people rather then have the people work for the government.