Lucille Roybal-Allard Quotes

Any president's actions have real consequences in real people's lives.

Wall-to-wall coverage of the political intrigue in Washington focuses on which Capitol Hill players won the daily news cycle, with barely any reference to the communities and lives where politicians' decisions actually hit home.

The greatest threats to North Dakota are policies coming out of Washington, D.C. I see it every day and feel a sense of responsibility to do something about it.

I think there is a huge responsibility upon governments to understand the consequence of their decisions.

Every decision that they take has enormous consequences, and ripple out from the White House.

Washington - having spent a lot of time there, I grew up there and have spent a lot of time there recently - is largely defined by detailed analytical views and policy choices that are not very good. You know, each policy choice has a winner and a loser, right? Somebody's ox is getting gored.

I don't think we've asked the right questions, the tough questions, at the right time, in Washington.

My particular historical vantage point is a product of my upbringing as that odd duck, a native Washingtonian whose parents were not in government. The first presidential transition of my sentient lifetime, Kennedy's, I remember vividly.

Caring about policy is important - people in washington forget.

Sometimes in Washington you get a little disconnected. I want to make sure I know what people are actually doing each day.

We live inside a democracy, and you know, public will matters in a democracy. I just hope it's informed public will, and frankly, when the decisions are made, you understand the costs.

That's what representative democracy is about, is members going to Washington but coming home and answering the tough questions.

Outside Westminster, political debate must seem like white noise that bears little relevance to people's everyday lives. But political choices made by the governments we elect have a real impact on how we live.

Our whole system of government is based on "We the people," but if we the people don't pay attention to what's going on, we have no right to bellyache or squawk when things go wrong.

The decisions we make in Washington have a direct impact on the people in our country, obviously.

Our children should learn the general framework of their government and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government. It must not be a distant thing, someone else's business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.

Politicians can and should be held accountable for their choices.

Knowledge is not a guarantee of good political behavior, but ignorance is a virtual guarantee of bad behavior.

We were all elected to try to improve the lives of our constituents.

We are trying to make politics more open. It became a Ukrainian tradition to make decisions behind closed doors.

If people are going to be made worse off, the government should at least let them know. I don't think that's asking too much.

Bringing accountability to Washington has been an important part of my time in office and an important part of my campaign.

We are accountable for each other.

My start in politics was watching my parents go to the polls on election day. It reminded me that being an active, engaged citizen and voter is critical to the success of our democracy.

I think our nation faces enormous challenges, and we need leaders who are willing to tell the truth and do the right thing regardless of the consequences.