Foreign relations should involve human rights, workers' rights, and environmental protection.
— Kevin de Leon
What we have done dramatically in California is lead the entire nation. For example, we have created more jobs in clean energy in California than there are coal-mining jobs in all of America.
I believe that every family - it doesn't make a difference who you are or where you come from - deserves to have quality healthcare. It is a universal right. It's not the exclusive privilege of the elite and the wealthy.
I know - firsthand - that California works best when everyone has the opportunity to succeed. It's a lesson that's hard to learn from the back of a limousine, or behind gated walls. And it's a lesson that guided me every day as the president of the California State Senate - the most productive and progressive policymaking body in America.
I grew up in the streets of San Diego, and I love this city dearly. I love this city. San Diego is my home. Even though I represent Los Angeles, this is my home.
I would never call our country the welfare system for Mexico.
As Democrats, we will never be fooled into believing that if we are patient enough, that Donald Trump could be a good president.
Hollywood is here to stay, and we have to keep the momentum going.
We will not lift a single finger or spend a single cent to be a cog in the Trump deportation machine, and we won't be complicit in his effort to make American great again by reengineering the legal immigration system.
In California, we celebrate our diversity. We celebrate who we are because we're proud of who we are; we're proud of where our families come from.
The days of Democrats biding our time, biting our tongue, and triangulating at the margins are over.
California will not become a cog in the Trump deportation machine.
If we do high-speed rail, the governor has to be intelligent and invest the dollars at the 'bookends' - San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The voice of Vin Scully has become the song of summer for generations of Los Angeles baseball fans and aficionados of excellence in sports broadcasting.
It is erroneous and profoundly irresponsible to suggest that up to three million undocumented immigrants living in America are dangerous criminals.
We have proven that you can actually move strong, progressive policies, grow the economy, and improve the human condition.
Our State Senate must lead by example, restore trust and transparency, stop sweeping workplace misconduct under the rug, and do everything we can to protect women who work in and around the Capitol.
I don't believe the federal government should be snooping into American citizens' cell phones without a warrant issued by a federal judge. You cannot give the federal government extraordinary powers to eavesdrop without a warrant. It's simply un-American.
I don't like to move abstract theoretical policies that, on a white paper, sound good. If I wanted to do that, I'd be a professor.
The D.C. playbook is obsolete. It's time for the people of California to bring the agenda to Washington, not the other way around.
I think there's no such thing as free trade. I think there has to be fair trade.
I don't believe that all folks who supported Donald Trump are racist. I think that there was a lot of economic anxiety, there was a lot of economic panic. A lot of deep-rooted economic insecurity. I think what Trump did, you know, very astutely, was he tapped into this vein, and he promised them a job.
My name is Kevin de Leon, and I am the president of the most progressive legislative house in America.
I try to deal with the poverty gap - to do policies for all of us rather than only for the wealthy.
I don't believe other states should be in the business of luring production out of California. We've made it clear that no one is going to out-compete California.
I want you to know that California is your sanctuary. We will always be a place where you can be whoever you are and become whoever you dream of being. California will always stand up for you. That's a principle that's bigger than partisanship, more powerful than any president.
We speak truth to power, and we've never been fooled into believing Donald Trump 'can be a good president.'
We're planting trees to break up the concrete jungle. We're building public transportation and affordable housing.
When people see the healthful impact this is having and all the hard hats constructing, their minds may change about high-speed rail.
Many foreign students take their California degrees back to their home countries. They become entrepreneurs that develop products that they sell back to us.
The Internet is now the catalyst in our society for growing our economy, engaging in the democratic process, and connecting with one another. It is an information equalizer, and everyone from farmworkers to financiers deserves fair access to it.
President Trump's threat to weaponize federal funding is not only unconstitutional but emblematic of the cruelty he seeks to impose on our most vulnerable communities.
I think that many Californians have been accustomed to, have normalized, that being good sometimes is good enough.
I'm not into political gamesmanship.
While we need to provide leadership and stability to the world, we should do that through diplomacy.
I believe strongly that when you have political capital, you should use it in a manner that helps improve the human condition. You shouldn't just compile power and hold onto power for power's sake.
My whole life, I've been told to 'wait my turn' and 'know my place.'
When I was elected for the first time in '06 I'd never been elected to any body. City councils, school board, community college boards, trustee, water district trustee, class president, ASB president, senior class president - nothing. I was never elected to anything in my life.
I would never vote to allow federal agents to spy on American citizens without warrants.
We carved it in stone: no matter the place of your birth or the hue of your skin, you can live in California in safety, dignity, and, yes, sanctuary.
I am not delusional. Listen, I am not naive to the fact that people are not shouting my name all over the state of California.
I didn't know how to do a press release, so I'd call the local Assembly member and say, 'Hey, can you fax me one of your press releases?' 'Which one?' 'Any one.'
From education to the environment, from high wages to health care to human rights, California is proof that progressive policies put into action improve the human condition of all individuals.
California Democrats - we fight on the front lines - we don't equivocate on the sidelines.
Equity and economic justice are now hardwired into all of our climate policies.
The infrastructure at Union Station is antiquated. High-speed is going to come in eventually. We need to upgrade that system. Every day the Metro comes in, the Amtrak comes in, and they idle their engines for hours, spewing poisonous toxins - all that crap - into the air.
California's university system is one of the premier higher education systems in the world, and we should require that non-resident students pay a premium to attend it. The revenue generated from these fees can be used to increase affordability and access for more Californians.
It's incumbent on all of us to remember our history and not repeat our past sins.
You've got to lead from a position of strength.
Seniority means nothing if you don't do anything with it.
